Increase Quality of Care Archives - Page 8 of 17

DPC Increases Advocacy Efforts to Help Block Proposition 8
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DPC Increases Advocacy Efforts to Help Block Proposition 8

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:37+00:00October 10th, 2018|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care, State Advocacy, Take Action|

Proposition 8 is a dangerous ballot initiative that California residents will be asked to vote on this November. If proposition 8 is passed, this can have devastating consequences for dialysis patients’ access to care. Specifically, many dialysis facilities will face potential closure leaving patients to: Scramble to find new dialysis facilities for their treatment and Potentially travel much farther to receive their life-saving care Even if you are not a resident of California, your influence can help dialysis patients. Please help us spread the word about the dangers of this initiative by urging your family and friends that live in California [...]

DPC Comments on Threat to Vascular Access Centers
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DPC Comments on Threat to Vascular Access Centers

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:38+00:00September 19th, 2018|Categories: Article, Comment Letter, Dialysis Funding, Improve Access to Care|

The Centers for Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to cut reimbursement for vascular access centers. This could negatively impact dialysis patents’ access to care, which is why we have weighed in on this important issue. Dialysis Access and Fistulas People with kidney failure need to have a dialysis access placed in order to receive live-saving dialysis treatments. Vascular surgeons create and maintain arteriovenous fistulas, which is a type of dialysis access. Fistulas are important for individuals on dialysis as they are considered a best practice in kidney care, improve patient outcomes and reduce the risk of infection. Read DPC’s comment letter [...]

CALL TO ACTION – Contact California Governor to Oppose SB 1156
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CALL TO ACTION – Contact California Governor to Oppose SB 1156

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:38+00:00September 3rd, 2018|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, State Advocacy|

Last week, the California Assembly voted in favor of passing Senate Bill 1156. If this bill is enacted into law, many dialysis facilities will face potential closure leaving patients to: Scramble to find new dialysis facilities for their treatment 3 times a week and Potentially travel much farther to receive their life-saving treatments Senate Bill 1156 has now moved onto the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown, who has until the end of September to act on the bill. This is your last chance to prevent this bill from becoming law. If you live in California, we urge you to [...]

DPC Comments on Annual Medicare ESRD Rule

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:38+00:00August 29th, 2018|Categories: Comment Letter, Innovation, Quality Incentive Program|

Dialysis Patient Citizens sent its comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing concerns and providing feedback on its End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System and Quality Incentive Program proposed payment rule (CMS-1691-P). The letter was informed by results from Dialysis Patient Citizen’s 2018 membership survey and focused on the following areas: Quality incentive program and the meaningful measures framework Transitional drug add-on payment adjustment and payments to reward innovation Request for information on price transparency Our hope is that by addressing these important topics, CMS will make amendments to the rule that will ultimately lead [...]

Action Needed for Potential Senate Bill 1156 Vote on Monday

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:38+00:00August 15th, 2018|Categories: Article, Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, State Advocacy, Take Action|

Dialysis Patient Citizens is requesting your support of kidney failure patients by urging your legislator to oppose Senate Bill 1156 (Leyva). If this bill is enacted into law, many dialysis facilities will face potential closure leaving patients to: Scramble to find new dialysis facilities for their treatment 3 times a week and Potentially travel much farther to receive their life-saving treatments Your support is critical in ensuring lawmakers are educated and reminded about the struggles patients with kidney disease will face if this bill is passed. The full California Assembly could vote on this measure as early as Monday. Help [...]

California Lawmakers Considering Bill That Would Close Dialysis Centers
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California Lawmakers Considering Bill That Would Close Dialysis Centers

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:38+00:00July 19th, 2018|Categories: Article, Dialysis Funding, State Advocacy|

State legislators in California continue to consider legislation, which we believe would harm dialysis patients by ultimately limiting their access to their life-saving treatment. This legislation, which is being pushed by the labor union, Service Employees International Union, would cut reimbursement rates for patients on private insurance to Medicare/Medi-Cal levels, which are already below the actual cost of care. This will cause many facilities across California to close and leave patients scrambling to find their needed care. Last month, we were able to get almost 16,000 people in California to reach out to their state legislator in opposition to this proposal [...]

Annual Medicare ESRD Rule Highlights Innovation and “Meaningful Measures”
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Annual Medicare ESRD Rule Highlights Innovation and “Meaningful Measures”

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:39+00:00July 16th, 2018|Categories: Article, Innovation, Quality Incentive Program|

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed what they called “innovative changes” to the payment rule for the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program. The rule includes a “proposal to address new renal dialysis drug and biological costs and foster innovations in treatment by incentivizing new therapies for patients on dialysis and a proposal to reduce facility-related documentation burden.” It contains the first changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) since last year’s announcement of CMS’ “Meaningful Measures” Initiative. Funding for Dialysis The proposed 2019 ESRD base rate is $235.82, an increase of $3.45 to the current [...]

Facts About the Dialysis De-Funding Campaign in California

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:39+00:00April 26th, 2018|Categories: Charitable Premium Assistance, Dialysis Funding, State Advocacy|

The Dialysis De-Funding Campaign is sponsored by two labor unions that seek to represent workers at dialysis clinics. Rather than try to unionize dialysis facility employees through elections, they are trying to punish dialysis providers through policies that cost them financially in order to gain voluntary recognition. The three cutback proposals are likely to affect access to care by leading to facility closures, restricting access to private insurance, and decreasing services available from facilities. The Dialysis De-Funding Campaign consists of three measures: Senate Bill 349: Regulates staffing and patient shifts at dialysis clinics. If requirements are not met because a worker [...]

Spending Bill Ensures Dialysis Patients Can Access Life-Saving Care

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:39+00:00February 9th, 2018|Categories: Improve Access to Care, Increase Quality of Care, Press Release, Promote Financial Security|

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Advocates for dialysis patients are pleased that the federal spending bill which funds the government through March 23rd includes several provisions that will help people with kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), gain access to life-extending dialysis treatments. The bill includes language from the Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 3178), which was introduced July 7 of last year by Reps. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Committee. The language permits health care providers to utilize data from home dialysis [...]

CMS Releases Proposed Payment Rule for 2018

Hannah Bracamonte2024-03-29T01:13:40+00:00July 19th, 2017|Categories: Article, Innovation, Quality Incentive Program|

On June 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its proposed Annual Payment Rule for the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program to govern dialysis services furnished beginning January 1, 2018. The proposed rule also makes minor changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). This year’s rule includes an increase to the base rate, replacing QIP measures as well as including social risk factors in the QIP scores. CMS says the ESRD proposed rule is “one of several rules for 2018 that reflect a broader Administration-wide strategy to relieve regulatory burdens for providers; support the patient-doctor relationship [...]

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