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Previous Volume 356:4-6 January 4, 2007 Number 1 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Since Medicare coverage of care for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was implemented in 1973, dialysis treatments paid for by the federal government have extended the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. For nearly two decades, one of the most important services has been the administration of recombinant human erythropoietin, or epoetin, the mainstay of the treatment of anemia associated with chronic renal failure. In 2005, the ESRD program covered about 390,000 beneficiaries and spent $7.9 billion for dialysis services, including $2.9 billion for medications that are reimbursed separately. Epoetin alfa accounted for $2 billion of this spending and was . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Dr. Steinbrook (rsteinbrook@attglobal.net) is a national correspondent for the Journal.

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