The authority of courage and compassion: Healthcare policy leadership in addressing the kidney disease public health epidemic

Recent developments in US kidney‐related healthcare policy have made chronic kidney disease (CKD) a societal focus in the United States. In the biggest policy change since the 1972 Social Security Amendments that extended Medicare coverage to patients with kidney failure regardless of age, a 2019 presidential executive order pledged to reduce end‐stage kidney disease, slow CKD progression, increase kidney transplants, and focus on home dialysis care. This manuscript seeks to outline key factors that can enable this milestone moment to evolve a policy framework that improves the health of society while being economically sustainable. Understanding the sociohistorical context of healthcare policy and the related lessons learned demonstrates that policy must take a broader view of the societal and system wide factors that affect chronic illness. Addressing the full breadth of the CKD epidemic requires looking at factors from both inside and outside traditional medical‐pathophysiological environments, including social determinants of health. This more fulsome insight will enable policy to better align the broad range of people and organizations who are working to combat the disease. By creating patient‐centered policy that both evolves with the speed of innovation and addresses root causes of CKD instead of narrowly focusing on symptoms or comorbidities alone, leaders in the public square have an historic opportunity to thoughtfully create the common ground of a lasting policy legacy that improves society's health today and for generations to come.