Medicare reimbursement for the immunosuppressant drugs

[Karol]

Medicare will pay for a kidney transplant — total charges can be $125,000 or more.  As you know, the federal law limits Medicare reimbursement for the immunosuppressant drugs that transplant recipients must take for life, at a cost of $1,000 to $3,000 a month, so Medicare spends an average of $17,000 a year on care for kidney transplant recipients. It ends after 36 months and if the patient does not have a health insurance plan, they can lose their transplant. By comparison, Medicare pays about $71,000 a year for dialysis patients.
There are no guarantees in place for the future. I believe we need to keep moving forward to let our representatives know what we care about. Until we know what exchanges will provide, we are in the dark about the future for transplant patients.
Please contact your Senator asking him to support this legislation.    
 
Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2011
http://www.rsnhope.info/programs/wekan/Act_Tx_Immunosuppresant_2011.php  
 
There are plans to introduce this legislation in the House. You can track its progress by following the links on Renal Support Network's page.

[Orchidlady]

Our own fellow Illinoisan, Dick Durbin, has tried before to get this passed. I hope this will be the time....
I remember my husband telling me that there were a couple people he dialyzed with that did not want to even pursue a transplant because they had no insurance, and were afraid they could not afford or get access to the medication when the three years were up. Very sad.
Thanks for drumming up support for this important issue.