Kidney Care Quality and Education Act
of 2007
H.R. 1193 and S. 691
Kidney Care Partners Circulates Petition to Improve Dialysis Care
Because this is an election year, there is very little time to contact
legislators in Washington, D.C. As a person with kidney disease, family
member, caregiver or healthcare professional, you can educate the lawmakers and
make your voice heard. According to the latest government figures there
are 145 Congressmen and 26 Senators co-sponsoring the bill. The petition
circulated is being coordinated by KCP, but names and contact information will
only be utilized in association with this petition; the petition organizers will
not share, sell, or rent information about individuals who sign the petition.
Please note on the petition that you received this information through the Renal
Support Network.
One Page Informational Document
Download and sign petition
Electronic
Petition
What Patients Should Know
The KCQEA 2007 contains provisions that are of importance to patients. A simple
way for patients and patient advocates to remember these provisions is:
HEART.
Home Dialysis: seeking to understand the barriers to the
adoption of different treatment modalities by patients.
Education: providing educational sessions for Medicare
beneficiaries with Stage IV CKD to teach them how to slow the progression of the
disease.
Awareness: creating public and patient education initiatives to
increase awareness about CKD and to help patients learn self-management skills
that prevent and control CKD.
Reimbursement: establishing a three-year Continuous Quality
Improvement Initiative that would reward providers for quality improvement and
outcomes. If the provider meets these goals, they receive a bonus.
Technicians: establishing a uniform training for patient-care
dialysis technicians.
And why is this so important to patients? This piece of legislation addresses
issues that lie at the very HEART of kidney patients and their families, as well
as renal-care professionals. We, as patients, will have the opportunity to look
at what problems could be keeping us from choosing the treatment modality that
works best for us, including dialysis at home. And education is essential for
better healthcare. Don’t we all wish we had a little more knowledge to help us
understand our disease? Awareness for those who are at risk for kidney disease
is empowering.
The reimbursement component in this bill will improve upon and update the system
we currently have. And the implementation of systematic training for
patient-care technicians is something we’ve all talked about. This is a dynamic
opportunity for us as patients to get involved and lend our support to such an
important piece of legislation. In doing so, we will help many people. With all
of us working together hand-in-hand, we can make a difference!
Introduced by Rep. Dave Camp.
Visit GovTrack
to learn the how the House of Representatives is Responding to this Bill.
Find out of your Congressman is a Sponsor.
Introduced by Senator Kent Conrad.
Visit GovTrack
to learn the how the Senate is Responding to this Bill. Find out of
your Senators are a Sponsor.
Sample Script of Bill from Patient's Perspective
Send a Letter (Sample)
Phone Call/Visit (Sample) |
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