California Medical Association opposes union effort to limit dialysis profits

Issue: June 2018

The California Medical Association, which represents 43,000 physicians in the state, opposes a proposition heading for the state’s November 2018 ballot that would limit profits earned by dialysis providers.

“For patients whose kidneys have failed, receiving dialysis is necessary to live,” Theodore M. Mazer, MD, California Medical Association president, said in an association press release. “Missing even one appointment could be fatal. By limiting access to dialysis care, this dangerous proposition puts patients’ lives at risk.” Mazer said the measure, proposed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, is “seriously flawed and would hurt both access to care, as well as quality of care, for dialysis patients who are ill. This proposition is dangerous and must be defeated.”

The union, which has been gathering signatures in Ohio and Arizona to gain support for similar ballot propositions, wants to limit dialysis clinic profits to 115% of patient care services costs. Any profit beyond that amount would be returned in the form of a rebate to the insurer.

“If unable to cover their costs, clinics could be forced to cut back services, see fewer patients, or close down altogether,” according to a release from Patients and Caregivers to Protect Dialysis Patients, a coalition of dialysis providers, patient groups, renal associations and business groups in California opposed to the proposition. “With the number of Californians needing dialysis increasing by about five percent per year and patients already having difficulty finding dialysis clinics close to home, this measure would have a disastrous effect on the more than 68,000 dialysis patients in California.”

References:

https://nodialysisproposition.com/2018/04/26/california-medical-association/

www.cmanet.org/news/press-detail/?article=california-physicians-oppose-november