Harvey Peeler

Angela Lattimore racks up more than $1,900 in medical bills every month.

But with income of just $1,500, she can only afford to pay around $300 and still provide a home for herself and her 10-year-old son.

She and other kidney dialysis patients say Medigap insurance would help. And next Wednesday they plan to ask the state Senate Banking and Insurance Subcommittee to release a bill that would enable them, and thousands of other disabled residents, to get it.

Lattimore, 36, has suffered from end-stage renal disease since her pregnancy, requiring her to undergo dialysis, a treatment that cleanses the blood in place of the kidneys.

Medicare pays for 80 percent of the procedure, medication and doctor visits. But that leaves patients to pick up the other 20 percent.

Lattimore, of Seneca, says her share is $1,200 for dialysis, $120 in drugs, and $600 for doctors.

While people 65 and older can buy private Medigap insurance to pick up much of the extra costs, younger Medicare beneficiaries by law cannot. Their only other option is the state’s high risk insurance pool, whose premiums are too costly for many people.

For those who are eligible, Medicaid picks up the additional costs. But Lattimore, who worked as an executive assistant at a marketing firm before she got sick, says she gets $150 too much in Social Security Disability to qualify.

About 500 of the 7,500 South Carolinians undergoing dialysis, and another 130,000 disabled people, have no secondary insurance, said Mary Higginbotham, manager of legislative affairs for the National Kidney Foundation of South Carolina.

“A lot of these patients are stuck in the middle, forced to spend down their assets so they qualify for Medicaid,” she said.

But many would rather get supplemental insurance, whose premiums run about $200-$250 a month, she said.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, would allow them to do that, saving the state about $1 million a year in Medicaid costs, she said.

State Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, said the measure is “good policy” for affected residents because it eases their financial hardship and saves taxpayers’ money.

“And in these budget times, every dollar makes a difference,” he said, noting 29 other states have adopted similar measures.

Lattimore, who gets dialysis four hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hopes South Carolina will become number 30.

“Paying a premium would be so much more affordable than the balances I’m trying to pay now,” she said. “There is no way I can pay these bills.”

Greenville Online.Com