We Americans with kidney failure must accept the fact that we will be in medical debt for the rest of our lives. To pay for dialysis treatment, some patients keep working and use private insurance. Others live in states that supplement the other 20%. For me, although I have my husband’s private insurance, we still owe thousands of dollars out-of-pocket.
I was a single mom when I started dialysis ten years ago, and money has always been tight. I have not been able to pay much more than the minimum payments on my medical debt. For patients just beginning dialysis, the financial burden can be exhausting.
Allowing patients to keep their private insurance for as long as possible before transitioning to Medicare relieves financial stress for dialysis patients — apparently, the Supreme Court thinks differently. Last year they ruled that private insurance companies can deny coverage to dialysis patients before the transition to Medicare, which usually happens after 30 months.
This is why Congressman John Curtis must support the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act, which protects private dialysis coverage for 30 months after beginning treatment. Americans with kidney failure like me need all the help we can get.
Christina Gilchrist, Roy, Utah
