CMMI unveils ESRD payment model to improve health equity Getty Images/iStockphoto CMS on Thursday unveiled its first value-based payment model directly addressing health equity, a top Biden administration priority. The pay model is part of the agency's 2022 end-stage renal disease prospective payment system proposed rule. CMS plans to modify the ESRD Treatment Choices Model's benchmarking and scoring methodology to encourage dialysis providers to reduce disparities in home dialysis and kidney transplant rates among ESRD patients from disadvantaged communities. The proposed rule would also update payment rates and make changes to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program. "Health equity is at the center of our work here at CMS," CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a statement. "When CMS encourages dialysis providers to offer more options for Medicare patients to receive dialysis treatments, it can be life-changing and lead to better health outcomes, greater autonomy and better quality of life for patients with kidney disease."