By Ashley Speagle
Correspondent
PDF: Medicare bill doc. PDF: Medicare Bill
ATLANTA -- A bill pushed by Sen. Don Thomas, R-Dalton, that would expand Medicare coverage for those under 65 who have a disability or kidney failure has passed the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee.
"As a physician and someone who's personally seen, close-up, kidney failure patients, these people do not have the opportunity to purchase Medicare covering deductibles," Sen. Thomas said Tuesday.
People who have disabilities or kidney failure are eligible for Medicare regardless of their age, but those under 65 cannot get private secondary coverage under current law, said Sen. Thomas, whose bill will now go to the Senate floor.
Co-insurance, deductibles and copayments are not included in Medicare coverage, and those under 65 often cannot afford kidney transplants and medications, Sen. Thomas said.
About 2,000 patients in Georgia would be eligible for supplemental Medicare policies under Senate Bill 316, the senator said.
The committee reviewed an amendment to the bill that states premiums for those under 65 who are eligible may be different from those over 65, but the difference may not be excessive.
Highlights of SB 316* Insurers shall also offer Medicare supplement policies to persons ... who are eligible for and enrolled in Medicare by reason of disability or end-stage renal disease.* No policy shall prohibit payment made by third parties.* In no event shall differences between premiums be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.
"You realize 'excessive' is in the eye of the beholder," said Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Hull, chairman of the committee.
Matthew Bassett, an attorney testifying on behalf of Sen. Thomas' bill, said its purpose is to make the policies available, not to price them for insurers.
"In other states, there have not been issues with this," Mr. Bassett said.
Sen. Thomas said 29 other states currently offer premiums to people in these categories and that premiums did not rise in those states.
"Those under 65 tend to be less costly than those over 65," Sen. Thomas said.