GLENDALE, Calif.—The patient advocacy group Renal Support Network sent a letter March 5 to President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius, his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, outlining a 10-point plan to reform healthcare for chronic kidney disease patients.
Click HERE to read the letter, titled The Ten Point Plan: Renal Patient’s View on Healthcare Reform for People with Chronic Kidney Disease.
At a March 5 healthcare forum of 120 experts, Obama said he has a goal of enacting broad overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system by the end of 2009. In light of this fast-track approach, RSN submitted the following points regarding CKD patients.
- Involve Patient Survivors/Advocates in Solving Health Care Problems in CKD
- Provide coverage for immunosuppressive medications, necessary to maintain the viability of a kidney transplant, to protect the life and health of the recipient and to invest in the organ donation process.
- Ensure that the quality indicators used by the government’s ESRD Clinical Performance Measures (CPM) project actually reflect good quality care.
- Make Medigap coverage access universally available.
- Provide support and incentives for self care and home treatment.
- Develop community awareness and prevention education to address the CKD epidemic.
- Explore options for increasing organ donation rates.
- Take down the wall between Medicare A & B.
- Address access to care as a multi-dimensional challenge.
- Consider promoting the “medical home” concept of healthcare reform that is supported by the American Medical Association (AMA) and other leaders.
“We who have CKD are appreciative of the assurance of care provided by the Medicare ESRD program, which allows us access to the life-saving therapies of dialysis and transplant,” RSN founder and president Lori Hartwell wrote in the letter. “We also have experienced firsthand how administrative decisions regarding quality of care and payment structures have significantly impacted our quality of care and our ability to live. We would like to offer the patient’s perspective on the ongoing challenges and concerns about the care that is offered to individuals with CKD, and how this care can be delivered in smart and cost effective ways.”
