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President Donald Trump signed an executive order underscoring these
goals, and the U.S. health agency said it would test new payment
structures, including one that rewards end-stage renal disease
facilities and doctors who meet targets in these areas.
The U.S. government spends $114 billion each year to treat chronic
kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.
Nearly 15% of the U.S. adult population was suffering from chronic
kidney disease in 2018, fueled by growing rates of diabetes and
hypertension, according to the government's U.S. Renal Data System.
Trump, speaking to patients, advocacy groups and health officials at
a Washington D.C. event at the Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center, said the government effort would
increase the number of available organs for transplant.
"Many, many people are dying while they wait," he said.
Trump's wife, Melania, was hospitalized for several days in May of
2018 after an embolization procedure to treat a benign kidney
condition.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex
Azar said the government aims to reduce the number of Americans
developing end-stage renal disease by 25% by 2030, to have 80% of
new patients either receive dialysis at home or undergo kidney
transplants by 2025, and to double the number of kidneys available
for transplant by 2030.
The government wants healthcare providers to focus on prevention and
earlier treatment.
"The way the system is set up, it's kind of pushing people towards
dialysis," Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, said in a phone interview.
NEW PAYMENT METHODS
Health officials said about 12% of Americans receive dialysis at
home, in part because of a payment structure that pays doctors more
when they use pricier dialysis centers. Reuters has previously
reported on the government's intention to change its payment
methods.
U.S. health officials declined to provide details on anticipated
cost savings from the new treatment goals.
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The government proposed testing several new payment methods,
including one that will apply to about half of Medicare patients
with end-stage renal disease across the country.
In that scheme, some facilities and clinicians chosen at random
would receive higher or lower payments based on the rate at which
they increase the use of home dialysis and transplants.
If finalized, that program would go into effect Jan. 1, 2020, and
run through June 20, 2026. Other voluntary payment trials would add
financial incentives for health care providers managing patients
with late-stage chronic kidney disease.
The U.S. kidney care market is dominated by two players: DaVita Inc
and Fresenius Medical Care AG, which operate more than 5,000 U.S.
dialysis clinics and control around 70% of the market.
DaVita shares rose 4.2% to $54.80, but were still trading 5% lower
than before news of the pending kidney care announcement broke on
Monday. Fresenius Medical closed up 1.65% at 67.74 euros in
Frankfurt trading.
Leerink analyst Ana Gupte said the sell-off had likely been overdone
and that some details of the new rule were still to come. "It is
unclear at this point what the incentives are for a shift to home
dialysis," Gupte said by email.
Healthcare has been a key issue for Trump, who tried and failed to
replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, but has
rolled back key provisions, such as the penalty for not having
health insurance. The ACA is being challenged in court.
The Republican president has also pushed drug companies to lower
their prices. On Monday, a federal court struck down a new rule that
would have forced pharmaceutical companies to include the list
prices of their drugs in television advertising.
(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York and Roberta Rampton in
Washington D.C.; Editing by Susan Thomas and Bill Berkrot)
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