Dialysis Industry Sets National Spending Record by Committing $111 Million to Oppose Prop. 8, Protect Billions in Profits - Reports Californians for Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialysis corporations have committed $111 million to defeat California's Prop. 8 and protect their profits, the most one side has ever spent on a ballot initiative anywhere in the United States.

Despite the massive spending – the dialysis industry is outspending the "Yes on Prop. 8" side by more than five to one – recent polling shows the race is still a statistical tie. Prop. 8 is a measure to rein in dialysis industry profits and improve patient care in the state's dialysis clinics.

"A funny thing has happened to the dialysis industry on their way to buying this election for $111 million – a whole lot of voters are seeing right through it and aren't buying what they're selling," said Roberto Acosta of Baldwin Park, Calif. "As a dialysis patient, it's infuriating to think how much they could have improved patient care if they spent that same amount on safer staffing, improved hygiene and newer equipment."

The dialysis corporations' total surpasses the previous record spent against a ballot measure, which was set by drug companies in 2016 when they spent $110 million to defeat Prop. 61, which would have reduced drug prices in California.

Workers and patients report seeing mice, cockroaches, bloodstains and broken equipment in dialysis clinics in California. In fact, the California Department of Public Health documented more than 1,400 deficiencies during inspections at dialysis clinics in fiscal year 2016-2017, and more than 4,400 dialysis patients in California died from infections in the last five years, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Prop. 8 limits dialysis corporations' revenues to 15 percent above the amount they spend on patient care and pushes them to invest more in hiring additional staff, buying new equipment, and improving facilities. An estimated 80,000 Californians with life-threatening kidney failure get treatment across 588 dialysis clinics.

DaVita and Fresenius made a combined $4 billion in profits from their U.S. dialysis operations in 2017, and the profit margin of their clinics is nearly five times higher than an average hospital in California. The two companies own and operate 72 percent of all dialysis clinics in the state.

People with kidney failure often must undergo dialysis treatment three days a week for three or four hours at a time at clinics to remove their blood, clean it, and put it back in their bodies.

Paid for by Yes on 8 - Californians for Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection, Sponsored by Service Employees International Union—United Healthcare Workers West.
Committee major funding from
Service Employees International Union—United Healthcare Workers West
California State Council of Service Employees.
777 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 4050, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Funding details at http://www.fppc.ca.gov.

SOURCE Californians for Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection