Trump unveils plan to revamp care for kidney disease

WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order directing the government to revamp the nation’s care for kidney disease so that more people whose kidneys fail have a chance at early transplants and home dialysis.

Trump said his order was intended to increase the supply of donated kidneys, make it easier for patients to undergo dialysis in the comfort of their own homes and prioritize the development of an artificial kidney.

“It’s truly an exciting day for advancing kidney health in our country,” Trump said Wednesday.

The changes won’t happen overnight — some of the initiatives will require new government regulations.

Because a severe organ shortage complicates the call for more transplants, the administration will try to ease the financial hardships for living donors by reimbursing them for expenses such as lost wages and child care, the Republican president said.

“Those people, I have to say, have never gotten enough credit,” Trump said. “What they do is so incredible.”

Another key change: steps to help the groups that collect deceased donations do a better job. Officials cited a study that suggests long term it may be possible to find 17,000 more kidneys and 11,000 other organs from deceased donors for transplant every year.

Federal health officials have made clear for months that they intend to shake up a system that today favors expensive, timeconsuming dialysis in large centers over easier-to-tolerate athome care or transplants that help patients live longer.

About 30 million American adults have chronic kidney disease, costing Medicare a staggering $113 billion.