More Corporate Health Care Greed Shows Up. Two Dialysis Giants Want All Americans To Pay For Services of Others Instead of Medicare! The CEO of One Makes $27 Million a year, but that is not enough for him. The other list itself as a "Global" health care firm, prominently displays it Stock Prices on Its Home page and both are pushing congress to make dialysis patients to stay on private healthcare for 42 months before shifting to Medicare! Find out how much more they will they profit and we will pay through the nose from their greedy move in this article. Two Dialysis Giants Want All Americans To Pay For Services of Others Instead of Medicare! Congress made a wise decision generation ago, and as a result most kidney patients have affordable access to dialysis care when the needed. However, because of the avarice of two companies suddenly Congress is contemplating undoing the progress, reducing access to affordable care so two corporations that dominate kidney dialysis can hike-up their bottom line. Such a change would drive up costs for all consumers. The question if why, what would motivate congress to do such an unempathetic thing?
Two companies-DaVita and Fresenius-provide the bulk of kidney dialysis services in America. They are both lobbying Congress to force kidney patients to remain on private insurance much longer before they can qualify for Medicare. Usually, patients at 65 years of age can qualify for Medicare, however, in 1972, because the cost of dialysis was skyrocketing, only the very wealthy could afford it. Congress wisely intervened in the crisis by extending Medicare coverage to dialysis patients of all ages. However, even now patients who need dialysis must stay on private insurance for two and one half years (30-months) before being eligible for Medicare. DaVita and Fresenius want to make the requirement 42 months, adding another year to the wait. This would destroy a good many middle class families; just because these two firms want to make more profits. What is going on? Are congress people that stupid or just that greedy? In addition, how would the benefit the two companies DaVita and Fresenius who want to keep kidney patients out of Medicare? These companies would typically charge private insurers, ultimately employers and workers-close to three times what they charge Medicare for the same services. DaVita and Fresenius would create an additional $200,000,000 in profits a year and with interest $2-$4 billion windfall over the next decade if Congress agrees. Or course, the initial $2 billion would be paid by American employers and workers, and the rest is interest on the $2 billion. It is now a losing effort by most workers to make ends meet when they encounter a tragic illness, and their homes could be lost, pushing their survivors further below a generational poverty line. Now these two companies DaVita and Fresenius, want Congress to make the problem even more disastrous to working class Americans. According to Forbes, the CEO of DaVita, Kent Thiry, made $27 million last year. He is the fourth highest paid executive in the healthcare equipment and services industry. Fresenius is also a profitable multi-national company. If Congress even considers making multimillionaire Kent Thiry even richer over the pain and suffering and economic disaster of tens of thousands of American families making things even harder on such people and on all the rest of us, then Christianity as well as justice, in America are a dead issue. I don't know about you, but if any of my Democratic congress folk vote for this issue, I will vote for whomever runs against them next time. Send a copy of this article to congress people in your voting district, call Kent Thiry and yours and his Congress people and notify the news media and write letters to editors about this further effort of the rich making profits through the back door off the labors of you, I, and other working people. Enough of back door stealing from us. Here is contact info: DaVita corporate office 601 Hawaii St El Segundo, CA 90245 Fresenius Unlike Davita, Fresenius does not list any street, phone or other contact information on two of their websites, which I visited. They do however call themselves a "Global" enterprise and do list the stock prices at the home page:
