Senate Resolution 299 Printer's Number 1655

PENNSYLVANIA, April 29 - IgAN and other immune-mediated kidney diseases, owing to the

difficulty of the rare disease diagnostic odyssey, the limited

number of nephrology providers and lack of awareness about the

causes of kidney disease; and

WHEREAS, IgAN is twice as likely to appear in men as women,

can occur at any age but most likely strikes people in their 20s

and 30s and is more common in Caucasians and Asians; and

WHEREAS, Kidney disease, including IgAN, presents a

significant burden not only on the health and lives of patients

and their families, but also incurs great challenges for the

health care system and health care costs of this Commonwealth,

with estimates suggesting that patients with IgAN-attributed

ESRD have health costs exceeding $63,000 a year; and

WHEREAS, While the Federal Medicare program covers the costs

of dialysis for many patients with ESRD, 45% of ESRD patients

are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and ESRD is a

significant source of disability, with ESRD patients employed at

only one-fifth the rate of the general population; and

WHEREAS, Kidney disease patients are entering a new era of

hope, including for rare diseases, with multiple drugs now

approved by the Food and Drug Administration to slow the

progression of CKD and multiple drugs approved to slow the

progression of IgAN specifically, including innovative

immunology-based therapies, and more clinical trials are

underway for such products; and

WHEREAS, There is growing recognition that early

identification of kidney disease and rare kidney diseases,

including through broader screening of patients with low-cost

serum creatinine blood tests and urine albuminuria creatinine

ratio tests, can slow the progression of kidney disease and

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