I have placed a new Petition on line with Change.Org, Support the ESRD Choice Act, https://www.change.org/p/u-s-house-of-representatives-pass-the-esrd-choice-act-h-r-5659. On July 7th, Congressmen Jason Smith (R-MO), John Lewis (D-GA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), and Tom Marino (R-PA) introduced the ESRD Choice Act (H.R. 5659). Starting in 2020, this bill will give individuals with kidney failure access to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. It will also require education for individuals with end stage renal disease (ESRD) to aid them in making informed decisions about MA coverage. Support this important option for dialysis patients. Since the program was created in 2003, ESRD patients are the only group specifically denied the option to enroll in MA plans (currently Medicare beneficiaries who have Chronic Kidney Disease can enroll in MA and can remain in their MA plan after they progress to ESRD). Removing government restrictions that prevent ESRD patients from enrolling in MA plans will allow ESRD beneficiaries the same freedom of choice in coverage as other Medicare enrollees. Allowing ESRD patients to select these plans may help some patients minimize their out-of-pocket expenses and access additional benefits that some MA plans provide like transportation and dental. A few points about the ESRD Choice Act: 1. Medicare Advantage works with a closed network, so there are little or no co-payments or deductibles to be paid. 2. It provides patients with an alternative choice in insurance coverage that all seniors in the Medicare program have that most ESRD patients do not. 3. It provides additional benefits to ESRD patients including transportation and dental. 4. Medical Advantage plans have out-of-pocket maximums that Medicare Fee-For-Service does not, so patients that can’t get Medigap plans in certain states either because the premiums are too high or they are not offered to ESRD patients may be subjected to medical bills that are well over $7k (because Medicare fee-for-service charges 20% coinsurance for all medical services including visits to practitioners and dialysis treatments). 5. In those states where the patient either has no Medicare Supplement or has missed a short deadline to apply for a Medicare Supplement (like my home state, Indiana), A Medicare Advantage plan would at least cover you for a kidney transplant in centers contained in the network. 6. Under an MA plan, out-of-pocket expenses are capped and reducing the ESRD Patient's financial risk. 7. This new MA bill has one major difference from the others; It removes organ procurement expenses from the Medicare Advantage benchmark (which in the most simple terms is used to determine how much CMS will pay MA plans to manage their patient populations). Instead all organ procurement expenses (not living donor costs) will be handled by Medicare Part A - similar to how Hospice works for MA beneficiaries. One of the rationales for this change is that it makes the bill not score. Please follow the link, sign and share!