Cuts to dialysis care would have big impact

As a dialysis facility administrator at DaVita Cedar Rapids Dialysis Center in Cedar Rapids, I care for 48 kidney failure patients every day. My patients require three- to four-hour dialysis sessions three times a week to rid their bodies of deadly toxins and to enable them to live full and active lives.

I am disturbed and angered over a recent proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that would cut Medicare reimbursement for dialysis care by close to 12 percent. Considering that Medicare reimbursement fails to cover the cost of dialysis currently, further cuts will be devastating to the hundreds of thousands of patients on dialysis who depend on Medicare and the caregivers who treat them.

The effects of these proposed cuts to dialysis care may force reductions in staffing levels, reduced access to additional services such as social workers, nurses or dietitians and, potentially, dramatically reduced access to dialysis care in Cedar Rapids altogether.

Clinics may be forced to close or consolidate, requiring patients to travel greater distances for their life-sustaining care.

It's important for lawmakers to understand that without ready access to dialysis care and ancillary services, patients with kidney failure will die.

Contact Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Bruce Braley in Congress and ask them to ensure that CMS maintain appropriate funding to continue providing lifesaving care for our vulnerable Cedar Rapids area residents.

Tracy J. Seboldt

DaVita Cedar Rapids

Dialysis Unit