Aug 16, 2020

DEAR PATTI *CORRECTION*

Thank you for your comment on my post selling masks for my kidney transplant fund. I can't respond to you directly for some reason, but your question is an important one and is surely on the minds of several people.

I can only give you information based upon my own experience as a patient in the Indiana University protocol. The exact numbers may vary from state to state or from transplant center to transplant center, so please take that into consideration.

The cost of a kidney transplant is indeed borne by insurance. In my case, it is Medicare. Unfortunately, because of my age at the time I accessed it (I was in my 40's at the time), a full-coverage Medicare/Medigap policy was not available to me. This type of coverage would have guaranteed 100% coverage of all of my medical expenses in addition to transplant. I have, instead, a Medicare Advantage policy accepted by IU. This policy is excellent, but does have both a deductible and co-pay responsibilities.

The total cost of a transplant will be in excess of $2 million. Of that, I will be responsible for 20% of various costs like immunosuppresant therapy, housing and transportation, and any recovery related costs not fully covered by my Medicare policy. I was initially advised to "save as much as I could" and offered assistance with fund-raising, but I opted to manage that aspect of this journey on my own.

The website transplants.org is an excellent resource for more specific information if you would like to check it out. Their estimate for out of pocket costs for a kidney transplant is $82,000. 

As for disability income, you are correct. As a dialysis patient, I am considered to be fully disabled and thereby entitled to collect the money that I contributed during my working life. I'm happy to give you all of those details privately, but suffice it to say that this income provides me with monthly living expenses and nothing more. I am grateful for it and am blessed to have made a nice living when I was able, but these funds are not sufficient for me to self-fund my transplant savings.

I really do appreciate your question and hope I've answered it adequately. I am painfully aware that the acceptance of such huge generosity carries the responsibility of complete transparancy, so I thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide it!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for your explanation. People who have over 65 medigap policies have no idea how expensive these policies are for those who aren't seniors. We learned this fact when our son-in-law went on Medicare and SSDI due to ALS. Fortunately in their case my daughter's employer provides additional coverage for him, but that too is quite expensive. I hope you'll consider doing a Gofundme when you get your transplant.

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  2. I agree with Maggie - Gofundme is very popular for all sorts of funding - anything that helps and don't be ashamed to use it. A friend of mine did that for entering a gruelling sports event that needed £10,000 just for entering!

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  3. Thank you for all that information .. but, the link you gave seems to go to a European transplant site. Did you mean transplantS.org?
    Also, the folks above me are suggestion GoFundMe as a means of funding, but you really have to be careful with that one ... it has all kinds of tax-implications that can be a real problem.

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