UnitedHealthcare Will Reimburse Kidney Donors’ Travel Expenses, Expanding Life-Saving Access to Kidney Transplants
13 June 2016 - 11:00PM
Business Wire
- Initiative aims to save lives,
improve quality of life and drive down the costs of care by helping
more people with late-stage kidney disease obtain a kidney
transplant
UnitedHealthcare will pay travel expenses for kidney transplant
donors, addressing one of the major barriers to living organ
donation.
The announcement was made yesterday at the 2016 American
Transplant Congress in Boston by Jon Friedman, M.D., chief medical
officer for Optum’s Complex Medical Conditions programs. Optum is
the health services company that manages transplant services for
UnitedHealthcare. Both companies are collaborating with the
American Society of Transplantation (AST) and American Society of
Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), which hosted the congress, to improve
outcomes, reduce costs and enhance the experience of donors and
recipients.
UnitedHealthcare will be the largest health plan to directly
reimburse living donors, from the start of their evaluation
process, through follow-up visits two years post-donation. The
donor does not need to be enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan to
qualify for reimbursement.
“Many healthy people are eligible to donate a kidney, yet only
one-third of kidney transplants come from living donors,” said
Friedman, who has clinical oversight and responsibility for
transplantation and chronic and end-stage kidney disease for Optum.
“This initiative will make it easier for living kidney donors to
provide a life-saving gift to patients and their families.”
According to the AST, 96 percent of kidney donors experience
donation-related financial consequences.
Starting in 2017, UnitedHealthcare will reimburse up to $5,000
toward lodging and travel expenses for living kidney donors. The
travel reimbursement will be offered on top of existing coverage of
medical expenses associated with a kidney transplant for both the
recipient and the living donor.
While the need for kidney transplants continues to increase, the
number of donor kidneys falls far short of demand. In 2015, only
about one in five people on the kidney transplant waiting list
received a transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network (OPTN). Living donors are the best source
to increase the pool of kidneys available for transplantation.
“The American Society of Transplant Surgeons applauds
UnitedHealthcare and Optum for taking this significant step toward
reducing the financial barriers to living organ donation, and we
look forward to working with them and other partners to make it
possible for everyone who wants to donate an organ to do so,” said
Charlie Miller, M.D., president of ASTS.
James Allan, M.D., president of the American Society of
Transplantation, added: “UnitedHealthcare and Optum’s efforts to
address the issue of late-stage kidney disease are significant. We
hope this is only the first step as our health care system works to
remove financial and other barriers to organ donation.”
UnitedHealthcare plans will reimburse lodging and travel
expenses for the kidney donor and a companion, starting with the
donor’s initial evaluation to determine suitability, through
follow-up evaluations up to two years after donor surgery. The
travel reimbursement, up to $5,000, will be available for all
donors whose intended transplant recipients are enrolled in
UnitedHealthcare fully insured plans as of the new policy year,
Jan. 1, 2017.
About
UnitedHealthcareUnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping
people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health
care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and
sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company
offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for
individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and
their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and
contracts directly with 1 million physicians and care
professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities
nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare
at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
About OptumOptum is a
leading information and technology-enabled health services business
dedicated to helping make the health system work better for
everyone. With more than 100,000 people worldwide, Optum delivers
intelligent, integrated solutions that help to modernize the health
system and improve overall population health. Optum is part of
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH).
About the American Society of
Transplant SurgeonsThe American Society of Transplant
Surgeons represents approximately 1,800 professionals dedicated to
excellence in transplantation surgery. Our mission is to advance
the art and science of transplant surgery through leadership,
advocacy, education, and training. To learn more,
visit ASTS.org.
About the American Society of
TransplantationThe American Society of Transplantation
(AST) represents more than 3,300 transplantation professionals
dedicated to advancing the field and improving patient care by
promoting research, education, advocacy and organ donation. The
AST’s diverse membership includes physicians, surgeons, scientists,
nurses, allied health professionals and administrators. For
more information about the AST, please visit myAST.org.
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UnitedHealthcareMatt Wiggin, 860-702-6142orOptumLauren Mihajlov,
952-205-6312
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