Extending Medicare Immunosuppressive Medication Coverage

Abstract

African Americans and the poor are at a high risk of suffering from kidney disease and are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to obtaining the resources needed to maintain a functioning kidney post-transplant. Medicare currently covers 80% of the cost of immunosuppressive therapy for up to three years following a Medicare-covered transplant for patients whose Medicare entitlement was based solely on their end-stage renal disease diagnosis. Adequate insurance coverage has the potential to prevent graft failure and retransplantation resulting from cost-related immunosuppressive medication nonadherence. Given the multifactorial nature of medication nonadherence, extending insurance coverage in an attempt to reduce graft failures should be coupled with intensive interventions to prevent the socioeconomic and various other factors associated with medication nonadherence. Lifetime Medicare coverage for all kidney-transplant recipients, coupled with medication adherence promotion, has the potential to minimize poor outcomes associated with graft failure, especially among minorities and the impoverished.