Trump order supports earlier kidney transplants, home dialysis

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this week aimed at improving and extending the lives of Americans with kidney disease. The order proposes to increase the supply of kidneys for transplant by easing the financial burdens on living donors. It also calls for moving more dialysis treatment from clinical locations to the home. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has already announced five new payment models to incentivize preventive care and home-based treatment, including a proposed End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices model mandatory for certain areas of the country. An effort to better assess the performance of organ procurement organizations is expected later this year. (AP story, 7/10/19)