Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fight Over Dialysis Payments Draws In The Big Guns
Modern Healthcare: Debate Over Third-Party Payments For Dialysis Patients Revived In Washington As Calif. Eyes Limits
The fight over third-party premium assistance for dialysis patients is heating up this week in California and Washington, D.C. as employers and labor unions get involved. The broadening interest in the issue shows the mounting financial stakes for the insurance and dialysis industries. The focus has expanded from dialysis patients in the Obamacare individual market to those in the employer market. The sheer market size of dialysis giants DaVita and Fresenius means commercial insurers often pay at least double the Medicare rates. Lawmakers in the California Senate health committee will vote Wednesday on a measure that would crack down on third-party premium assistance for dialysis patients. (Luthi, 4/17)
In other Medicare news —
Kaiser Health News: Congressional Advisers Urge Medicare Payments To Many Stand-Alone ERs Be Cut
The woman arrived at the emergency department gasping for air, her severe emphysema causing such shortness of breath that the physician who examined her put her on a ventilator immediately to help her breathe. The patient lived across the street from the emergency department in suburban Denver, said Dr. David Friedenson, who cared for her that day a few years ago. The facility wasn’t physically located at a hospital but was affiliated with North Suburban Medical Center several miles away. (Andrews, 4/17)
