Last month, CMS proposed lowering its reimbursement rate for dialysis and end-stage renal disease patients by $970 million in 2014. The office is seeking public comment on the move through August 30. The rule also would make adjustments to Medicare’s ESRD Quality Incentive Program beginning in fiscal year 2016 that would cut payments by about $26.4 million that year and change the program’s durable medical equipment payment policies to require the goods to be useable for at least three years to be categorized as durable medical equipment.
The cuts could result in dialysis facility closures and hurt the quality of care patients receive, federal lawmakers wrote in a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. The letter asked Ms. Tavenner to consider the full impact of the proposed pay cut and to ensure dialysis facilities don’t end up getting reimbursed less than the cost of providing care.
Reps. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) led the initiative, according to a news release by Kidney Care Partners, a nephrologist and nephrology services advocacy group. Many of the policymakers who signed the letter had heard from kidney organizations and advocates about the potentially negative consequences of the pay cut, according to the release.
More Articles on End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment:
Medicare Financial Change Curbed Dialysis Drug Use, Study Finds
CMS Updates Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease Initiative Application
CMS Proposes Dialysis Payment Cuts
