DPC filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Marietta Memorial Hospital v. DaVita. The case involves a dialysis patient whose employer-sponsored health insurance plan tied reimbursements for dialysis to Medicare prices. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that this constituted illegal discrimination. The employer appealed the decision, which is now scheduled for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 1.
DPC’s brief argues that such discrimination circumvents dialysis patients’ right to keep their employer coverage for up to 30 months before Medicare becomes their private insurance. DPC emphasized the three patient protection purposes of this law: letting patients choose the insurance coverage that best suits their needs; providing funds for rural and low-volume clinics that cannot survive on Medicare reimbursements alone; and incentivizing commercial insurance to detect and treat chronic kidney disease to avoid its progression.
DPC was one of six parties submitting amicus briefs in support of preserving this critical patient protection. You can read these briefs here:
