March 16, 2010
Passage of Health Overhaul Bill will unalterably change the CKD advocacy landscapeBy Bill Peckham
I take there to be at least three foundational policy positions in the CKD advocacy community. Not that everyone has the same position but that everyone has a position on: extending immunosuppressant drug coverage for the life of the graft, include/exclude oral drugs in the final dialysis PPS rule, and the length of the Medicare Secondary Payer provision. In the first case everyone in the CKD advocacy community seems to be on the same page, in favor of extending coverage. Positions on including oral drugs are less clear cut, and in the case of MSP, CKD advocates disagree, but generally CKD advocates have positions on these three issues.
The passage of the Health Overhaul Bill, without specifically addressing it, will take the immunosuppressant issue off the table by providing routine access to insurance. The question of whether to include oral drugs in the final PPS will be moot since the final Health Overhaul Bill will include a call for the GAO to study the issue. And by eliminating the preexisting condition issue, and life time insurance caps, the Health Overhaul Bill leaves me without a strong objection to extending MSP and I agree that there is an opportunity to create an important incentive by extending the MSP period only for those dialyzors who are working or actively seeking paid work.
Am I missing something or will the CKD advocacy landscape unalterably change with the passage of this bill?
http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2010/03/passage-of-health-overhaul-bill-will-unalterably-change-the-ckd-advocacy-landscape.html
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