Bill for kidney patients deserves quick passage

[okarol]

Bill for kidney patients deserves quick passage

The death last month of U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., may serve as a blessing for some of the estimated 70,000 kidney patients whose lives depend on receiving transplanted organs.

The congressman, who waited six years for a lung transplant after his initial diagnosis in 1998, championed the bill in his final months. In his honor, H.R. 710 passed the House 422-0 … and it is expected to quickly move through the Senate.

By formally facilitating paired donations, the waiting list for kidneys could immediately shrink by 1,000 per year. This change alone could increase transplants by 14 percent, according to one study.

The current interpretation literally is a killer: 60 percent of those on the waiting list at any time will die before they can find a recipient. It’s also quite costly, as over time dialysis is much more expensive than a transplant. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would save taxpayers $470 million in spending on public health programs over the next 10 years.

These bills, federal and state, meld compassion with common sense. Both should quickly become law. Such personal acts of generosity should not be delayed by red tape or shrouded in legal ambiguity.

– Rocky Mountain News , Denver

http://www.phila-tribune.com/channel/news/032007/rdp032007.asp

[Sluff]

A lot of encouraging statistics. It becomes more important when a congressman needs a transplant.

[kitkatz]

ESRD and dialysis is covered by Medicare because one of a congressman's family members was on dialysis and it got way expensive for the insurance company and the patient.  It does work when congressmen are affected by disease and laws.