By NextBestFitMedicare End-Stage Renal Disease program
absorbedYear 1Federal programs
Today
Since 1972, Medicare covers dialysis and transplants for nearly everyone with kidney failure; private insurers pay first for 30 months and pay dialysis firms several times Medicare rates.
Under the plan
Folded into UHP; the 30-month private coordination period ends; dialysis paid at the UHP bundled rate.
Trade-off
Ends the commercial-rate premium that dialysis chains (DaVita, Fresenius) depend on for profit; their margins fall sharply.