Shown is Congressman Olson talking with patient Diane Updike and her husband about the severity of the cuts.
U.S. Representative Pete Olson (TX-22) visited the First Colony DaVita Dialysis Center last week to meet patients and care givers and learn about dialysis; in particular, the kidney care needs of local constituents.
DaVita invites representatives to tour the dialysis center, learn about kidney disease, and hear how Congress can protect people with kidney failure who depend upon dialysis treatments to live. Through this education, Congressman Olson learned that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have proposed steep cuts to Medicare’s end-stage renal disease program. Dialysis patients and providers depend on Congress to make sure the total payment amount for dialysis services is adequate to cover the cost of providing the life-sustaining treatments.
“It was a pleasure to visit the DaVita Dialysis Center in Sugar Land to see the great work they are doing for people in our community,” said Congressman Olson. “The caring and friendly staff spoke in-depth with me about the critical need to ensure dialysis patients receive adequate funding for treatments. I thank the employees for hosting and speaking with me at their facility.”
About 85 percent of the dialysis patients accessing quality care today are Medicare beneficiaries. Payment cuts, like the 10 percent proposed on July 1 by CMS, are devastating to dialysis patients, families and providers. Access to quality dialysis care in our community could be jeopardized if cuts aren’t reversed.
The First Colony DaVita Dialysis Center serves Fort Bend County.
For more information, please call 281-494-1465 or visit them at 1447 Highway 6, Suite 140 Sugar Land, TX 77478.