Advocacy & Public Policy

Kidney Health Advocacy

A Message From ASN President Samir M. Parikh, MD, FASN

June 30, 2026 

 

Dear Colleague: 

 

This month, the American Society of Nephrology's (ASN's) efforts to advance policies that improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and innovation in kidney care focused on defending medical research; advocating for issues affecting nephrology within the American Medical Association; and improving quality measurement. 

 

1) ASN Drafts Response to OMB and Encourages Members to Submit Individual Reactions

The White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) proposed new rule, "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance" (RIN 0991-AC35), would make sweeping changes to federal grants and pose significant threats to the nation's research framework. Key provisions would expand authority to terminate grants, require approval from political appointees for awards, and prohibit the use of grant funds to defray publication and conference participation costs. ASN has already shared with Congress how the proposed revisions would undermine the National Institutes of Health, urging Congress to pair robust, bipartisan funding with strong oversight to ensure research investments are implemented in accordance with congressional intent. ASN is drafting its response in preparation for OMB's July 13, 2026, deadline, and I strongly encourage the ASN membership to submit individual reactions, focusing on how this proposal would undermine kidney research and reduce kidney health. The more specific your input, the more effective it will be.  

 

2) ASN Collaborates with the American Medical Association (AMA) 

ASN attended the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) earlier this month to collaborate with the greater medical community, and prepare for next year's meeting, where ASN will become officially seated in the AMA HOD. ASN weighted in on numerous resolutions with implications for kidney care, including voicing support for Resolution 208, "Incorporating Critical Medical Treatment Planning Into Emergency/Disaster Preparedness," emphasizing the need for planning to ensure dialysis access during emergency situations, which was adopted, and joining the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and other groups in successfully defeating a well-intentioned but misguided resolution regarding organ procurement.

ASN also endorsed an AMA-led Bill, the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act (H.R. 8163), which aims to improve Medicare physician payment stability in the long term, increase reimbursement accuracy, and align physician payments with the real cost of delivering care. This legislation joins another AMA-led bill, the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act (H.R. 879), which advances a complementary, shorter-term physician payment fix.

  

3) ASN Outlines Vision for a Future Kidney Care Choices (KCC) Model with CMMI 

ASN submitted a letter to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in April and this month, responded to a request to discuss the input from the CMMI Director and CMS Deputy Administrator. ASN provided concrete feedback regarding strengths of the CKCC model that should be continued and opportunities to make the model more predictable, stable, and likely to succeed in the future. The KCC Model has demonstrated promising impacts across several domains, including improvements in optimal dialysis starts, increased preemptive waitlisting and transplantation, greater adoption of home dialysis modalities, and strengthened care coordination and patient education.

 

4) ASN Submits Feedback on Battelle's (PQM) Spring 2026 E&M

ASN submitted a letter to Battelle strongly supporting the endorsement of the Rate of Annual Kidney Health Evaluation Among Adults with Diabetes and/or Hypertension measure (CBE 5611e), emphasizing that endorsement of the measure would promote greater accountability and consistency in kidney health screening across the healthcare system. ASN also supported the inclusion of Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries in four dialysis facility-level quality measures, noting that incorporating MA patients is essential to ensuring that quality measurement fully and accurately reflects the entire ESRD population, including the growing number of patients enrolled in MA plans. 

 

5) ASN Applauds House Introduction of the Bipartisan PKD Cures Act

ASN celebrates the introduction of the PKD Cures Act (H.R. 9169) and commends the bipartisan leadership involved in its markup. This promising bill has the potential to improve the lives of the 600,000 Americans living with PKD by developing a comprehensive roadmap for PKD research and directing NIH to expand this research across basic, translational and clinical science.  This aligns with ASN priorities in the kidney community's recent Transforming Kidney Health Research report.

 

6) ASN Urges Congress to Support Research in LHHS FY27 Appropriations

ASN has been working with coalitions to amplify the voice of the research community in the appropriations process. Joining the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research and the Coalition for Health Funding, ASN applauded Congress's rejection of proposed NIH cuts and highlighted the critical importance of funding scientific research while voicing concerns regarding disruptions to the NIH and cuts to other agencies. 

 

7) ASN eGFR Toolkit 2.0 Presented at the Encoding Health Equity Summit 2026

With funding support from the Council of Medical Specialty Societies and the Doris Duke Foundation, the ASN Health Care Justice Committee revised and expanded the ASN eGFR Toolkit to better target primary care clinicians and build on their front-line role in screening for kidney diseases. The updated toolkit was presented on June 23 at the Encoding Health Equity Summit 2026. In the final phase of the project, ASN will disseminate the updated toolkit among primary care clinicians to expand awareness and adoption of the updated toolkit which facilitates the use of race-free eGFR equations in the diagnosis and management of people with or at risk for kidney diseases.

 

8) Participate in Kidney Health Advocacy

Help shape the future of kidney health by taking action through ASN's Legislative Action Center (LAC) and viewing a recording of the recent ASN Quality Committee Webinar: Exploring the Quality and Regulatory Landscape in Nephrology. In just a few clicks, write to your representatives through the LAC in support of ASN-endorsed bills. The Exploring the Quality and Regulatory Landscape in Nephrology webinar reviews important updates regarding quality measurement, value-based care, and emerging policy developments affecting nephrology practice and patient outcomes.

 

Thank you for your steadfast commitment to improving outcomes for people living with kidney diseases. ASN looks forward to working together to advance these shared goals in the months ahead.

 

Sincerely,

Samir M. Parikh, MD, FASN
President

Advocating for Transformative Change

ASN—both individually and as a member of healthcare, medical, and scientific coalitions—routinely engages Congress and the Trump Administration, advocating for policies to create transformative changes in kidney health. ASN relies on its Health Care Justice Committee, Policy and Advocacy Committee, Quality Committee, and Transplant Policy Committee when formulating, prioritizing, and accomplishing annual policy priorities. A summary of ASN's most recent advocacy efforts follows in reverse chronological order.

Additional Advocacy Resources

February 2025: How Trump's Medical Research Cuts Would Hit Colleges and Hospitals in Every State (New York Times).

Council on Governmental Relations Facilities and Administrative Cost Reimbursement Advocacy Materials.

Association of American Medical Colleges Advocacy Resources on Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs:

• A fact sheet outlining key messages and a frequently asked questions overview.
• A comparison of foundations' support for F&A to government support.
• An infographic illustrating what types of expenses are and are not supported by F&A reimbursement.

January 2025: Research!America releases results of national survey showing Americans want President and Congress to assign higher priority to medical progress.