Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Kidney disease impacts nearly 36,000,000 Americans, with many not getting the education, screening, or care that they need to delay or prevent progression to kidney failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Indeed, 9 in 10 United States patients with kidney disease are unaware they have the disease. (2) Kidney disease accounts for $126,000,000,000 in direct health care spending each year, with an outsized impact on the Medicare program, which covers most patients once they progress to ESRD. Currently, Medicare spends more than $50,000,000,000 each year on treatment related to ESRD. (3) Given the tremendous burden that ESRD places on Medicare and the Nation’s health care system, the Federal Government has a unique role to play in advancing policies intended to slow or prevent progression to ESRD. (4) A voluntary payment model that allows health insurance plans, including group health insurance and individual health insurance plans sold in the commercial market, to share in the savings they create for Medicare by preventing or delaying ESRD could help promote earlier screening and enhanced treatment for patients with kidney disease.