HHS Launches Kidney Care National Plan to Transform Kidney Care in America
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on October 20 launched the Kidney Care National Plan in Washington, a coordinated department-wide strategy focused on revitalizing American kidney care. As part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative, the plan will address the root causes of disease and implement better treatments at every stage of kidney disease, identifying where federal action can improve care across the entire spectrum, eliminate regulatory barriers to support innovation and a well-functioning kidney market, and deliver greater choice and superior outcomes.
"President Trump changed the course of kidney care in 2019 by challenging a system that waited for patients to reach kidney failure," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "Now HHS is building on that work by detecting kidney disease earlier, expanding treatment and home-care options, removing barriers to innovation and transplantation, and strengthening safety across the transplant system. Our goal is simple: preserve kidney health, give patients more choices, and help more Americans avoid kidney failure and live longer, healthier lives."
Kidney disease is one of the nation's most common chronic diseases, affecting an estimated 37 million American adults, according to HHS. Most of those affected do not know they have it, so treatment often begins only after significant damage has occurred, leaving patients dependent on lifelong dialysis or a kidney transplant. President Trump signed the landmark Executive Order Advancing American Kidney Health in 2019, establishing a federal vision to prevent kidney failure, expand patient choice, and increase access to transplantation, on which the 2026 plan builds.
The plan centers on three priorities: preventing kidney failure by detecting disease earlier and advancing treatments that can slow or stop progression; improving dialysis care and expanding patient choice by promoting competition, expanding home-based care, and supporting innovation; and reforming transplantation by strengthening safety, transparency, and accountability while expanding access to living and deceased-donor transplantation. As a pillar of the plan, HHS will advance a National Transplant Expansion Strategy to make living donation easier and more accessible.
"To Make America Healthy Again, we must confront chronic disease before it becomes catastrophic — and kidney disease is a clear example," said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. "Too many Americans are diagnosed after serious damage has occurred, while our system often waits for kidney failure instead of acting sooner."
HHS also cited work already underway: over the last 12 months the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the treatment landscape for serious kidney diseases, including the first FDA-approved treatment for certain patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and the first treatment for adults with complement 3 glomerulopathy to reduce proteinuria, plus new therapies for immunoglobulin A nephropathy and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome; HHS is investing up to $4.67 million in the KidneyX Prize Competition with the American Society of Nephrology; an analysis released the same day by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation associates the 2019 Executive Order with roughly 2,000 additional kidney transplants per year and projected economic benefits reaching $200 billion through 2040; HRSA has implemented the HOLD Act, passed in February 2026, streamlining living organ donor reimbursement; and HHS has moved to decertify organ procurement organizations that failed to meet federal standards. "Millions of people living with kidney failure deserve the best chance at a longer, healthier life," said HRSA Administrator Tom Engels.
The plan sets three priorities: preventing kidney failure through early screening and intervention and advancing treatments that can slow or stop progression; improving dialysis care and expanding patient choice by fostering competition, lowering entry barriers for new providers and therapies, and expanding home care; and strengthening the safety of the transplant system.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：患者接受血液透析治疗（资料图）。维基共享资源，CC0，作者 Anna Frodesiak／Photo: A patient receiving hemodialysis treatment (file photo). Wikimedia Commons, CC0, by Anna Frodesiak
