Thank You Reps. Buddy Carter, Ann Kuster, Carol Miller, and Terri Sewell
for Protecting Equitable Access to Critical Medicine
Americans on dialysis can count on the Congressional sponsors of the Kidney Patient Access to Technologically Innovative and Essential Nephrology Treatments (PATIENT) Act of 2023 to prioritize their care.
Reach out and thank Reps. Carter, Kuster, Miller, and Sewell for sponsoring the Kidney PATIENT Act of 2023 (H.R. 5074) by visiting Congress.gov/members and encourage them to pass the measure into law this year.
Americans who suffer from kidney failure, also called End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), rely on medicines known as Phosphate Lowering Therapies (PLTs) to reduce their risk of death.
Disproportionate Impact on Minoritized Communities
ESRD is one of the starkest examples of racial and/or ethnic disparities in health. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the fastest-growing chronic health conditions among minoritized communities and is associated with substantially increased risks of kidney failure.
Black Americans suffer from the highest rates of ESRD and ESRD rates are nearly 35% higher among Hispanics compared with non-Hispanics.
(Source: National Library of Medicine)
Black people make up just 13% of the U.S. population but account for 35% of Americans with kidney failure; they are nearly four times more likely than white people to develop it. (Source: National Kidney Foundation)
Serious Consequences for Kidney Patients
Unless Congress passes the Kidney PATIENT Act of 2023 (H.R. 5074), patients will face new restrictions to much-needed PLTs because their coverage will be moved into End Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System or “ESRD bundle” starting in 2025 which could result in serious consequences including:
The Kidney PATIENT Act of 2023 would delay CMS from adding PLTs to the ESRD bundle until January 1, 2033, or until an intravenous (IV) treatment for lowering phosphate has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
With your help, we can preserve access to quality care for patients on dialysis.
Lowering the Quality of Care: PLTs will be forced into a limited ESRD bundle budget where they will compete with other treatments for coverage, meaning some patients won’t have access to the drugs their doctors prescribe.
Worsening Health Inequities: A disproportionate number of patients on dialysis are from minority, rural, and low-income communities and moving coverage for PLTs into the ESRD bundle will cause anticipated restrictions on needed treatment and higher out-of-pocket costs.