Dialysis Treatment - A Punch in the Kidneys
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- Written by: Super User
Dialysis Treatment – A Punch in the Kidneys
April 2, 2008
Here’s a fact that may surprise you: kidney failure is the one disease that you can get coverage for – from the Federal Government - no matter what.
For this reason, after 30 months of treatment by a private insurer, dialysis facilities bill Medicare regardless of whether the patient is over 65 or financially stable. For those with kidney failure (End Stage Renal Disease) due to diabetes or other causes, having a machine take over the complicated (and therefore expensive) task of cleaning their blood several times a week allows them to live.
MSP extension: For several years, various groups have been pushing for an extension of the Medicare Secondary Payment time frame from 30 months to 42 months, claiming in part it is a denial of patients rights to force them onto Medicare if they want to retain private insurance. Kidney Care Partners (KCP) - a coalition of drug manufacturers, dialysis providers, health care professionals and patient advocates formed in 2003 - are pushing for the Medicare Secondary Payment extension as well as other “quality of care improvements for renal disease.” (The House of Representatives approved the MSP extension in August 2007 when it voted to pass the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act, which Bush later vetoed. See our piece on S-CHIP.)
Sounds good, yes?
Not so fast.
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