Bill > S1676

This bill, the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2019, aims to improve the understanding of and access to treatment for chronic kidney disease. The key provisions of the bill include: - Expanding Medicare coverage for kidney disease education services and ensuring payment for these services is not included in the single payment for renal dialysis services. - Requiring studies on increasing kidney transplantation rates, the use of palliative care for kidney disease, and the progression of kidney disease in minority populations. - Allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award National Health Service Corps scholarships and loan repayments to nephrology health professionals to improve access to care in underserved areas. - Requiring hospitals to provide health and treatment information to renal dialysis facilities when a patient is discharged. - Modifying the Medicare end-stage renal disease prospective payment system to maintain an economically stable dialysis infrastructure, including provisions related to payment adjustments, productivity adjustments, and payment for new innovative drugs and technologies. - Consolidating and modernizing quality programs for end-stage renal disease to improve patient decision-making and transparency. - Allowing certain Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease to enroll in Medicare supplemental (Medigap) policies.