A September 15th hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee titled Examining Legislative Proposals to Reform Medicare Provider Payment had an important DPC priority on its agenda. In his opening statement, Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, mentioned that “two bills before us today are the Kidney Care Access Protection Act and the Keeping Individuals with Dialysis Needs Equipped through Year-round Remote Monitoring Act, which both aim to improve care access for individuals affected by kidney disease.”
HR 6214, the Kidney Care Access Protection Act, is one of DPC’s top advocacy priorities. The bill would ensure Medicare coverage of new drugs and devices for dialysis patients, and increase reimbursements for the salaries of dialysis clinic personnel. DPC also supports the Remote Monitoring Act as a way to encourage home dialysis and further improve health outcomes.
Although it was not included in the legislative agenda, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-9) mentioned her H.R. 2199, the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act, co-led by Reps. Mike Kelly, Neal Dunn, Danny Davis, John Joyce, and Raul Ruiz, saying it would restore longstanding protections and safeguard Medicare dollars. She called kidney disease an urgent health equity crisis, noting Black Americans are nearly four times more likely to develop it.
