The initiative will also expand support for living donors through compensation for expenses such as lost wages and child care.
ASTS was represented at the signing ceremony by Councilor Matthew Cooper, MD, Executive Director Daniel D. Garrett, CAE, ASTS Legislative Counsel Peggy Tighe, JD, and NLDAC Program Coordinator Holly Warren, RN.
ASTS President Lloyd E. Ratner, MD, MPH, FACS, said, “Today’s announcement brings a welcome focus on the need to expand transplantation and support living donors, two goals that ASTS has always worked toward. We look forward to participating in the regulatory process to implement these goals and benefit transplant patients.”
As directed by the Executive Order, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), through its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), released a proposed required payment model and four optional payment models to adjust payment incentives to encourage preventative kidney care, home dialysis, and kidney transplants. The Department’s Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) also released a paper entitled Advancing American Kidney Health, which lays out a number of areas for action, including measures called for in the executive order, for various components of HHS to improve kidney care.
ASTS will continue to monitor developments and inform the membership.