Please sign a petition to support me and others on dialysis

[Bill Peckham]

World Kidney Day is March 12
Please sign a petition to support me and others who manage their CKD with dialysis

March 12th is World Kidney Day!  It’s a good time to think about dialysis--and how sad it is that the U.S. lags so far behind the rest of the industrialized world.  20 million Americans have chronic kidney disease, and 20 million more are at risk.  About 375,000 require dialysis--of which 92% do conventional hemodialysis :  3 treatments/week of 3-4 hours.  This is not enough dialysis for most to live the lives they wish to live.   We want Medicare and the Congressional Kidney Caucus to support better treatment.  Won’t you please sign our petition to show your support?

   1. Please take a minute and go to http://www.petitiononline.com/eodD0903/petition.html   
   2. Please forward this message to everybody in your address book.
   3. Please post this message to all of your social networking friends.
   4. Please post this message to all of the internet forums and groups to which you belong.

Current Medicare reimbursement is routinely limited to 3 treatments per week, 156 treatments per year. This Medicare reimbursement policy forces people who are managing stage 5 chronic kidney disease with incenter hemodialysis to each week go two days without dialysis treatments. This is an anachronism. Hemodialysis is a routine emergency procedure; Medicare reimbursement should not force people who need regular dialysis to risk their health each week by going two days without dialysis.

We're asking that Congress pressure Medicare to change the number of treatments routinely reimbursed from 156 to 183 per year. This would remove the three day a week anachronism embedded in Medicare reimbursement and allow every other day dialysis. 183 payments a year would increase support to home dialysis programs currently providing health enhancing dialysis on a daily or near daily basis. A health treatment option Medicare currently under funds.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your support.

[Rerun]

Bill, I just can't support this.  I would rather medicare support lifetime medications for transplants.  I would rather see congress pass a bill to support the selling kidneys.  I know that these are controversial issues here, but Medicare keeps taking hits for dialysis and soon they will run out of money and the normal healthy person who has paid into the system their whole life will have nothing when they get old.  I already feel guilty taking so much for medicare.

How about if Medicare looks into how much it REALLY costs to dialyze a person and just pay that and not worry about DaVita's stock prices. 
Digging Medicare is not the answer.  Let KT take about 10 million a year less and let people dialyze more.

         

[Bill Peckham]

This is an idea I had and have been working on with Rich Berkowitz and Dori Schatell. I think the idea that Medicare says you have to go two days without dialysis is indefensible. I am not saying that you have to dialyze every other day, I am saying that Medicare can not justify forcing you to take two days off. I also have it posted on my blog if you want to send people a link or please feel free to copy any part of these messages and make it your own. I don't know if the Congressional Kidney Caucus could force CMS to make this change administratively but I think it would be good to have an active kidney caucus and this is an issue where Medicare's position is very weak.

[Bill Peckham]

Rerun the day after two days off is the deadliest day for people on dialysis - it is three times deadlier then the other six days of the week and people are far more likely to be hospitalized after two days without dialysis. By giving just 26 more treatments a year Medicare would need to spend about $3,000 which they could make up with just one less visit to the ER but we'll never know because if you spend more money on the part B side (out patient dialysis) of Medicare it doesn't matter how much it saves in Part A (hospitalization) because to Medicare those oare two completely separate wallets. It would save money and it would save lives.

MedPAC published report after report on how much it costs to dialyze people. The National Renal Administrators Association shared their report on the cost of dialysis. There has been Congressional testimony on the cost of providing a dialysis treatment. If you want the information it is there for you. It is a false choice to say you have to choose between lifetime transplant coverage and a dose of dialysis that is healthy. All of those individuals have the same disease - not that this is the choice but if you could would you really choose to kill some people with CKD5 to give others with the same disease additional years of transplant med coverage?

[Zach]

Please sign a petition to support me and others who manage their CKD with dialysis

Signed.
Thanks, Bill.

[jbeany]

Rerun, do the math.  375,000 on dialysis.  13,500 kidney transplants in a year.  Even if they allow payment plans, what is the best we could hope for - quadruple the number of transplants?  So we get 54,000 transplants in a year.  That still leaves 321,000 people stuck on inadequate dialysis.  I've just switched from home hemo back to in-center, and I've got to say - it sucks.  Compared to home, I'm tired; I'm thirsty, and I've got no appetite.  I'd love the option to add more dialysis if it meant I could feel better again.

I'm signing, Bill.

[glitter]

i signed

[Joe Paul]

   I did copy this post, and forwarded along to friends and family.

[Wallyz]

Signed

[G-Ma]

I signed.  I thought I was the only one complaining about those 2 days off.  I feel horrible even watching my fluid etc during the 2 days off.
Thanks Bill.

