DPC is currently working on two initiatives that require your input!
First, the National Quality Forum is conducting a study of “Person-Centered Care” and is looking for patient input. DPC has volunteered to collect patient viewpoints on this subject, and we are inviting our members and other dialysis patients to share your experience with and insights into the care you’ve received.
The National Quality Forum is an organization that endorses the standardized healthcare performance measures that are used by Medicare and other insurers to monitor quality. Its goal in this project is to figure out how to assess whether care is person-centered, which may be a difficult concept to measure. Your experiences and insights might be able to help with this effort.
Second, in January CMS proposed changes to the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. This proposed change could complicate care for patients who receive kidney transplants. Under current regulations, immunosuppressive drugs taken to prevent organ rejection are in a “protected class” meaning they are all included in Part D coverage. By removing the “protected class” designation of these drugs, they are subject to the tiered pricing system which will limit the number of drugs covered by Part D, narrowing the range of available treatment options to transplant recipients.
DPC will be submitting a formal comment letter to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services in March. Your input will be included in our submission.
