[Rowdee]

Val, did the State of Washington have a medical program to help defray costs of PX for dialysis patients? I don't know if all states do that or if it was just Montana.

When Gene started dialysis, the health insurance I converted to private from the place I had worked, stayed with us for a year--they paid as primary for approximately 6 months [that's all I had left on the conversion package] and Medicare picked up unpaid amount--which was very little.

Then Medicare took over...but they don't pay for any of the drugs. The State of Montana had an ESRD Drug Program. It usually ran out of money within 6 months of the start of a fiscal year. We were fortunate in that Gene didn't have diabetes and need insulin or drugs or supplies for that, or any other meds except for blood pressure and his pregnat vitamin pill!

Some of the patients we knew who had gone on to transplants pay a horrorific amount for their anti-rejection meds....I believe Medicare pays for a year. We had an 18 year old gal who received a transplant that the anti rejection drugs cost her family $104 a week....she did super with the transplant.

[ValerieUSA]

Between his health insurance and the medicare for dialysis, all of his medical expenses were paid, including prescriptions. The plan was he could return to work as a detective instead of a patrolman after recovering from the transplant, and his insurance would pay for the immunosuppressants. It was a double transplant, kidney and pancreas, so he was supposed to be cured of diabetes afterwards. He was only 42 at the time, so it was worth a shot to him. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.