WASHINGTON — Congressman Vern Buchanan, Vice Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, and Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee, led a bipartisan letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an Officer of Kidney Health and Transplantation to strengthen federal efforts to prevent and treat chronic kidney disease (CKD), which affects more than 37 million Americans.
The lawmakers are working with HHS to build on ongoing efforts by creating a centralized leadership role to better coordinate kidney care, research, education and quality initiatives across federal agencies, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The proposal follows recommendations from the Health Subcommittee’s recent hearing on improving kidney health through prevention and innovation.
“Kidney disease is a growing challenge in our country, and we have an opportunity to work together to better support patients through stronger coordination and prevention,” said Buchanan. “Establishing a Kidney Health Officer at HHS would build on existing efforts, strengthen prevention strategies and help ensure patients have access to care sooner. We can’t afford to wait until lives are at risk—prevention must come first to stop kidney disease before it takes hold.”
“We cannot continue to treat kidney disease with 1970s-era solutions,” said Doggett. “Establishing an Officer of Kidney Health and Transplantation could provide leadership to transform kidney disease from an expensive, life-threatening burden into a manageable condition, while saving both taxpayer dollars and, more importantly, American lives.”
“A central office at HHS expressly focused on advancing kidney health could provide much-needed holistic oversight of CKD prevention work, while advancing innovation in a sector that is so desperately in need of change,” write the lawmakers in the letter. “As the risk factors for CKD include many common chronic conditions that are on the rise across the United States—including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity—the work of such an office will become all the more relevant in the coming years, aligning with an agenda to advance prevention broadly.”
Chronic kidney disease remains one of the most significant and costly health challenges in the United States, with federal spending reaching an estimated $150 billion annually. The lawmakers emphasized that continued progress in innovation, prevention and early detection will be critical to improving outcomes and reducing long-term costs. They also noted that kidney disease is often linked to other common conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity, underscoring the importance of early screening, preventive care and patient education.
In addition to being the Vice Chairman and most senior Republican on the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Buchanan is also the Chairman of the Health Subcommittee, which has broad jurisdiction over traditional Medicare, the Medicare prescription drug benefit program and Medicare Advantage.