[Sunny]

My computer would not let me sign the petition and listed the site as "blocked."
Bill, thank you for all of your efforts in having the rights of dialysis patients recognized by our healthcare system. It is because of people like you I feel there is hope for us all suffering from ESRD

[paul.karen]

Im leaving work but will sign it at home.

And im with sunny thx for ALL you do to promote and educate about people with ESRD or CKD.

[2_DallasCowboys]

Signed!!!


Thank You, Bill!


Anne 

[twirl]

done

[Rerun]

I'm just saying it is not up to taxpayers to support more dialysis when I DO feel not everyone with a heartbeat should be treated.  Sometimes you need to say "no" to treatment especially when they don't even know they are at dialysis and more treatments are not going to bring someone 94 back to a productive life.

Medicare has more people to take care of then just US.

First is was Medicare needs to add End Stage Renal Disease to there job description and pay for 3 times a week.  Then it was Medicare needs to pay for transplants.  Then it was Medicare needs to pay for 3 years of anti-rejection drugs and Now you want 5 times a week dialysis sessions.  AND people want lifetime medications for transplant drugs.  ALL paid for by our Medicare system.  All while old people are choosing between food and heart medication.  

Medicare has more to take care of then just US.  Stop being so greedy.  If you give a mouse a cookie.......

Lets find another way to pay for our disease.  Medicare doesn't pay for cancer patients, or liver patients, or heart patients or MS patients unless they are over 65.

It is like you know where the feed trough is and are banging on it with your cups wanting MORE.  

Maybe you could get 2 more dialysis treatments through you own Health Insurance?  Maybe when health care is nationalized you will only get 2 a week and that is all.

Sometimes when you push the button too many times you get shut off altogether.  Be careful what you ask for.

Again, I will not sign and I may write to Medicare about my thoughts......

[Romona]

I signed.

[Rerun]

You are a bunch of sheep!

                                               

[breezysummerday]

I bleated

deborah

[okarol]

Sometimes thinking about another way to do something initiates change. Having more dialysis might not necessarily mean a lot more cost, depending on if it's home or in-center.
Wouldn't it be great if they got paid based on how WELL the patient was doing??
If optimal clearance is achieved maybe some percentage of the dialysis population will feel good enough to work. Having thousands of crappy feeling patients on disability cannot be our only goal!
Rerun, I love you, and I think you're one of the smartest folks I know. But I don't think there's an easy answer here.

[Rerun]

I'm just giving my opinion based on what I've seen over the last 20+ years.  I keep seeing people beating Medicare up wanting More and More from them and people don't realize they are going to go broke.  There are lots of people bleeding Medicare not just us dialysis people. 

I say beat down the door of your health care insurance. 

The dialysis units are paid on their performance and when I was at DaVita the employees got a bonus if the KT/V was up on the average. 

I just don't think you can get blood from a turnip -- Medicare being the Turnip. 

Why do we always want MORE from Medicare?  How about a bunch of letters to Medicare telling them "Thank You" for doing as much as they do.

[Joe Paul]

Don't call me a sheep, no need for name calling. Ill sign anything that I feel will help me to feel better and live longer.

[okarol]

I'm just giving my opinion based on what I've seen over the last 20+ years.  I keep seeing people beating Medicare up wanting More and More from them and people don't realize they are going to go broke.  There are lots of people bleeding Medicare not just us dialysis people. 

I say beat down the door of your health care insurance. 

The dialysis units are paid on their performance and when I was at DaVita the employees got a bonus if the KT/V was up on the average. 

I just don't think you can get blood from a turnip -- Medicare being the Turnip. 

Why do we always want MORE from Medicare?  How about a bunch of letters to Medicare telling them "Thank You" for doing as much as they do.

I am going to see the play tonight "Who Lives?" and it's mind boggling to think that if it weren't for dialysis machines and Medicare - 1000's of patients would have died.
Just think, if people felt better, could work and live longer on dialysis, maybe they could even pay IN a little to Medicare!

[Romona]

I think that asking for worth while spending to improve the quality of life is fine. Look at the money that is flying to "pork projects" that do not benefit very many people. We are bailing out banks, home owners that are having a hard time and so many other things. Why not increase funding to help people lead a better life. What about people that can't beat the door of private health insurance because they don't have any. With the unemployment rate growing, more and more people are losing coverage. I am very grateful for what medicare does for people. I agree with the people that say it may help keep people off of disability.

[kitkatz]

When the government gets a good look at what Medicare spends on dialysis patients in this country you bet we will be cut off at some point and will have to bang on our insurance doors.

[Wallyz]

One of the reasons I support this is that Medicare will end up saving money, and cost me less as a taxpayer.  The less dialysis, the mo0re complicattions, the more time in the hospital.  Thats the real costs kicking  in there.

I get what you're saying Kit kat, I just think you're doing the math wrong.