Patients in 'gap' ask state to let them buy coverage

[okarol]

 
Patients in 'gap' ask state to let them buy coverage

Bill would allow those who don't qualify for
Medicaid to buy supplement

By Liv Osby • Health Writer • March 7, 2010

Angela Lattimore racks up more than $1,900 in
medical bills every month.

But with income of just $1,500, she can only afford
to pay around $300 and still provide a home for
herself and her 10-year-old son.

She and other kidney dialysis patients say Medigap
insurance would help. And next Wednesday they
plan to ask the state Senate Banking and Insurance
Subcommittee to release a bill that would enable
them, and thousands of other disabled residents, to
get it.

Lattimore, 36, has suffered from end-stage renal
disease since her pregnancy, requiring her to
undergo dialysis, a treatment that cleanses the
blood in place of the kidneys.

Medicare pays for 80 percent of the procedure,
medication and doctor visits. But that leaves patients
to pick up the other 20 percent.

Lattimore, of Seneca, says her share is $1,200 for
dialysis, $120 in drugs, and $600 for doctors.

While people 65 and older can buy private Medigap
insurance to pick up much of the extra costs,
younger Medicare beneficiaries by law cannot. Their
only other option is the state's high risk insurance
pool, whose premiums are too costly for many
people.

For those who are eligible, Medicaid picks up the
additional costs. But Lattimore, who worked as an
executive assistant at a marketing firm before she
got sick, says she gets $150 too much in Social
Security Disability to qualify.

About 500 of the 7,500 South Carolinians
undergoing dialysis, and another 130,000 disabled
people, have no secondary insurance, said Mary
Higginbotham, manager of legislative affairs for the
 
National Kidney Foundation of South Carolina.

“A lot of these patients are stuck in the middle,
forced to spend down their assets so they qualify
for Medicaid,” she said.

But many would rather get supplemental insurance,
whose premiums run about $200-$250 a month,
she said.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-
Cherokee, would allow them to do that, saving the s
tate about $1 million a year in Medicaid costs, she
said.

State Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, said the
measure is “good policy” for affected residents
because it eases their financial hardship and saves
taxpayers' money.

“And in these budget times, every dollar makes a
difference,” he said, noting 29 other states have
adopted similar measures.

Lattimore, who gets dialysis four hours every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hopes South
Carolina will become number 30.

“Paying a premium would be so much more
affordable than the balances I'm trying to pay now,”
she said. “There is no way I can pay these bills.”

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100307/NEWS/303070006/1004/NEWS01/Patients-in-%E2%80%98gap--ask-state-to-let-them-buy-coverage