DaVita Patients: Are you a Hipper?

[RealityCheck]

When word began to slip into the community about DaVita's Hippers, that DaVita had established twice weekly monthly conference calls with facility administrators, billing managers, regional directors and social workers to review the status and satisfaction levels of Hippers, patients with commercial insurance and either no Medicare or Medicare within the first 30 months of dialysis, public indignation to grow.  To cover the intent and activity of the attention given to these patients, the category was renamed.  They were called Comm1 patients.

The change happened at the time Healthcare Reform was being debated in Congress.  It was decided that Hippers would be called Comm1, Medicare-Commercial patients would be called Comm2 and Medicaid patients would be called Comm3.  To make it all look legitimate, Comm2 and Comm3 patients were also given a conference call.

Comm1 patients have special representatives dedicated to visit them and make sure they are having no problems with service and quality of care.  They are assigned to track them when they travel to do everything possible to make sure they travel to dialyze in a DaVita clinic--often showing up with a tourist binder of the destination with restaurant, hotel and tourism info along with pictures of the DaVita unit.  If a teammate, especially an FA or a social worker, were to allow a Comm1 to transfer to a competitor without alerting the Comm1 team and the regional manager, they can face termination.  Hippers are to receive special attention when they want to change shifts, to the point of opening an entire shift if they need one to work or take their kids to school.

They are bumped to the top of waiting lists for units without question.

DaVita executives say this is no different than airlines extending special courtesy to frequent fliers.

They tell "teammates" again and again that without Hippers, there would be no profits.  No profits, no raises.  If a hi

Are you a Hipper?  Only a microscopic portion of patients have insurance that makes them a Hipper for life.  So if you are, enjoy the ride.  When you turn over, it may be harder to get the service you thought was standard.

[greg10]

Thank you for posting this.  Vcarmody has posted a nice thread here on how much their insurance is paying the clinic which is in excess of three times the amount Medicare normally pays:
http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=22985.0

When word began to slip into the community about DaVita's Hippers, that DaVita had established twice weekly monthly conference calls with facility administrators, billing managers, regional directors and social workers to review the status and satisfaction levels of Hippers, patients with commercial insurance and either no Medicare or Medicare within the first 30 months of dialysis, public indignation to grow.  To cover the intent and activity of the attention given to these patients, the category was renamed.  They were called Comm1 patients.

The change happened at the time Healthcare Reform was being debated in Congress.  It was decided that Hippers would be called Comm1, Medicare-Commercial patients would be called Comm2 and Medicaid patients would be called Comm3.  To make it all look legitimate, Comm2 and Comm3 patients were also given a conference call.

Comm1 patients have special representatives dedicated to visit them and make sure they are having no problems with service and quality of care.  They are assigned to track them when they travel to do everything possible to make sure they travel to dialyze in a DaVita clinic--often showing up with a tourist binder of the destination with restaurant, hotel and tourism info along with pictures of the DaVita unit.  If a teammate, especially an FA or a social worker, were to allow a Comm1 to transfer to a competitor without alerting the Comm1 team and the regional manager, they can face termination.  Hippers are to receive special attention when they want to change shifts, to the point of opening an entire shift if they need one to work or take their kids to school.

They are bumped to the top of waiting lists for units without question.

DaVita executives say this is no different than airlines extending special courtesy to frequent fliers.

They tell "teammates" again and again that without Hippers, there would be no profits.  No profits, no raises.  If a hi

Are you a Hipper?  Only a microscopic portion of patients have insurance that makes them a Hipper for life.  So if you are, enjoy the ride.  When you turn over, it may be harder to get the service you thought was standard.

[HouseOfDialysis]

Hippers?

[cattlekid]

I dialyze through FMC, not DaVita. However I would be considered to be a HIPPER if I was at DaVita.  My clinic bills and gets reimbursed $700 per treatment for me. 

Maybe I should transfer to DaVita so I can get the perks of being a HIPPER.     I may be going that route though sooner than later because if my current live donors don't pan out, I'm going to investigate NXStage and that is only available locally through DaVita.

[rsudock]

Hippers?

someone who has private insurance. private insurance pays more then if you are on state/welfare/medicare insurance.

[RealityCheck]

Private insurance only pays more than Medicare in the first 30 months of dialysis (if you're interested in the history of that law, PM me).

Hippers, or Comm1 patients are they're now called, only have that special status the first 30 months they dialyze.  After that, even if they have private insurance with Medicare, the private becomes secondary and the Medicare becomes primary, so you're no longer a Hipper.

There are a very few exceptional cases where someone is a Hipper for life:  it can happen if you worked for a government agency that didn't pay into Medicare but has its own retirement.   It can happen for other reasons if you have private insurance but don't qualify for Medicare at all.

I posted this because I firmly believe that dialysis companies operate in the shadows of public policy, outside transparency.  I think if more patients were aware of this caste system, DaVita would abandon it or do it on a much different level.  When there is no transparency, you will always have exploitation of public funds and private individuals.

[lola]

Otto was a "hipper" although his care still SUCKED at Davita, after almost 2 years of home hemo at $60,000 a MONTH we left and went to Fersenias(sp) and again Otto was a "hipper" and the service was AMAZING!!!! Otto now is on medicare but his care is still awesome, the girls take good care of him, the only complaint is he can't stand the DR.

[Bill Peckham]

Private insurance only pays more than Medicare in the first 30 months of dialysis (if you're interested in the history of that law, PM me).

Hippers, or Comm1 patients are they're now called, only have that special status the first 30 months they dialyze.  After that, even if they have private insurance with Medicare, the private becomes secondary and the Medicare becomes primary, so you're no longer a Hipper.

There are a very few exceptional cases where someone is a Hipper for life:  it can happen if you worked for a government agency that didn't pay into Medicare but has its own retirement.   It can happen for other reasons if you have private insurance but don't qualify for Medicare at all.

I posted this because I firmly believe that dialysis companies operate in the shadows of public policy, outside transparency.  I think if more patients were aware of this caste system, DaVita would abandon it or do it on a much different level.  When there is no transparency, you will always have exploitation of public funds and private individuals.

If you are using incenter dialysis it's a 33 month period - the 30 month clock starts after a three month waiting period.

If you train and go home at the start, the three month period is waved and you'd be a HIPPER COMM1 for 30 months.


Here's a link https://www.cms.gov/employerservices/04_endstagerenaldisease.asp

[RealityCheck]

You're so right about the 33 months for hemo and the 30 months for home, Bill.  I stand corrected.

If anyone wants to see an interesting display of facial movement, ask your DaVita facility manager if you are a Hipper.  If he/she says, "We don't have Hippers anymore," you can ask if you are a Comm1.