[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               INTRODUCTION OF THE ESRD MODERNIZATION ACT

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                             HON. DAVE CAMP

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support the 
End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Modernization Act, which is designed to 
improve the quality of care and quality of life for the more than 
3,000,000 Americans living with ESRD.
  Patients with irreversible kidney failure, also known as ESRD, will 
die unless they receive a kidney transplant or undergo dialysis. Sadly, 
transplantation is limited due to the shortage of donor organs, so the 
vast majority of those with ESRD must undergo dialysis, three times a 
week, in dialysis centers or their homes.
  Since Congress first agreed to provide Medicare benefits to patients 
with kidney disease, the number of Americans in need of dialysis 
treatments has increased exponentially. Today, the most common cause of 
kidney failure is diabetes. As rates of obesity and Type II diabetes 
increase, we face an even greater number of Americans at risk for 
kidney failure.
  Because of Medicare, these patients are able to live longer and 
healthier lives. As important as the ESRD program is, it has not kept 
pace with the rest of Medicare. Last year we worked to modernize the 
Medicare program, yet we did not address some of the most pressing 
issues within the ESRD Program. The comprehensive bill that we 
introduce today seeks to resolve those problems.
  The ESRD Modernization Act would establish educational programs to 
improve patient care and quality of life. Under this Act, patients with 
chronic kidney disease (the precursor to ESRD) would have access to new 
educational programs to learn more the factors that lead to kidney 
failure and how to prevent them. ESRD patients would have the 
opportunity to develop skills to help them manage their disease more 
effectively. The bill also seeks to help those patients able to 
continue working while receiving dialysis do so by improving the home 
dialysis benefit.
  Additionally, the ESRD Modernization Act would ensure the financial 
stability of the Medicare ESRD program by providing a mechanism for 
annual updates to the composite rate. Currently, the ESRD Program is 
the only Medicare Prospective Payment System program that does not have 
a mechanism to update its payment rates. This Act will provide such a 
mechanism, consistent with MedPAC's recommendation in its 2000 Report 
to Congress.
  It is time we fix this life-saving program. I urge my colleagues to 
support this important piece of legislation so that the Medicare ESRD 
Program can meet the challenges it faces in the 21st Century.

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