Obamacare? How will it affect dialysis?

Specialties Urology

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I have been hearing alot of changes coming in the future for dialysis, none sound very good. What have you all heard & how do you think it will affect our careers as dialysis professionals in the future?

Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

It makes me furious too that funding for drugs needed post transplant stops after 3 years.

It costs so much more to keep a patient on HDx it just makes me crazy to think we stop their drugs.

Not everybody can find a job, sometimes they have been sick for so long that they have no skills and no work experience.

Low paid jobs often dont provide insurance, employees cannot afford the insurance or it is so basic it would not cover the medicines.

History

This is not new, Obama care did not enforce this, it was already in place that medicare stops providing after 3 years

http://www.getakidneytransplant.org/immuno.html

The patient in this article got her transplant in 2002 and medicare only covered 80% of drugs for 36 months, so stopped getting medication in 2005. Obama did not come into office until 2009.

http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/problem-solver/20121122-problem-solver-kidney-transplant-recipient-approaching-deadline-for-anti-rejection-drug.ece

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Specializes in med-surg, dialysis.

Our FA told our staff this week that CMS is going to cut Medicare reimbursements by 2% for sure and is considering a nearly 10% cut that will result in a lot of smaller dialysis clinics closing causing pts to have to travel farther to get their treatments. CMS is also wanting the dialysis companies to begin providing diuretics & BP meds to their patients, as we are already providing phosphorus binders & EMLA cream or spray. This cut in Medicare will not only affect dialysis, but also hospital services, dr offices, outpatient clinics, etc. I really worry about the direction that our healthcare is going. Obama preached about making healthcare more affordable & more accessible to everyone, but this looks like it will be more costly & out of reach for the people who need it the most.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Dialysis, Plasmapheresis.

Althought I do agree in some ways, I think the real villains in healthcare reform are the CEOs of organizations like Davita and Fresenius. I was recently informed that the CEO of Davita is the highest paid CEO in the whole state of Colorado. I am currently living in Denver, and they just built a huge, billion dollar skyscraper with Davita written across the top. It the reimbursements are cut by 10%, maybe the profit holders need to put some of their own bonuses back into the front lines. We are already running skeleton crews in those clinics and legally, they can't cut staff anymore. So, what will have to happen is probably supply cuts, more ridiculous rules, and the people who will truly suffer are the patients. I think that maybe Obama probably realized that companies like Davita were making billions of dollars off Medicare reimbursements and in all fairness, if they are making those kinds of profits, they can probably afford the 10% cuts. However, since the 10% cuts go cross the board, smaller, independent dialysis companies may not be able to survive. All clinics will be bought out by this monopoly of dialysis providers. It is sad to me that as a dialysis nurse, I know that someday I will have no options but to work for one of these two monster companies. They don't even offer decent benefits for staff. Anyways, just my opinion. I think the reform of healthcare needs emphasis on where the profits are going. They need to adopt the Toyota model of doing business, if the front lines are happy, the business will succeed immensely. Imagine the money they'd save just in staff turnover alone if they just tried to make the employees satisfied.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

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I was recently informed that the CEO of Davita is the highest paid CEO in the whole state of Colorado.

C'mon, you can't expect Kent Thiry to get by on just 26 million dollars a year.

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Amen. I work in a small, poor rural county in Virginia. And honestly, I didn't have a clue until one of my dialysis patient showed me a paper they handed out at the dialysis center. Under Obamacare the budget cuts and Medicare changes will effectively close down the dialysis center in our area and indigent patients will be forced to discontinue therapy. Is that what Americans need to see...a massive loss of life througout the US before they realize that life is the cost of social healthcare.

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Is that what Americans need to see...a massive loss of life througout the US before they realize that
life
is the cost of social healthcare.


  • #17I am Canadian and I can tell you that Life is not the cost of social healthcare. True social health care saves many lives. Perhaps what is proposed to Americans is not truly social health care


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Compared to Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr., Obama is a nightmare. Do some research on what is called the "Laffer Curve" and then come back to me. :)

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What is need to help the health care consumer is competition.

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Most people do not realize that individuals such as Obama and his crowd have been talking about these cuts for many years before they were elected. Liberal Democrats have accused Republicans of wanting to cut Medicare, but, look who is actually cutting Medicare to the tune of $700 billion dollars, it is Obama.

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You have to feel his pain. :)

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Nurse Reis, I agree with 95 percent of your post..... However, it is government regulations that are driving the cost of health care thru the roof, as government spending on student loans are driving the cost of college tuition thru the roof. The average family medical policy has over 2,000 regulations, making the policy cost prohibitive, meaning the average family cannot afford it. I am not a fan of Kent Thiry in the least. However, even if he made $0 per year, it would not really reduce the cost of dialysis. I used to work for Toyota and it is a great business model. Most CEO's really HATE staff turnover because it is very, very expensive and costly. I also like the Costco business model, where line employees make good salaries and great health benefits. When dialysis patients see the new Davita building I posted on the dialysis board, they laugh at the hypocrisy or they become very angry as they have every right to be upset. Also, imagine the profits they could make if they made the dialysis consumers happy. The vast majority of dialysis consumers are not getting enough dialysis, this is why you have problems with all kinds of issues, such as phosphorus and fluids. The more I do Nocturnal dialysis, 5-6 days a week, the more I am convinced that the body does not work as those in In-Center dialysis want it to work. Basically, the dialysis consumer is being set up for failure..... by the dialysis industry.

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