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S. 2320, The Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2007 (14 comments ↓)
- This item is from the 110th Congress (2007-2008) and is no longer current. Comments, voting, and wiki editing have been disabled, and the cost/savings estimate has been frozen.
S. 2320 would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide continued entitlement to coverage for immunosuppressive drugs furnished to beneficiaries under the Medicare Program that have received a kidney transplant and whose entitlement to coverage would otherwise expire.
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Visitor Comments
shawn wooster
as a kidney transplant patient with limited prescription coverage, this is very useful. i am forced to choose a career based upon whether or not insurance is offered because it is absolutely essential that i take the immunosuppresives. if i had way to pay for me own, i.e. via medicare, i would be more free to control my career choices. this legislation makes sense on another more praticial level. many just can't afford these drugs and stop taking them, placing back on dialysis, which costs nearly $12,000 a month. immunosuppressives cost about $1,500 a month without insurance. it is much cheaper to make these drugs accessible than to pay for a patients long-term care.
Gina McNally Malanga
Wow. I'm shocked that anyone would not agree with this bill. My first transplant was in '93, which lasted 10 years. I received my second transplant in '05. We need *way* more education on transplantation. This is like asking if people with Cancer should get full Chemo! Without our drugs, our organs reject, and we face death. I'm only 37 with two kids under the age of 12. I have the right to live.
Thank you,
Gina McNally-Malanga
AGH transplant R.N.
why pay the higher costs for dialysis when it is cheaper to pay for a functioning kidney, if the kidney transplant fails, it's dialysis again, this billl is a no-brainer for all!!!
Cathy
many of us with diabetes will need a kidney transplant, very few could ever afford the immunosuppresant drugs, thousands of dollars a month in drug expenses could bankrupt even those with decent incomes. it is cheaper to cover the drugs and promote the function of the transplant and to keep a better quality of life than to pay for dialysis and all the related other medical expenses that go with dialysis treatment, including the complications that arise from dialysis and a non-functioning kidney. why have organ donation and then tell the recipiant he has to let a funtioning organ die after 36 months because they can't afford the immunosuppressants? pass this bill, those opposed, well lets see how many of their family members may need dialysis and want a better quality of life with transplantation, and then tell them the drug coverage will stop after 36 months,
Steve
I see the (as of today - 6-29-08) 45% against. I don't see one comment that is negative. As as transplant recipient I would be very interested in hearing a point of view against this bill.
A transplant costs approx $250k (paid by medicare). Medication costs are between 10k - 20k per year. Dialysis costs over $50 per year (I've seen it as high as 100k). Dialysis patients are put on medicare and qualify for SS Disability. (Although a good number of us work).
This bill is a no-brainer -- keep everyone medicated so they don't end up on dialysis and disability.
Pamela
Come on national health insurance. Cross your fingers folks. If we can get a Democrat in the Whitehouse and a veto proof majority in the Senate and House, we (kidney patients) may actually be able to afford to buy the drugs we take without worrying about being bankrupted by greedy insurance and pharmacuetical companies.
Cathy B.
The first miracle is my fiance received a kidney transplant... the second should not be can we afford to keep it. Pay $12,000/mo. (dialysis) or $1,500/mo. (immunosuppresant drugs) someone is benefitting at recipients' expense.
sharon
I am a kidney donor never expected my cousin to stuggle to live after a successful transplant, because the medication is so expensive, he worries how long this can continue.He was blessed with the miracle of life only to live with the worry of how to afford to live tomorrow. This has to be done soon.
Bill
Come on Washington, for once, this is really a no-brainer!!! I just received a kidney -pancreas transplant ..my organs will reject because I can't afford the drugs yet you (Medicare)will pay MORE for dialysis ??? My insurance only has a $5,000 drug coverage per year!!!. I will have no drug coverage in a few months with the price of the immunosuppressants. Also these drugs have been on the market for years yet why are they so expensive still? Aren't we supposed to support organ donation? Looks like we are failing those donars who offer such a gift to a human being and those who could have a good quality of life if the drugs were affordable. Why drop the medicare coverage for the immunosuppresants after 36 months just so I can't afford the drugs and have to choose between life with dialysis which is more expensive or death? Please support this bill and give my organs a chance to survive after 36 months if God is willing, God, not Washington.
Joseph
Why vote against when it costs more to pay for the dialysis than the drugs? Why is this bill not being passed? Please email your state reps!
Marlene
What is the point of my donating a kidney to my husband when after 3 years we will not be able to afford to keep it? What was the point of developing the technology and the expertise of the many skilled doctors who have brought us to this point in time only to have done it all in vain? How can Washington bail out dishonest, greedy criminals and turn its back on people whose only "crime" is to have the misfortune of having kidney disease? Since when did that deserve a life of financial ruin or the death penalty?
Pam
Another thing our government that does that does not make sense. Kidney transplant 80% of $111,000. Paying for immunosuppressent drugs $1500 a month. OR Dialysis for a whole lot more. What is the point of paying for transplant only to let it fail because we cannot afford the drugs. Please use some common sense for all of us.
Thanks
Betty
I have a daugher that has a kidney transplant. Now that my insurance doesn't cover her I found out that she is "un-insurable"!. The medication is very expensive and she's not cover by medicare. We need this bill to pass. Meantime I need sugestions in how to get her immunosuppresant medicine?
Mary
I know someone that is opting for a kidney transplant and has barely worked in his healthy life. He now gets SS and is worried that they will cut off his SS if he has a successful transplant so he will have to go to work. Why should the taxpayers pay for some loser to stay on free prescription drugs for the rest of his life?