How President Trump’s Executive Order is Set to Impact the Dialysis Market
An executive order was signed by President Trump this week to reform the kidney treatment industry. The order will create new payment models. It will encourage more kidney transplants and give patients incentives to seek dialysis treatment at home instead of at treatment centers. According to the release, kidney disease was the ninth-leading cause of death in the United States in 2017. Approximately 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and more than 726,000 have ESRD. More than 100,000 Americans begin dialysis each year to treat ESRD. Twenty percent die within a year; fifty percent die within 5 years. Currently, nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant.
Section 5 of the executive order states the following:
Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall select a payment model to evaluate the effects of creating payment incentives for greater use of home treatment for Medicare beneficiaries on dialysis. The model should adjust payments based on the percentage of a participating provider’s attributed patients who either are on home dialysis or have received a kidney transplant and should include a learning system to help participants improve performance. Greater rates of at-home treatment and transplantation will improve quality of life and care for patients who require dialysis and may eliminate the need for it altogether for many patients.
This new order poses key questions for dialysis property owners:
- How will this bill affect the status and viability of currently operating freestanding clinics?
- Do we expect this news to affect the values of clinics nationwide?
Contact a Matthews™ agent today if currently own a dialysis clinic to discuss the viability of your asset and create a plan to secure your investment.
