The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are seeking new incentives to increase home dialysis and kidney transplantation rates for low-income patients.
On Friday, the agency determined the payment rate for next year based on the End-Stage Renal Disease Expected Payment System (ESRD PPS). It plans to pay a total of approximately US$8.8 billion for dialysis services to 7,700 facilities, an increase of US$5, bringing the basic rate of each dialysis treatment to US$257.90.
CMS also updated the ESRD treatment selection model, Implemented last year Encourage home dialysis and kidney transplantation for Medicare patients with ESRD. According to the final rule, healthcare providers will be incentivized to provide more low-income patients with home dialysis and transplantation. If their family dialysis rate or transplant rate increases by at least 2.5% among dual-eligibility or low-income subsidy recipients, they will get a boost.
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a press release: “Today’s final rule is a decisive step to ensure that Medicare patients with chronic kidney disease have easy access to quality care and convenient treatment options.” “Enable dialysis providers to Providing more dialysis treatment options for medical insurance patients will promote better health outcomes, greater autonomy, and better quality of life for all kidney disease patients.”
CMS is trying to get more patients to receive home dialysis, but Slow adoption, In 2016, about 12% of patients used home dialysis.Seeing this shift, the dialysis center has been seeking to improve their ability to provide home dialysis. Fresenius Acquired NxStage Medical for USD 1.9 billion in 2019.
In an email statement, Dr. Robert Kossmann, Chief Marketing Officer of Fresenius Medical Care North America, stated that the company now provides 15% of home treatments and is taking steps to improve transplant referrals, but acknowledged that differences still exist.
“We strongly support the changes in the ETC model, which solve the socioeconomic barriers that increase the chances of family dialysis and transplantation. These changes will help us better understand that the treatment choices of many patients are usually related to certain social determinants of health, and thus Further promote and transform care to give priority to transplantation and home dialysis,” he wrote. “We are committed to facing these challenges head-on so that everyone can equally receive the support needed for successful family treatment and kidney transplantation.”
Obtaining a transplant fairly is crucial because patients face long kidney waiting times in the United States. Currently, more than 90,000 people are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. According to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network.
Photo credit: saengsuriya13, Getty Images
