{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sewell.house.gov/2023/12/reps-sewell-and-bilirakis-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-help-rare-kidney-disease-patients", "Reps. Sewell and Bilirakis Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Help Rare Kidney Disease Patients", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "AL", "Terri A. Sewell", "S001185", "sewell.house.gov", "sewell", "https://sewell.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) and Terri Sewell (AL-07) introduced the New Era for Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act. This important legislation will help transform the delivery of care to rare kidney disease patients by increasing community and healthcare provider awareness and education.\n\nEach year, Medicare spends more than $84 billion providing critical care to patients with chronic kidney disease, including $36 billion on patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Unfortunately, there has been little innovation in treatment options for kidney disease patients since the 1960s when dialysis and immunosuppressants became commonplace. Earlier this year, the FDA approved the first-of-its-kind non-immunosuppressive drug therapy for the rare kidney disease IgA Nephropathy. Yet oftentimes, patients struggle to find a nephrologist well-versed in their rare conditions who can provide an accurate diagnosis and expert treatment. These treatment and diagnostic barriers, coupled with the lack of rare kidney disease awareness and education, often cause a delay in diagnosis that can result in a rapid decline in kidney function and, ultimately, kidney failure. For many rare kidney disease patients, their only options are dialysis, transplant, or death.\n\n\u201cFar too many people living with rare kidney disease have trouble finding specialized care providers,\u201d said Rep. Sewell. \u201cIncreasing awareness and education is crucial to caring for rare kidney disease patients, which is why I\u2019m so proud to introduce the New Era For Preventing End Stage Kidney Disease Act. This legislation will make critical improvements to the way patients with rare kidney disease, especially those in underserved communities, access and receive care.\u201d\n\n\"Our life-saving legislation will help remove diagnostic and treatment barriers for many patients suffering with a rare disease,\" said Rep. Bilirakis. \"Through the establishment of Rare Kidney Disease Research Centers of Excellence and increased provider education efforts, we will empower providers to better identify the signs and symptoms of rare kidney disease, which will lead to improved treatment options and better patient outcomes.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sewell.house.gov/2023/12/reps-sewell-and-bilirakis-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-help-rare-kidney-disease-patients"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9544901549816132, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}