1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2017 . 2. Table of contents The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—Improving patient lives and quality of care through research and innovation Sec. 101. Improving patient lives and quality of care through research and innovation. Sec. 102. Enhancing care through new technologies. Sec. 103. Understanding current utilization of palliative care services. Sec. 104. Understanding the progression of kidney disease and treatment of kidney failure in minority populations. TITLE II—Empower patient decision making and choice Sec. 201. Providing individuals with kidney failure access to managed care. Sec. 202. Medigap coverage for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease. Sec. 203. Promoting access to home dialysis treatments. TITLE III—Improving patient care and ensuring quality outcomes Sec. 301. Maintain an economically stable dialysis infrastructure. Sec. 302. Improve patient decision making and transparency by consolidating and modernizing quality programs. Sec. 303. Increasing access to Medicare kidney disease education benefit. Sec. 304. Certification of new facilities. Sec. 305. Improving access in underserved areas. I Improving patient lives and quality of care through research and innovation 101. Improving patient lives and quality of care through research and innovation (a) Study The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the Secretary ) shall conduct a study on increasing kidney transplantation rates. Such study shall include an analysis of each of the following: (1) Any disincentives in the payment systems under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act that create barriers to kidney transplants and post-transplant care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease. (2) The practices used by States with higher than average donation rates and whether those practices and policies