End State Renal Disease (ESRD) is the only disease condition that is covered by Medicare regardless of patients’ age. This benefit was passed in 1972. One result of Section 299I of Public Law 92-603 is that Medicare pays for two-third of dialysis patients, down from 87% in 2004. When your kidney function falls by 85% to 90% your kidneys can no longer keep you alive. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the average life expectancy on dialysis is 5 to 10 years, but many people live much longer when their dialysis is tailored to their needs. This often does not happen due to the United States’ mostly one-size-fits-all approach to dialysis, which is not ideal.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Monday Links
- David Henderson reviews Einav and Finkelstein’s new heath care book.
- Americans who are married with children are happier and more prosperous lives, on average, than men and women who are single and childless.
- Out-party hate is now more powerful than in-party love as a predictor of voting behavior in the United States.
- AEI study: Every additional $1,000 of federal aid per resident led to over 50,000 more Covid tests per 100,000 people. But there was no effect on total vaccinations.
- A bipartisan solution to this problem: barriers to competition in the biologic drug market increase patient costs by more than $30 billion.
Saturday Links
- Paper straws have more forever chemical than plastic straws.
- CMS: ACOs saved Medicare $1.8 billion. That is 2/10ths of 1% of total Medicare spending. Think how much more would have been saved if ACOs were allowed to convert to become Medicare Advantage plans.
- CRFB: the federal government can save $370 billion over ten years by allowing health insurance subsidies for rich people in the (Obamacare) exchanges to expire by 2026.
- As a senator, Joe Biden voted to raise the retirement age and impose a tax on Social Security benefits.
- Should it be health care or healthcare? And why is it CMS rather than CMMS?
How Much Charity Care Should Nonprofit Hospitals Provide?
I began my career in health care working as an accountant for a nonprofit hospital. One of our senior finance executives did a case study of how much the heath care system saved compared to a for-profit system that had to pay taxes. I don’t recall all the details, but it was in the neighborhood of $100 million dollars in 1990. About that same time the accounting managers were told we could no longer write off bad debts to charity care. Charity care had to be granted to deserving patients; we weren’t allowed to decide after not getting paid that care must have been charity.