Trump directs government to revamp care for kidney disease

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order today revamping care for kidney disease so more people whose kidneys fail can have a chance at early transplants and home dialysis, and others don't get that sick in the first place.

Trump said his order was aimed at "making life better and longer for millions" by increasing the supply of donated kidneys, making it easier for patients to have dialysis in the comfort of their own homes and prioritizing the development of an artificial kidney.

The changes won't happen overnight because some initiatives will require new government regulations.

Because a severe organ shortage complicates the call for more transplants, the Trump administration will try to ease the financial hardships for living donors by reimbursing them for expenses such as lost wages and child care.

"Those people, I have to say, have never gotten enough credit," Trump said. "What they do is so incredible."

Another key change: steps to help the groups that collect deceased donations do a better job. Trump said it may be possible to find 17,000 more kidneys and 11,000 other organs from deceased donors for transplant every year.

For families like those of 1-year-old Hudson Nash, the lack of organs is frightening. Hudson was born with damaged kidneys, and his parents hope he will be big enough for a transplant in another year. Until then, "to keep him going, he takes numerous medicines, receives multiple shots, blood draws and more doctors' visits than I can count," said his mother, Jamie Nash of Santa Barbara, Calif.