PREVENT ESRD Act

Key Points

• The bill creates a voluntary 10-year demonstration program starting in 2027 that lets Medicare share savings with health plans that successfully slow kidney disease progression among their enrollees.
• Participating plans must offer free kidney disease screening to all enrollees and low-cost access to kidney-slowing drugs, nutrition services, and disease management support.
• Kidney disease affects nearly 36 million Americans, and Medicare currently spends more than $50 billion a year treating end-stage renal disease, which this bill aims to reduce through prevention.
• Plans that beat a risk-adjusted benchmark for slowing disease progression can receive 25 percent of the resulting Medicare savings, while plans that try to avoid high-risk patients can be penalized or removed from the program.
• Eligible plans include private group and individual insurance, State Medicaid programs, Medicaid managed care plans, and Medicare Advantage plans, but participation is entirely voluntary.