2 weeks Ago
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Over 550,000 Americans with kidney failure — about 14,000 of them Louisianians — depend on dialysis, the only treatment outside of a kidney transplant, to survive. Unfortunately, many Americans with kidney failure, also known as End Stage Renal Disease, have been left behind by our health care system. That’s why I’m glad U.
S. Sen. Bill Cassidy stepped up to defend them.
Recently, Cassidy took a significant step for Americans with kidney failure by introducing the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act . Cassidy's bipartisan bill would help solve the crisis that reduces quality and choice in dialysis care, limits the chances of receiving a transplant and leads to medical debt. The health insurance crisis for patients with kidney failure stems from a Supreme Court decision that allowed group insurance plans to reduce dialysis coverage and benefits, essentially pushing patients off their plans prematurely.
Previously, Congress had allowed new dialysis patients to keep their employer-provided insurance for 30 months before switching to Medicare, which is required by law. As a result of the court’s ruling, Americans with kidney failure no longer have those protections, forcing them onto Medicare before they are ready. Switching to Medicare prematurely can lead to medical debt because dialysis patients need time to determine how to pay the 20% of costs that Medicare doesn’t cover.
Most people simply can’t afford to cover those costs, adding significant financial challenges in addition to the stress of their diagnosis. Cassidy has a track record of addressing health care system issues. The medical community should be grateful for his leadership of the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act, and I hope his Senate colleagues will join him in this effort.
ANIL PARAMESH, M.D. medical director, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agenc y New Orleans.
