March 1, 2024 – During March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) recognizes National Kidney Month. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness about early chronic kidney disease (CKD). CKD is a condition that damages the kidneys and impacts their ability to properly filter blood. Left untreated, CKD can cause toxic waste and extra fluid to build up, which can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and early death. Since people with early-stage kidney disease usually do not experience symptoms, 9 in 10 adults living with CKD are unaware they have the disease. This month, CMS OMH is highlighting the importance of early screening for CKD to prevent kidney failure and other health problems, especially for those who have an increased risk of the disease.
Chronic kidney disease affects an estimated 14% of adults in the United States—about Some of the largest risk factors for CKD include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. These conditions continue to disproportionately affect minority populations. Among adults aged 18 years old and older with CKD, Black Americans are most heavily affected by the disease (20%), followed by Asian Americans (14%) and Hispanic Americans (14%). To help prevent CKD and lower the risk for kidney failure, patients should learn about their risk factors, get tested annually, increase physical activity, take all medications as instructed, and visit the doctor regularly.
CMS OMH is raising awareness about CKD during National Kidney Month. We encourage you to share the resources below with your community this month and all year.
Resources
- Read our Chronic Kidney Disease Disparities in Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries data snapshot to learn more about CKD among Medicare fee-for-service enrollees.
- Review our Chronic Kidney Disease Often Undiagnosed in Medicare Beneficiaries data highlight to see how CKD stages compared between lab tests and diagnoses among people enrolled in Medicare.
- Explore our Chronic Care Management (CCM) resources, which raise awareness about the benefits of CCM for patients with multiple chronic conditions and provide health care professionals with resources to implement CCM, like the Chronic Care Management Toolkit.
- Check out the Chronic Kidney Disease Disparities: Educational Guide for Primary Care, which promotes the development of primary care practice teams that can enhance care for patients who are at risk of CKD or living with CKD.
- Visit our Coverage to Care (C2C) Prevention Resources webpage to download resources for your patients so they can learn about services available at no cost to them under most health coverage. All resources are available in multiple languages.
- View our C2C Roadmap to Better Care, which explains what health coverage is and how to use it to get primary care and preventive services. This resource is available in 10 languages.
Learn about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Chronic Kidney Disease Initiative, which provides public health strategies for promoting kidney health.
