Will Ballot Initiative Limit Dialysis Clinics’ Profits, Help Patients Or Lead To Facility Closures?
The ballot initiative would require dialysis clinics to issue refunds to patients or insurance companies if they have revenue above 115 percent of the costs of “direct patient care." But some worry that the measure could lead to clinics cutting back or even closing, which would ultimately hurt patients.
Stateline:
Just How Profitable Should Your Disease Be?
Dialysis, which treats patients with advanced kidney disease, is lifesaving. The question is whether California’s ballot initiative to limit the profit of dialysis clinics, Proposition 8, would be more likely to protect lives or end them. ...The number of kidney disease patients in the state rose 46 percent from 2009 to 2016, mostly because patients are living longer, according to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. In that time, 123 new dialysis centers were opened in the state, mostly by DaVita and Fresenius, the two largest dialysis companies nationwide. (Povich, 8/10)