American Kidney Fund Statement on ESRD Final Rule

ROCKVILLE, Md. (Oct. 31, 2023) — The American Kidney Fund (AKF) is disappointed that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year 2024 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule, released on Oct. 27, does not take into account serious patient issues raised by AKF and others in the kidney care community. This final rule updates payment rates and policies for dialysis services for Medicare beneficiaries.

LaVarne A. Burton, AKF President and CEO, today issued this statement:

"We are deeply disappointed that CMS has failed to fully address critically important concerns raised by the American Kidney Fund and many other stakeholders in the kidney community during the rulemaking process. AKF remains concerned about the ramifications of CMS not adequately accounting for staffing shortages facing dialysis providers and not appropriately addressing long-term access to innovative drugs.

"This is a health equity issue because ultimately, the people who will be hurt the most by CMS' shortsighted final rule are those who are very sick and live in underserved communities. Staffing shortages will adversely impact access to care for people who rely on life-sustaining dialysis treatments. We cannot emphasize strongly enough how concerned we are about the real-life impact this rule will have on patients.

"We urge Members of Congress to support the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2023 (H.R. 5027), which contains provisions that would expand kidney disease prevention, screening and education efforts; ensure accurate and stable provider payments to help address the workforce crisis in kidney care; and provide a long-term and sustainable payment pathway to ensure patient access to innovative drugs, biologicals, devices and other technologies."