1.   Amgen Chairman Gordon Binder said last week that the dialysis providers would absorb some of the cut in Medicare payments for Epogen.

2.   Analyst Emch pointed out that any fallout to dialysis providers from an Epogen pay cut depends on whether Amgen would absorb some of the price cut.

3.   But dialysis providers say it has been hard to get any clear answers from AHCCCS.

4.   Even some of those rivals agree that despite all the problems at National Medical, the company is still among the best for-profit dialysis providers in the United States.

5.   In their article, the two doctors said dialysis providers had been pushed toward shorter treatments because of financial pressures resulting from the decline of Medicare reimbursement rates.

6.   Indeed, virtually every large dialysis provider and kidney-patient organization has sponsored medical studies and symposiums to explore the poor performance compared with other countries.

7.   That benefits kidney dialysis providers because private coverage generally reimburses for dialysis at more generous rates than Medicare.

8.   That way, the dialysis provider would have a financial incentive to keep the patient healthy.

9.   The dialysis providers have been buying the drug at a discount from Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen and then getting higher reimbursement from Medicare.

10.   To this day, National Medical remains the largest and most powerful dialysis provider in San Diego.