Is IV Treatment Too Expensive for Medicare

It’s no surprise to anyone that medical treatment has gotten more and more expensive.  The good news is that there are newer, more effective treatments available for many conditions that were not even treatable one or two decades ago.  In fact, there are several conditions such as cancer and aids that were considered a death sentence if you were diagnosed with either one in the 1980’s and 1990’s. 

These days, there are ways to diagnose health issues early and there are even various tests that can be performed to determine if a person is at risk for various conditions.  DNA tests can predict some serious issues in advance.  Other tests can diagnose a condition before it becomes a serious problem.  Diabetes can now be predicted and at least treated with preventative medication, diet and other lifestyle changes especially in the pre-diabetes stage.

One of the positives and negatives of these advances is that many treatments involve IV medication.  It’s not the IV or the medication that’s the high part of the cost.  Medicare has a built-in problem in that is creating the cost.  Medicare does not cover IV treatment at home.  Instead of a visiting nurse or family member helping with the IV treatment, the individual has to go to the hospital to get treatment.  Needless to say, the hospital treatment is much more expensive than the cost of treatment at home. 

Receiving IV treatment at home costs about $150 to $200 per day, not to mention that it cuts down on the incidents of hospital acquired infections.  IV treatment at the hospital costs between $1,500 and $2,000 per day.  Some people without Medicare supplements can get outpatient treatment, but most need to be admitted into a hospital or nursing home.   Even if a patient tries to get the treatment at home, Medicare will cover the cost of the drugs but not the services, supplies and equipment needed to administer the treatment.

It is important for the future of Medicare that these glitches be fixed.  Medicare is tackling fraud and saving millions of dollars.  If they are able to tackle the built-in problems that are costing them money, they will be able to help more people get more services.