Dialysis and Medical Coverage

[angieskidney]

I got a question about Dialysis & Medical Coverage in the United States of America. Sorry I know hardly anything about this but it is because I am Canadian. I was under the impression that as soon as someone starts dialysis that they are qualified for at least Medicare or Medicaid but then I heard a story on another forum about a lady who is in Emergency Dialysis and the hospital won't let her go because her bill is not paid. I was thinking, "won't that raise her bill higher? Why don't they work out a payment system? They do here in Canada if someone does not have coverage (such as those who have been in the country less than 6 months but legally)"...

So this led me to start a thread because I want  to understand the situation. The more I hear about these stories, the more I can see why the USA should have Universal Health Care. The Health Care System in Canada may not be perfect but boy I am sure glad I don't have to worry about the issues Americans do!!

Incase you are interested in reading about what I read that led me to post this, here is a link to the thread on that other forum:

http://www.davita.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6387

[cschwab]

I was curious about this myself, so I looked it up.  I found this on medicare's site:

"However, if you are under age 65 and only eligible for Medicare because of ESRD, generally your Medicare coverage can

[angieskidney]

I was curious about this myself, so I looked it up.  I found this on medicare's site:

"However, if you are under age 65 and only eligible for Medicare because of ESRD, generally your Medicare coverage can