“New legislation introduced today to extend Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplant patients will not only save lives but save taxpayers money
| NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- “New legislation introduced today to extend Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplant patients will not only save lives but save taxpayers money. When patients cannot afford their medication, they often skip doses or are forced to make difficult choices between paying for basic necessities and paying for medicine they need to prevent organ failure.”
“The legislation introduced in the United States Senate by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL); and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI) and Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) will extend immunosuppressive coverage past the 36-month cut-off currently in place to cover the medications for the life of the transplant.” “When a patient receives a kidney transplant, the body knows that the new kidney is foreign and will attack the new kidney and try to damage or destroy it. Taking life-saving immunosuppressive drugs suppresses the body’s ability to do this and helps prevent organ rejection. Skipping even one dose may increase the chance of organ failure.” “The National Kidney Foundation applauds the new H.R. 5534 and sincerely thanks Senators Cassidy and Durbin and Congressmen Kind and Burgess for standing up for kidney transplant patients and we look forward to working with them to advance this life-saving legislation”. “Two recently released reports demonstrate that extending immunosuppressive drug coverage saves significant federal funds over ten years. On May 10th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation report shows extending the coverage would result in an accumulated savings of approximately $73 million over ten years. A May 23rd report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, shows an even greater savings, $300 million over ten years.” See Bobbie’s story to learn how a lack of Medicare coverage for immunosuppressive drugs affects her family. About Kidney Disease More than 726,000 Americans have irreversible kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. More than 500,000 of these patients receive dialysis at least three times per week to replace kidney function. Nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waitlist for a kidney transplant right now. Depending on where a patient lives, the average wait time for a kidney transplant can be upwards of three to seven years. Living organ donation not only saves lives, it saves money. Each year, Medicare spends approximately $89,000 per dialysis patient and less than half, $35,000, for a transplant patient. About National Kidney Foundation Living Organ Donation Resources: The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive and longstanding organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease. For more information about NKF visit www.kidney.org. Facebook.com
SOURCE National Kidney Foundation |
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