The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it finalized an expansion of its care offerings for patients with chronic kidney disease.
CMS completed its end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treatment choices (ETC) model for improving or maintaining the qualityof care and reducing Medicare expenditures for patients with chronic kidney disease, impacting approximately 30% of kidney care providers once implemented on Jan. 1, 2021, with estimated savings of $23 million over five-and-a-half years, according to a news release.
The ETC model is set to test shifting Medicare payments from traditional fee-for-service payments to payments in which providers are incentivized for encouraging the receipt of home dialysis and kidney transplants.
CMS expects the value-based payment model to encourage participating care providers to invest in and build their home dialysis programs, allowing patients to receive care in the comfort and safety of their own home. The model also financially rewards ESRD facilities and clinicians based on their transplant rate.
“Over the past year, the Trump Administration has taken more action to advance American kidney health than we’ve seen in decades,” U.S. Health & Human Services Dept. Secretary Alex Azar said in the release. “This new payment model helps address a broken set of incentives that have prevented far too many Americans from benefiting from enjoying the better lives that could come with more convenient dialysis options or the possibility of a transplant.”