Home Dialysis Charges

Discussions for Patients, Family, and Friends PD For Patients
1

There is a provision in the president’s budget that would extend Medicare secondary payer from 30 months to 60 months. Having read reports of how earlier extensions affected patients and spouses, I am concerned about the effects of this extension on patient’s health insurance and employment. Are you?

I know that Medicare’s reimbursement rate is around $450/week for PD if you get everything from the clinic and somewhat more if you get support services from the clinic and equipment and supplies from a supply company. Some insurance companies contract with clinics and discount their bills.

How much does your insurance have to pay vs. what you have to pay?

Do you worry about exhausting your lifetime maximum benefit due to the cost of kidney care?

Have you – or your spouse if your insurance is through a spouse – ever felt (or been told) that the cost of kidney care affected your (or your spouse’s) ability to keep a job, get a new job, advance in a job, etc.?

2

I currently have insurance through my husbands employer as my primary carrier & then through medicare as my secondary. The deductibles we’d have to pay through my husbands company were so high, it was cheaper for us to pay for medicare as the secondary insurer than to pay the deductibles, which I know after a period of time Medicare will become our primary. But it does worry me if I reach my maximum lifetime benefit - then what? I don’t think we could afford to loose that. Which also makes me worry about what will happen if I actually have the transplant?

My husbands employer has never said much about our insurance directly - although when he was recently told they were changing our perscription coverage to a $2,000.00 deductible, that it was largely due to a few certain individuals - though no names were mentioned. I feel I was probably one of those certain individuals.