The Hill News

With the recent announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the challenges to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many issues that arose during the original reform debate are again being thrust into the spotlight.  As this high court legal showdown emerges, it also presents an opportunity for the Administration and Congress to work together to ensure that, should health care reform move forward, its provisions are implemented properly and fairly, and in a manner that best protects the very people the law was created to assist.

In the case of the health insurance exchanges, there lies great promise for these marketplaces created under the ACA to help individuals purchase quality, affordable coverage that could otherwise be unattainable. However, due to the reform law’s legislative process and lack of a conference report, many provisions related to the exchanges were unintentionally left unclear, including provisions related to ! Medicare’s End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) population and Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) law.

Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with ESRD, an irreversible condition that is fatal without regular lifesaving dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant.  Currently, MSP enables ESRD patients with private insurance to keep their preferred coverage for a 30-month window before transitioning to Medicare, giving them time to learn more about their condition, take advantage of plan offerings for care management, and explore how Medicare will handle their coverage moving forward. 

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