Kidney Care Support Insurance Coverage for Dialysis New Medicare Option for Dialysis Patients

Medicare Options for Dialysis Patients

You may be familiar with Original Medicare (Medicare Part A and Part B), but did you know Medicare-eligible and Medicare-enrolled end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients can choose Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) plans?*

Read on to learn more about your Medicare options. And remember, it’s your decision to enroll in different coverage and you don’t have to change your insurance.

Don’t know what type of coverage you have OR want to learn about other common types of health insurance? Click here.


*21st Century Cures Act, passed by Congress in 2016

Need help understanding plan options and coverage differences? We’re here for you.

CKD Patients Call the Patient Advocate Helpline: 1-888-405-8915 (for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients not yet on dialysis).

Dialysis Patients – Call us Call a DaVita insurance educator (1-833-959-1724) or talk with your social worker.

Dialysis Patients – We’ll call you Use this Insurance Support Form to tell us what you’re looking for before we talk. We’ll call you within 2-3 business days.

Understanding Your Medicare Options

There are two main ways people with ESKD can get Medicare coverage: Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

Comparing Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage

Tools & Resources

Several resources are available to help you understand your insurance options and enroll in a plan. Medicare and eHealth are two key resources for help understanding your plan options and getting enrolled.

Medicare

Chapter (an unaffiliated licensed Medicare Advisor)

  • Chapter is a Medicare advisor that searches plans from all carriers to help you enroll in the one that fits your individual needs: they can check to make sure your healthcare providers are in network, and will compare drug prices across all pharmacies in your area. Chapter’s Medicare advisors are trained specifically on the insurance coverage needs of dialysis patients.
    • Visit Chapter’s website at askchapter.org/dialysis 
    • Call Chapter’s helpline directly at 1-800-351-0969 to speak with a licensed Medicare Advisor (Monday – Friday 9AM – 7PM EST and Saturday 10AM – 6PM EST)

Frequently Asked Questions

Download and print this frequently-asked-questions sheet. You may want to keep it handy when you talk with an educator.

Download FAQs

Additional Tools & Resources

Several resources are available to help you understand your insurance options and enroll in a plan. You can also visit the Tools u0026amp; Resources page for more.

Tools and resources


This resource is intended to provide DaVita patients with information about some of the available third party resources for comparing and enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans. Links to third party websites are provided for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional advice. Third party websites are governed by the third party’s privacy policy and terms of use, not DaVita’s. DaVita does not endorse or recommend any specific insurance agent, broker, agency, or plan and is not affiliated with or compensated by insurance agents, brokers, or agencies. If you choose to work with a health insurance agent, broker, or agency, please keep in mind they are not affiliated with Medicare and may earn compensation if you enroll in a plan.

eHealthMedicare.com is a non-government website operated by eHealthInsurance Services, Inc., a licensed health insurance agency that sells Medicare products and does business as eHealth. In New York and Oklahoma, eHealth does business as eHealthInsurance Agency. eHealthMedicare.com and eHealth are not affiliated or connected with Medicare or any other government program or agency. DaVita and eHealth are independent entities and not affiliated.