Congress reveals details of daily dialysis bill

WASHINGTON—The Access to Better Choice in Dialysis Act of 2006 would establish a five-year pilot program that reimburses up to seven dialysis treatments per week in order to measure the financial impact of more frequent dialysis, according to bill details released by the government.

Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., introduced the bill to the U.S. House of Representatives on May 9. The bill, H.R. 5321, was then sent to the House Ways and Means Committee as well as the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The bill currently has two co-sponsors: Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Tex., and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House, has yet to determine the amount of time the bill will spend in each committee.

According to the bill, the first three treatments per week would be reimbursed at the standard composite rate. However, each subsequent treatment in the week would be reimbursed at a decreasing percentage of the full composite rate.

• The fourth session would be reimbursed at 70 percent
• The fifth session would be reimbursed at 40 percent
• The sixth session would be reimbursed at 30 percent
• The seventh session would be reimbursed at 20 percent

There would be a cap on the amount of money Medicare will spend on the pilot project each year. The limit would be $15 million in the first year, $30 million in the second year, $50 million in the third year, $75 million in the fourth year, and $90 million in the fifth year. There would be no more funding for the extra, weekly dialysis sessions after the fifth year.

With the data, Medicare would study the overall health of the patient and the use of other separately billable services such as erythropoietin, iron, and hospitalizations.

The government will also look into patients’ working status by analyzing Social Security Disability Insurance payments, federal and state tax payments, and the impact on Medicare payments due to coverage under employer health group plans.

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