Letter: Kidney patients dropped from private insurance

[okarol]

The Billings Gazette
Published on Sunday, October 26, 2008
Letter: Kidney patients dropped from private insurance

As Sen. Max Baucus listens to health care concerns across Montana, there is one group of patients whom I would like to ensure are heard - those with end-stage renal disease, otherwise known as kidney failure, who are on dialysis.

As a former dialysis patient and kidney transplant recipient, I watch with great trepidation the epidemic-like increases of kidney failure. In Montana alone, the number of dialysis patients has increased close to 10 percent in five years with more than 600 people relying on life-saving dialysis for survival.

I applaud Baucus for passing important kidney care reforms in the Medicare legislation (MIPPA) this year - reforms that will help kidney patients continue to receive the quality care they need and help thousands of Americans avoid kidney failure through educational and awareness programs.

Kidney patients still, however, need one more change to Medicare law. Today, kidney patients with private health insurance are dropped by their insurers and forced to go on Medicare after two-and-a-half years. Kidney patients is the only patient group this happens to, and it typically means worse benefits, higher out-of-pocket costs and a lot of confusion. The policy results in higher costs for taxpayers and increases the Medicare program's costs.

As the country and Congress face a major fiscal crisis next year, I implore Baucus to please protect kidney patients by sparing the reforms that were just passed and by changing the policy so kidney patients can have greater access to health insurance.

Dawn Dungan
Billings

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/10/26/opinion/letters/42-kidney.txt

[ahamner]

Kidney patients still, however, need one more change to Medicare law. Today, kidney patients with private health insurance are dropped by their insurers and forced to go on Medicare after two-and-a-half years. Kidney patients is the only patient group this happens to, and it typically means worse benefits, higher out-of-pocket costs and a lot of confusion. The policy results in higher costs for taxpayers and increases the Medicare program's costs.

As the country and Congress face a major fiscal crisis next year, I implore Baucus to please protect kidney patients by sparing the reforms that were just passed and by changing the policy so kidney patients can have greater access to health insurance.

Dawn Dungan
Billings

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/10/26/opinion/letters/42-kidney.txt

I think this may concern the "30 month waiting period" Medicare requires if you have private insurance.  During that time your private insurance is required by Medicare law to be the primary coverage and Medicare is secondary.  After this period Medicare becomes the primary and your private insurance becomes secondary.

The politicians are pushing legislation to extend the waiting period to 42 months so that the costs would be shifted from Medicare to your private insurance.  If so, this is just a cost cutting move by Medicare and a Medicare benefit reduction for those that have private insurance.

[Zach]

Sounds like Dawn Dungan is hawking for the "Caring" Kidney Committee (DaVita, et al.).