[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7366-S7367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUG COVERAGE AMENDMENT

  Mr. DeWINE. Madam President, I wish to speak to an amendment of mine 
and my friend and colleague, Senator DURBIN, to help organ transplant 
patients maintain access to the life-saving drugs necessary to prevent 
their immune systems from rejecting their new organs.
  Every year, nearly 6,000 people die waiting for an organ transplant. 
Currently, over 67,000 Americans are waiting for a donor organ. Those 
individuals who are blessed to receive an organ transplant must take 
immunosuppressive drugs every day for the life of their transplant. 
Failure to take these drugs significantly increases the risk of the 
transplanted organ being rejected.
  We need this amendment, because Federal law is compromising the 
success of organ transplants. Let me explain. Right now, current 
Medicare policy denies certain transplant patients coverage for the 
drugs needed to prevent rejection.
  Medicare does not pay for anti-rejection drugs for Medicare 
beneficiaries, who received their transplants prior to becoming a 
Medicare beneficiary. So, for instance, if a person received a 
transplant at age 64 through his or her health insurance plan, when 
that person retires and relies on Medicare for health care coverage, he 
or she would no longer have immunosuppressive drug coverage.
  Medicare only pays for anti-rejection drugs for transplants performed 
in a Medicare-approved transplant facility. However, many beneficiaries 
are completely unaware of this fact and how it can jeopardize their 
future coverage of

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immunosuppressive drugs. To receive an organ transplant, a person must 
be very ill and many are far too ill at the time of transplantation to 
be researching the complexities of Medicare coverage policy.
  End Stage Renal Disease, ESRD, patients qualify for Medicare on the 
basis of needing dialysis. If End Stage Renal Disease patients receive 
a kidney transplant, they qualify for Medicare coverage for three years 
after the transplant. After the three years are up, they lose not only 
their general Medicare coverage, but also their coverage for 
immunosuppressive drugs.
  The amendment that Senator Durbin and I are introducing today would 
remove the Medicare limitations and make clear that all Medicare 
beneficiaries including End Stage Renal Disease patients who have had a 
transplant and need immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of 
their transplant, will be covered as long as such anti-rejection drugs 
are needed.
  In the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and 
Protection Act, Congress eliminated the 36-month time limitation for 
transplant recipients who: 1. received a Medicare eligible transplant 
and 2. who are eligible for Medicare based on age or disability. Our 
amendment would provide the same indefinite coverage to kidney 
transplant recipients who are not Medicare aged or Medicare disabled.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and help those who 
receive Medicare-eligible transplants gain access to the 
immunosuppressive drugs they need to live healthy productive lives.

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