Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kidney Care Currently Favors Expensive, Time-Consuming Dialysis Over Easier-To-Tolerate At-Home Care. Trump Wants To Change That.
The Associated Press: Trump Revamps Kidney Care To Spur Transplants, Home Dialysis
President Donald Trump is directing the government to revamp the nation's care for kidney disease to give more people with failing kidneys a chance at early transplants and home dialysis. Trump is set to sign an executive order Wednesday aimed at saving lives and millions of Medicare dollars. Senior administration officials tell The Associated Press that the order also is designed to ease financial hardship for living donors and help organizations collecting deceased donations do a better job. (7/10)
The Washington Post: Trump To Order Overhaul Of Organ Transplant And Kidney Dialysis Systems
“These are all good ideas. I’m impressed, very impressed,” said Tommy Thompson, who worked to boost organ donation when he was secretary of health and human services under President George W. Bush. “They are finally modernizing organ procurement.” The executive order the president is expected to unveil Wednesday, first reported by Politico, is one of a series of health- care initiatives Trump is announcing in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. Several of the Department of Health and Human Services rules have been held up by court fights or budgetary concerns. (Bernstein and Kindy, 7/9)
Bloomberg: Trump Targets Dialysis, Kidney Transplants In Care Overhaul
President Donald Trump will announce an overhaul of the U.S. approach to care for people with kidney disease on Wednesday, an effort intended to move more patients out of costly dialysis centers and increase transplants. Trump will direct Medicare to adjust payments for treatment of kidney disease to encourage patients to undergo dialysis at home, a person familiar with the plan said. Administration officials hope his proposal will also produce an additional 17,000 kidney transplants a year, the person said. (Darie and Jacobs, 7/9)
