Florida Senate - 2017                            (NP)    SR 1810
       
       
        
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       
       35-02776-17                                           20171810__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the need for, and encouraging
    3         policies that improve access to, home dialysis for
    4         minorities living with end-stage renal disease.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), also known as
    7  kidney failure, currently impacts 661,000 Americans, and more
    8  than 89,000 Americans die from ESRD annually, and
    9         WHEREAS, more than 117,000 new ESRD cases are diagnosed
   10  each year, with 7,500 of those cases diagnosed in Florida, and
   11         WHEREAS, dialysis and transplant are the only treatments
   12  for ESRD, and 70 percent of patients are on dialysis, and
   13         WHEREAS, when dialysis is the method of treatment, a
   14  patient may either obtain treatment in his or her home with home
   15  hemodialysis (HHD) or home peritoneal dialysis (PD) or be
   16  transported to a dialysis center three times each week for
   17  hemodialysis, and
   18         WHEREAS, HHD provides significant economic and lifestyle
   19  advantages, including greater autonomy and flexibility over when
   20  a patient dialyzes; reduces dependence on transportation, as
   21  there is no travel to a clinic for treatments; and is more
   22  conducive to employment, as evidenced by higher rates of
   23  employment among home dialysis patients, and
   24         WHEREAS, the first 3 months of dialysis cost an average of
   25  $43,000 per patient, and
   26         WHEREAS, access to an HHD training program allows Medicaid
   27  patients to move to Medicare as their primary payer on the first
   28  day of treatment, as opposed to at the beginning of the fourth
   29  month of treatment, by eliminating the Medicare waiting period
   30  and, therefore, saves taxpayers a significant amount of money,
   31  and
   32         WHEREAS, this 3-month Medicare waiting period drives up the
   33  cost to states and, assuming 1,000 new Medicaid ESRD cases,
   34  could mean as much as $43 million in Medicaid costs each year,
   35  and
   36         WHEREAS, only 10 percent of dialysis patients receive
   37  treatment at home, and
   38         WHEREAS, ESRD disproportionately affects minority
   39  Americans, with incidence among African Americans 3.7 times
   40  greater than in Caucasians, and
   41         WHEREAS, Hispanic patients are 13 percent less likely than
   42  Caucasians to receive PD and 37 percent less likely to receive
   43  HHD, while African-American patients are 29 percent less likely
   44  than Caucasians to receive PD and 17 percent less likely to
   45  receive HHD, and HHD and HHD home training are less available in
   46  poorer counties, and
   47         WHEREAS, significant barriers preclude many patients from
   48  accessing HHD, including the lack of sufficient provider
   49  education about HHD, insufficient reimbursement for HHD, limited
   50  patient awareness of the option of HHD, and potentially
   51  burdensome requirements for care partner support, and
   52         WHEREAS, policymakers can alleviate these burdens by
   53  focusing on telehealth, medical waste laws, and reimbursement
   54  levels; by enabling and encouraging providers to offer HHD to
   55  more of their patients; and by providing a pathway for staff
   56  assisted HHD, NOW, THEREFORE,
   57  
   58  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   59  
   60         That the importance of equal access to all dialysis
   61  modalities for end-stage renal disease is recognized as a means
   62  of preserving state funds by enabling more patients who can
   63  benefit from home dialysis to access it.
   64         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that state agencies and policymakers
   65  are encouraged to implement policies to decrease the
   66  disproportionate number of African Americans and other
   67  minorities who lack access to home dialysis modalities.