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Kidney Care Partners Applauds Governor Sebelius's Appointment as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 April 2009, 18:06 CDT

Dialysis Community Confident of Kansas Governor's Record of Patients First and Prowess at Navigating Complex Health Care Issues

WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kidney Care Partners, a coalition of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers and manufacturers working together to improve quality of care for individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease, commends Congress's confirmation of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"We applaud the Administration's choice of Gov. Sebelius and look forward to working with her on improving our country's treatment of chronic diseases including kidney failure, one of the leading causes of death in the United States," said Kent Thiry, Chairman of KCP.

Prior to her appointment as Secretary, Gov. Sebelius established a record of working in a bipartisan manner to promote health care reform during her eight years as Governor and six years as Kansas's insurance commissioner, and helped draft a national patients' bill of rights during her work as commissioner. As HHS Secretary, she will lead the federal government's largest domestic department, overseeing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agencies key to the delivery of quality dialysis care, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Last year Congress took a critical step to ensure quality dialysis patient care by enacting important educational programs, and structural changes to the outdated reimbursement system with the passage of the "Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act" (MIPPA). The HHS Secretary will play a key role in ensuring timely enactment of these provisions.

"And during this critical crossroads for our nation's healthcare system, it is imperative that all sectors of government and of healthcare work in unison with a focus on patient needs to ensure the delivery of quality health care," added Thiry, noting the importance of disease management and care coordination in End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patient outcomes and in reforming the nation's health care system. "The kidney community has been at the forefront of health care reform with quality improvement initiatives and our members look forward to working with Gov. Sebelius and Congress on sweeping health care reform."

SOURCE Kidney Care Partners

Source: PR Newswire

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