DVAC Commends Bipartisan Lawmakers for Opposing Proposed Medicare

Cuts to Vascular Access Services for Dialysis Patients

A group of bipartisan lawmakers warn HHS that unprecedented 62% reimbursement rate reduction
to vascular access services would have serious impacts on patients with kidney disease.

Washington, DC, October 15, 2018 --(PR.com)-- The Dialysis Vascular Access Coalition (DVAC), a
consortium of medical specialty societies, physicians, and non-hospital centers that provide vascular
access services to patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), today praised a bipartisan group of
lawmakers for expressing concern to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about
proposed payment cuts for dialysis vascular access services.

In a letter - led by Representatives Ryan Costello (R-PA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Leonard Lance
(R-NJ) - submitted to Secretary Alex Azar, 27 bipartisan members of Congress express apprehension
about a provision of the 2019 Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Proposed Rule for Patients with
End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), which would set vascular access reimbursement rates at the rate set in
the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) - amounting to an unprecedented 62 percent cut on top of a staggering
37 percent reduction in the 2017 PFS. Since the 2017 reduction was implemented, more than 1 in 5
physician offices have closed down according to a recent survey by the American Society of Diagnostic
and Interventional Nephrology.

“If HHS finalizes this policy shift, patients will be impacted with respect to accessing vascular access
services in the setting of their choice, receiving the appropriate level of high quality care based on their
needs and failing to maximize the most cost-effective care,” the lawmakers write.

DVAC commends the lawmakers who signed onto the letter for recognizing the dangerous impacts such a
significant reimbursement rate reduction would have for patients who need vascular access services to
begin dialysis treatment following kidney failure. Ultimately, the proposed cut would threaten patients'
access to high-quality, convenient, and affordable vascular access services in the community setting and
lead to an inappropriate migration of services from a cost-effective physician office setting to a less
efficient, costlier hospital setting. In the letter, lawmakers urge HHS and the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) to exempt vascular access services from the office-based designation in the
forthcoming 2019 ASC Final Rule.

In addition to Representatives Costello, Dingell and Lance, bipartisan members of Congress signing the
letter include Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Mike Bishop (R-MI), Joaquin Castro (D-TX),
John Abney Culberson (R-TX), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ), Gregg Harper (R-MS),
Will Hurd (R-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI), Derek
Kilmer (R-WA), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), James R. Langevin (D-RI), James P.
McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Terri A. Sewell (D-AL), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Marc A.
Veasy (D-TX), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH) and Kevin Yoder (R-KS).

The Dialysis Vascular Access Coalition (DVAC) is a consortium of medical specialty societies,

Page 1/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use
physicians, and non-hospital outpatient centers that provide vascular access services to individuals with
advanced chronic kidney disease and End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). To learn more, visit
dialysisvascularaccess.org.

Page 2/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use
Contact Information:
Dialysis Vascular Access Coalition
Sarah Rhoades
703-548-0019
Contact via Email

Online Version of Press Release:

You can read the online version of this press release at: https://www.pr.com/press-release/767453

Page 3/3
PR.com Press Release Distribution Terms of Use