As some of you may have read in another post, I have asked one of our readers to write up her “story” to share with others.

Julie is one of the patients coming out of John’s Hopkins who has received a transplant from a donor of an incompatible blood type.

She is also doing very well.

Read her story here.

In the last several months we’ve all heard or read about the confusion of Medicare Part D. The media has made it appear as though it is impossible for a Medicare patient to find drug coverage with the new Part D benefit.

After months of reading about what a train wreck Part D was, I became somewhat cynical about the media’s coverage of Medicare related issues. The real story wasn’t being told: how the pharmacies are being affected.
What the media wasn’t telling everyone, was that their local pharmacists were going through hell trying to make this new Medicare plan work.
Local pharmacists were doling out medications to people who weren’t paying, and due to all of the confusion at the other end, the pharmacists themselves weren’t being reimbursed in a timely manner from the Part D providers. Not only that, but the pharmacist doesn’t always know clearly what the provider is going to pay him/her for the drug that they just handed out.
Keep in mind that we’re talking about small locally owned, independent pharmacies. I’m not sure how many of you own, or have owned businesses, but I’m sure you can all understand how hard it would be to stay in business when you’ve given most of your inventory away without any payment.
One local pharmacist told me shortly after the onset of the Part D coverage, that he had given out over $30,000.00 in medications, without yet receiving even a penny from any of the providers. They make the process of being reimbursed complicated enough, that it takes forever and a day for the pharmacist to get anything back. The bottom line is: a pharmacist can’t stock the shelves with medicine if he doesn’t have any money to buy it from the manufacturer.

With the very real possibility of all the small pharmacies closing down due to Medicare Part D coverage, some politicians are finally making a move to level the playing field.

Earlier this week a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to CMS encouraging some changes in how things are run. The letter urges CMS to better regulate the providers of Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, demanding that they make clear up front their reimbursement of the medications they cover. The letter also urges them to make possible EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to the pharmacists selling the medications, making reimbursement that much faster. The letter also encourages CMS to insist that providers update the wholesale drug lists daily, to make it easier for the pharmacists.

From the letter:

“We strongly encourage the agency to examine PDP activities that may undermine beneficiaries’ access and to consider the suggestions we offer to promote strong and continued participation of local, community pharmacies in the Medicare prescription drug plan,”

I think this might be a step in the right direction. I for one value my local pharmacy, and would like to see it possible for him to stay in business through all of this. As more and more insurance companies dump their prescription coverage for any of their members who qualify for Medicare, there will be more and more patients joining Part D coverage. This means more medicine that the independent pharmacist is selling at a reduced profit margin.
I’m torn between wanting to support the local guy, and my inability to pay for all of my necessary medications. Hopefully we can find some in between state that will work - and this letter may be a starting point for creating that.
Time will tell.

From a story seen on digg

“In a trendy nightclub in New York City, the bartender tells guests they can only be served bottled water, which costs $5 for each tiny half-pint container. One outraged clubber is
stopped by the restroom attendant as she tries to refill the bottle from the
tap. “You can’t do that,” says the attendant. “New York’s tap water isn’t
safe.”

Interesting read - apparently the bottled water industry is not held to a very high standard. Bottled water is controlled by the FDA, whereas our tap water is held to the EPA’s higher standards.
Regardless - Colorado’s tap water has got to be better than what this “clubber” was going to get in NYC! *grin*
The only bottled water I really drink here is from Eldorado Springs, which is natural Colorado spring water anyway.

I’ve always thought it was odd to pay for bottled water when fresh tap water was at hand.
After reading this article I think I will move beyond thinking it odd, and progress to pointing and laughing.

Interesting article floating around the renal community.

Blood Type No Longer Matters?

According to this article a “new procedure” helps to remove harmful antibodies pre and post transplant in the recipient. I remember reading something about this being accomplished via plasmapheresis several months ago, but I’m not sure if this is the same thing or not. Unfortunately, the article doesn’t really say.

“There may still be some people whose antibody levels are so high that we can’t overcome them,” he said.

“But for the majority of people who have a donor of the wrong blood group, this will open up a new opportunity.”

The blood filtering treatment was used in the weeks before and after the transplant.

Very interesting, I can’t wait to see how this develops in coming months.
Go Aussies!

Ok, so more importantly than the other kidney stuff I have to rant about is the news that my brother Christian and his wife Cara are adopting another child! They received their referral last week and are currently in Moscow getting acquainted with their new son. For those who don’t already know, they adopted a lovely little girl from China a few years ago (and for some reason decided that two wasn’t enough…).
They will probably travel back in several weeks time to begin the process of bringing him home, which may involve several more weeks spent in Russia. Needless to say my wife’s family is happy to have another Russian joining the ranks, and I’m looking forward to being an uncle yet again to their third child.
Check out mooseblog (my brother’s blog) for pictures, and daily updates.