X. The cost effectiveness of alternative types of vascular access and the economic cost of ESRD

Abstract

While total Medicare ESRD expenditures continue to increase in real terms, the growth is primarily due to growth in the number of treated ESRD patients. Growth in ESRD expenditures per patient has changed little during the last year and has only just matched the overall rate of inflation over the last five years. Understanding the reasons for growth in the patient population is the key to understanding recent growth in total Medicare expenditures for ESRD.