leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:01 am Post subject: USRDS 2002 Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From page 529 for the year 2000 (latest data)<
><
>Medicare payments for outpatient hemo $2,461,236,229<
>Medicare payments for EPO $1,082,831,294
********************************************************
Believing in Stem Cells
Joined: 27 Jun 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:07 am Post subject: More Sense
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now wouldn't it make more sense as Liberman has suggested putting more Federal Dollars into and pushing stem cell research to find a cure for all the costly diseases instead of just paying forever for treatment.
********************************************************
Bill Peckham
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 65
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 6:10 am Post subject: Sounds low
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While 4 billion is alot of money, that number sounds low. Do you have a link?
********************************************************
leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 9:35 am Post subject: USRDS 2002 Annual Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.usrds.org/default.htm ********************************************************
Home Hemo
Joined: 23 Jun 2003
Posts: 22
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:03 am Post subject: Medicare/Prescription Drug Coverage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those of you who have a secondary insurance with prescription drug coverage, there's a chance you could lose it when the Medicare prescription drug bill goes into effect in 2006. The Congressional Budget Office is predicting that 37% of private insurances will cancel their retiree insurance. I don't know about you, but my co-pays under my secondary insurance are $10, $35, and $45. My deductible is $250 and since I am on Medicare, they waive the deductible. Under the new drug bill being worked on by a conference committee, the deductible is $275, and prescriptions are 50%. There is a cutoff limit after which the government pays nothing until you reach another limit which is over $5000. The Senate refused to pass any amendment which would protect people with private insurance. My belief is that they want to force us to take the Medicare drug coverage so it doesn't become a big failure. There will be many people who will be surprised when this bill goes into effect and they lose their private insurance coverage. Both my senators (Washington) voted for this bill, so you can bet they won't get my vote. For people who have no drug coverage, this will help them out some, but for those of us that have a secondary insurance to Medicare, we will be big losers!
********************************************************
patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 10:57 am Post subject: secondary insurance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
not everyone gets to keep their insurance after they go on long term disability and COBRA stops. Even when I was employed the company made it plain that when you turn 65 medicare was to take care of you. But what the employer did not tell the workers, is medicare has no drug benefit at all. Some companies do offer very good retirement packages that include secondary plans while others leave their employees with just the bare minimum.
********************************************************
Update
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 8
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 4:11 am Post subject: Current figures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The cost for outpatient hemodialysis therapy was $33,784/patient-year, consisting of facility costs of $17,200, outpatient pharmacy costs of $14,100, and outpatient professional costs of $2,500/patient-year."<
><
>From www2.ajkd.org The July 2003 issue of The American Journal of Kidney Disiese.<
><
>Prospective analysis of global costs for maintenance of patients with ESRD<
><
>Background: The prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has doubled in the past decade, with total costs projected to exceed $16.5 billion by the end of 2002. <
><
>Methods: The purpose of this prospective study is to determine all costs related to inpatient and outpatient health care utilization incurred by 76 patients with ESRD in an outpatient hemodialysis setting for 1 year. Costs were derived from a computer-based cost-allocation process that distributed cost components and overhead to designated revenue-producing departments. <
><
>Results: During the 1-year study period, these patients had 1,459 total inpatient and outpatient hospital visits (mean, 19.2 visits/patient; range, 0 to 84 visits/patient). There were 149 general inpatient hospital admissions. Of 238 total emergency room visits, 89 visits resulted in admission to the hospital (37%). <
><
>Conclusion: Total hospital costs for all patients for the year were $1,831,880 (actual charges, $2,929,147). As expected, the greatest hospital cost expenditures were attributed to inpatient hospital admissions ($1,419,022; 77.5% of total). Of total hospital costs, inpatient bed costs were the single highest expenditure. The cost for outpatient hemodialysis therapy was $33,784/patient-year, consisting of facility costs of $17,200, outpatient pharmacy costs of $14,100, and outpatient professional costs of $2,500/patient-year. Average costs for hospital facility and/or professional fees were $42,730/patient-year, whereas average costs for outpatient dialysis facility and/or professional fees were $33,784, for an estimated global cost of $76,515/patient-year. Our cost estimate for care of this unique inner-city population substantially exceeds those reported earlier by others. <
><
