July 15, 2008 both the House and Senate overrode the President’s Veto of HR 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). With this historic vote, Congress ensured that kidney patients would receive additional, needed education about Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and that there would be an updated payment system for dialysis treatments.

In summary, this means that we, as a kidney care community, have achieved a victory. Although designed mainly to help stabilize Medicare Reimbursement for physicians, the bill featured key aspects of the Kidney Care Quality and Education Act (KCQEA) that DPC and the kidney care community have been championing for the past two years (Find out why patients support the KCQEA Kidney Patients Support KCQEA ). Much of what we have been working on for the past few years—advocating for education and prevention programs, revising the payment methodology for ESRD treatment, and an inflation update—is now VERY real. And NONE of this would have been possible without the power of our patients and your outreach efforts—both in Washington, D.C. and in your home districts. Through hundreds of letters, emails, phone calls, and personal visits we have made a difference. Congress listened to you!

As a partner in the kidney care community, DPC joined with the National Kidney Foundation to run a full-page advertisement within a popular congressional publication—The Hill Newspaper— thanking Congress for its previous action to support kidney patients. Congress Supports Kidney Care

Every single action taken by each and every one of you helped make the difference today. This is a great victory for the community, and you should enjoy it. However, there is always more work to be done, and I hope we can continue to count on you.

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