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Previous Volume 341:1691-1693 November 25, 1999 Number 22 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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The Medicare End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program began in 1973. Over the past 26 years, it has illustrated both the benefits of modern, high-technology medicine and the problems associated with it. Life of good quality has been extended for hundreds of thousands of people. However, the cost of the program has increased far beyond original estimates. In 1997, Medicare spent approximately $11.76 billion on the ESRD program, and total spending by all insurers was estimated to be about $15.64 billion.¹ The increase in cost came about mostly because long-term dialysis, originally intended for relatively young patients without systemic illnesses, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Magee, C. C., Pascual, M. (2004). Update in Renal Transplantation. Arch Intern Med 164: 1373-1388 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Van Biesen, W., Lameire, N., Veys, N., Vanderhaegen, B. (2004). From curing to caring: one character change makes a world of difference. Issues related to withholding/withdrawing renal replacement therapy (RRT) from patients with important co-morbidities. Nephrol Dial Transplant 19: 536-540 [Full Text]