Kidney Care Community Voices Strong Support for Kidney Patients' Right...(use offistulas in the future. And since ...),Health

Patients with kidney failure are the only patient group in America that is forced to leave their private insurance and go onto Medicare.

"We want to stay in our private plan for as long as possible because Medicare premiums cost much more, and patients with families could end up paying double premiums and higher co-pays --which we cannot afford," said Sue Bailey, wife of a kidney dialysis patient in Bluemont, VA. "We feel that we should not be discriminated against. It is only fair that we continue to at least have the choice of staying with our plan for a bit longer. "

"Families like mine are grateful that Congress has finally understood how difficult it is for some patients to move from their private plans to the complicated Medicare program," added Bailey. "An extension of this program means the world for my family who needs the additional coverage and lower co-pays."

KCP believes that an MSP extension must be part of Medicare ESRD program reforms and the savings generated by this extension can help support those reforms. KCP also believes that this extension will have a minor impact on cost to large employers while having a major impact on the lives of approximately 10,000 patients.

"KCP salutes the House of Representatives for including this important provision in the CHAMP Act which is widely regarded across the kidney care community as good for patients, good for the Medicare program," concluded Dr. Jones. "KCP calls on the United States Senate to adopt the House provision."

KCP Coalition Members:

Abbott Laboratories, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, American Kidney Fund, American Nephrology Nurses' Association, American Regent, Inc., American Renal Associates, Inc., American Society of Nephrology, American Society of Pediatric Nephrology, Amgen, Baxt
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