Medicare wants to pay only a lump sum for patients in the final stage of kidney disease.

The move is called a bundled payment, since it would cover dialysis, drugs and lab tests together. The base payment would be just under $200 per dialysis session.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says it hopes to curb costs and boost efficiency. Critics say the money isn't enough to cover everything and the first thing to go would be drugs that fight anemia, a common side-effect from dialysis.

People whose kidneys have failed can't stop dialysis unless they get an organ transplant, so patients would end up taking lower doses of the anemia drugs or none at all. The CMS is taking comments on its proposal until November 16th.