Support H.R. 5074 Kidney PATIENT Act for Health Equity in National Kidney Month
The Issue
March is National Kidney Month - a time when we should be advocating for better care and support for kidney patients. However, without the passage of H.R. 5074 Kidney PATIENT Act, many will lose access to these essential treatments.
There are more than half a million dialysis patients in our country. Eighty percent of these have high levels of phosphate in their blood and must take medicines known as Phosphate Lowering Therapies (PLTs). When left untreated, these patients are at a higher risk for heart attack or stroke.
Patients currently have access to these drugs, but that would change under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) plan to add PLTs to the ESRD payment bundle by 2025. This move into the ESRD bundle will limit the health care options available to kidney patients. By moving PLTs into a limited payment bundle, some dialysis patients will lose access to these life-saving medications.
Congressional action has previously upheld accessible coverage for PLTs, and it is essential that Congress act again. The only long-term solution to maintain patient access is the passage of the Kidney PATIENT Act of 2023. The Kidney PATIENT Act would require that CMS delay adding PLTs to the ESRD bundle until 2033 or until the Food and Drug Administration approves an intravenous treatment for lowering phosphate.
In the interim, delaying the inclusion of oral-only PLTs in the ESRD bundle by one-year is critical to ensuring patient safety and equitable access.
Millions of lives, especially those that have been impacted by health disparities - individuals with kidney disease, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and cancer, to name a few - are at risk due to disparities in health equity and access to vital medicines.
We urge you to stand with us this National Kidney Month by supporting H.R. 5074 Kidney PATIENT Act and in the immediate short-term, a one-year delay to the inclusion of oral-only PLTs in the ESRD bundle - because everyone deserves equal access to healthcare regardless of their condition.
Please sign this petition today!
386
The Issue
March is National Kidney Month - a time when we should be advocating for better care and support for kidney patients. However, without the passage of H.R. 5074 Kidney PATIENT Act, many will lose access to these essential treatments.
There are more than half a million dialysis patients in our country. Eighty percent of these have high levels of phosphate in their blood and must take medicines known as Phosphate Lowering Therapies (PLTs). When left untreated, these patients are at a higher risk for heart attack or stroke.
Patients currently have access to these drugs, but that would change under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) plan to add PLTs to the ESRD payment bundle by 2025. This move into the ESRD bundle will limit the health care options available to kidney patients. By moving PLTs into a limited payment bundle, some dialysis patients will lose access to these life-saving medications.
Congressional action has previously upheld accessible coverage for PLTs, and it is essential that Congress act again. The only long-term solution to maintain patient access is the passage of the Kidney PATIENT Act of 2023. The Kidney PATIENT Act would require that CMS delay adding PLTs to the ESRD bundle until 2033 or until the Food and Drug Administration approves an intravenous treatment for lowering phosphate.
In the interim, delaying the inclusion of oral-only PLTs in the ESRD bundle by one-year is critical to ensuring patient safety and equitable access.
Millions of lives, especially those that have been impacted by health disparities - individuals with kidney disease, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and cancer, to name a few - are at risk due to disparities in health equity and access to vital medicines.
We urge you to stand with us this National Kidney Month by supporting H.R. 5074 Kidney PATIENT Act and in the immediate short-term, a one-year delay to the inclusion of oral-only PLTs in the ESRD bundle - because everyone deserves equal access to healthcare regardless of their condition.
Please sign this petition today!
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Petition created on February 26, 2024