Thanks to our Washington State Congressional Delegation

July 30, 2008

 
 Joyce F. Jackson, President and CEO, Northwest Kidney Centers

On behalf of thousands of people with kidney disease living in Washington State and in the U.S., Northwest Kidney Centers extends our deep thanks to the entire Washington State Congressional delegation for voting in support of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, which Congress passed on July 15, 2008.

In this bill, the epidemic of kidney disease will be addressed through provisions to establish state pilot programs to educate the public about kidney disease and conduct health screenings.  The bill provides funding for education of Medicare pre-dialysis patients in doctors' offices.  This will allow Medicare patients in the later stages of kidney disease to learn about their options for care, including home dialysis treatments.  Northwest Kidney Centers President and CEO Joyce F. Jackson states, “We operate one of the nation’s largest home dialysis programs and champion this form of treatment.  We are delighted that Congress recognizes the value of detection and education to slow kidney disease and prepare people for life-saving options, if their kidneys fail.”

The bill also provides dialysis programs with a much-needed annual update mechanism starting in 2012, so it will no longer take an act of Congress to improve payment in response to rising costs of care.  Northwest Kidney Centers deeply appreciates the dedication of our Senators and Representatives to ensure the stability of the ESRD (end-stage renal disease) Medicare program, which funds dialysis treatments for Medicare beneficiaries.

The bill requires Medicare to implement an expanded bundled dialysis payment system, effective January 1, 2011.  The bill provides adjustments for case-mix and high-cost treatments.  “Our Special Care Service cares for this region’s most medically-complex dialysis patents.  We thank Congress for recognizing that not all patients require the same level of care; some require much more nursing attention and staff presence, and payment should take this into consideration,” says Jackson.

The bill requires dialysis facilities to report certain quality outcomes, in their centers and on the Web, and withholds a portion of payment, if quality measures are not met.

We salute and thank Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and Representatives Brian Baird, Norm Dicks, Doc Hastings, Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen Jim McDermott, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dave Reichert and Adam Smith of Washington State for their unanimous support of this important bill.