Senate Joint Resolution No. 9

Introduced by Senator Stone

(Coauthors: Senators Bates, Fuller, Huff, Morrell, Nguyen, Runner, and Vidak)

May 22, 2015

Senate Joint Resolution No. 9—Relative to the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 9, as introduced, Stone. The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act.

This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to enact the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Approximately 50 years ago, kidney failure was
a death sentence; and

WHEREAS, In 1972, Congress developed the Medicare
End-Stage Renal Disease benefit. In doing so, Congress ensured
that regardless of age or income, any American would have access
to life-saving dialysis care. That was the turning point in kidney
care; and

WHEREAS, The Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in
Research and Treatment Act (HR 1130) was introduced in the
House of Representatives by Representative Tom Marino to address
kidney disease care; and

WHEREAS, House Resolution 1130 is built on three primary
tenets. First, for individuals living with chronic diseases, especially
when those diseases are complicated by multiple comorbid
conditions, coordinated care is key to improving outcomes and
lowering health care costs. Second, increased research can lead to
a deeper understanding of kidney disease prevention and ultimately
to significant innovations in treatment. Lastly, stability in the
Medicare program is central to an end-stage renal disease program
that ensures quality and produces optimal results; and

WHEREAS, If left untreated, chronic kidney disease can
progress to kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease,
and early cardiovascular death; and

WHEREAS, More than 20 million adults in the United States,
or more than 10 percent of the adult population, are estimated to
have chronic kidney disease and most are undiagnosed; and

WHEREAS, Kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death
in the United States; and

WHEREAS, In the United States, diabetes and are the leading
causes of kidney failure, accounting for 72 percent or about three
out of four new cases of kidney failure; and

WHEREAS, The number of kidney failure cases in the United
States population has more than tripled since 1990 and is expected
to grow because of an aging population and the increasing number
of people with conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure,
that place them at the risk of developing chronic kidney disease;
now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and
the Congress of the United States to enact the Chronic Kidney
Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (HR 1130);
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President of the United States, to each Senator
and Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.