AHIP Cheers Ruling in Dialysis Payment Case, but Congress Could Step In

Recently, health insurance trade group AHIP highlighted an under-the-radar Supreme Court ruling that centered on who should pay the bulk of the costs associated with treating some of the sickest patients: those with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, industry experts tell AIS Health, a division of MMIT, that what seems to be a victory for employer-based plans may be short-lived if Congress weighs in on the issue.  

The case, Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., concerned whether an employer-based health plan violated the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute (MSPS) by offering limited outpatient dialysis benefits to its enrollees. Specifically, the health plan in question had no in-network dialysis providers, capped reimbursement at 87.5% of the Medicare rate, and “imposed utilization management restrictions, such as claims audits and reviews,” health law attorney and Georgetown University research professor Katie Keith noted in a June article for Health Affairs.