Propositions: Californians Weigh In On Dialysis Profits, Children’s Hospital Bond, Ambulance Worker Meals
Voters both approve and reject a host of state ballot measures related to health care policy.
Bay Area News Group:
Voters Reject Prop. 8 Cap On Dialysis Revenue
Proposition 8 fell flat at the polls Tuesday, with voters rejecting the measure that would have capped revenue made by the state’s dialysis clinics. The union-backed measure broke campaign spending records and sparked fierce debate, with both sides vehemently arguing their position was the one that would protect the 80,000 kidney disease patients in California who rely on life-saving dialysis treatment every month. But Prop. 8 was trailing by a double-digit margin Tuesday night, as opponents cheered its defeat. (Kendall, 11/6)
KQED:
Voters Pass $1.5 Billion Children's Hospital Bond
California voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 4, which authorizes the state to sell $1.5 billion in bonds for children's hospitals to be used mainly on infrastructure projects. As of midnight on Tuesday, the measure had nearly 60 percent support.More than two-thirds of the bond money will go to eight nonprofit children’s hospitals. (Klivans and Dembosky, 11/7)
KQED:
Voters Pass Proposition 11, Say Ambulance Workers Should Stay On Call During Breaks
Californians voted to deny EMTs and paramedics uninterrupted rest and meal breaks, passing Proposition 11 by 62 percent. The measure requires ambulance staff to remain on duty during breaks, keeping their radios and pagers turned on while they get coffee or lunch. (Dembosky, 11/6)
Palo Alto Weekly:
Health Care Measure Routed In Palo Alto
A proposal by a union of health care workers to impose caps on how much Palo Alto's medical providers can charge patients and insurance companies was emphatically rejected by local voters on Election Day on Tuesday. The proposal, known as Measure F, would have placed City Hall in charge of regulating the health care costs of most local medical providers to ensure that none are charging their patients more than 115 percent of the cost of "direct patient care," which excludes administrative salaries. The Service Employees International Union-United Health Workers had argued that the measure is necessary to curb Stanford's exorbitant costs and ensure that Stanford devotes more resources to reducing its high rate of hospital-contracted diseases. (Sheyner, 11/6)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
Voters Overwhelmingly Favor Prop 7, Daylight Saving Time Initiative
Call it the sleeper issue of the 2018 midterm elections: Daylight Saving Time. ... But don't start resetting your watches quite yet. Passing Prop. 7 won’t immediately stop the twice-yearly chore of changing the clocks. Instead, a “yes” vote clears the way for state legislators to decide whether to keep daylight savings time all year (or ax it entirely). (11/6)
Nationally, Medicaid ballot initiatives made waves —
CNBC:
Utah, Idaho And Nebraska Approve Medicaid Expansion Ballot Measures
Three red states approved Medicaid expansion in Tuesday's midterm elections, changes that will potentially cover hundreds of thousands more low-income Americans, NBC News projected. Voters in Utah, Nebraska and Idaho were all expected to pass ballot measures to broaden the federal and state health insurance program, according to NBC. The support for Medicaid expansion, an Affordable Care Act provision, came over the objections of many officials who had so far declined to adopt it, citing budgetary constraints. (Pramuk, 11/7)