Concurrent Care for Comfort Act

This bill amends the Medicare program to clarify coverage and separate payment for palliative dialysis services furnished to certain individuals who have elected hospice care. It defines palliative dialysis as dialysis provided for comfort, not treatment or maintenance, and limits payment to ten sessions per individual, with possible adjustments by the Secretary.

Sec. 2, Clarification and application of policy for concurrent palliative dialysis and hospice care: This section amends the Social Security Act to include palliative dialysis services in the hospice care benefit, allowing these services to be furnished by providers or renal dialysis facilities to eligible individuals who have elected hospice care. It establishes a separate payment methodology for these services, separate from the hospice care bundle, starting in 2026. The Secretary must develop a payment methodology considering amounts comparable to standard dialysis and any necessary adjustments. Payment is limited to ten sessions, with home dialysis converted to hemodialysis equivalent sessions. The Secretary may modify this limit in 2029 and subsequent years based on assessment and stakeholder feedback. Cost-sharing provisions for standard kidney dialysis also apply to these palliative services. The bill defines 'palliative dialysis services' as dialysis for palliative care, not treatment or maintenance, and 'palliative dialysis eligible individual' as someone with end-stage renal disease who elects hospice care and was receiving dialysis before that election. It clarifies that this does not affect coverage or payment for standard dialysis for individuals with end-stage renal disease who elect hospice for a non-related terminal condition.