Opinion: Medicare policy on antirejection drugs imperils kidney transplants
Current Medicare coverage for immunosuppressive drugs puts kidney transplant patients' lives at risk, puts a damper on kidney donations, and squanders taxpayer money. The policy needs to change.
For people with failing kidneys — and there are thousands of them in the United States — a kidney transplant offers a new lease on life. But like every other type of transplant, its success depends on taking drugs for life to suppress the immune system. Otherwise, the body begins rejecting the transplanted organ.
That’s basic medical science. So it makes no sense that Medicare covers these drugs for just 36 months for the majority of people who receive new kidneys. Because of this, many patients find themselves back where
