04/04/08 - Supporters of dialysis insurance reforms will continue push

April 4, 2008
Patrick Howington
The Courier-Journal

A bill setting minimum insurance reimbursements for Kentucky kidney dialysis centers that aren’t in an insurer’s network didn’t win passage this year, but supporters said the issue isn’t dead.

“We’re not going to go away,” said Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, who sponsored House Bill 433.

The measure was proposed by dialysis companies because health insurers have sharply reduced the amounts they pay to dialysis centers that haven’t signed a contract to join a carrier’s networks.

Insurers said they did that because many centers were avoiding price negotiations by remaining outside networks — thereby getting paid up to twice as much as in-network centers.

Matt Bassett, a spokesman for dialysis providers, said the industry isn’t let down that the bill didn’t pass.

He said providers are encouraged by all the attention the issue received in lengthy legislative hearings. The House approved the bill 83-12, but it didn’t reach a Senate vote.

Bassett said he expects the measure to be reintroduced next year, “and we’re certainly looking for passage then.”