Union releases poll results that show Californians favor a limit on dialysis center profits

The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West has released results from a poll conducted by SurveyUSA that indicates voters in California favor Proposition 8, an initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot that would limit profits of dialysis providers operating in the state.

“Voters understand that when out-of-state corporations spend massive amounts of money to stop an initiative, they are not doing it to promote the public good, they are doing it to protect their own interests,” Tangi Foster, a dialysis patient from Los Angeles, said in a press release from the union. “In this case, the dialysis corporations are trying to protect their billions in profits rather than improve care for patients like me who need this treatment to stay alive.”

The union said results from the poll, conducted from Oct. 12 through Oct. 14, showed California voters favor Proposition 8 by 13 percentage points, 47-34, with 19% of voters undecided. The union said 762 likely voters were polled.

If approved, Proposition 8 would limit the revenues of dialysis corporations to 15% above the amount these corporations spend on patient care. In its press release, the union said the measure would push providers to “invest more in hiring additional staff, buying new equipment and improving facilities.” The California Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates 80,000 Californians with life-threatening kidney failure get treatment in dialysis clinics, according to the press release.

“No Prop 8: Stop the Dangerous Dialysis Proposition,” the coalition, which is managing the opposition to the ballot measure, reported that more than 120 organizations, including the American Nurses Association/California, California Medical Association, American College of Emergency Physicians-California Chapter, Renal Physicians Association and other groups, oppose the ballot measure. The coalition has also cited numerous editorials written by newspapers in the state opposing the ballot initiative, including one written on Sept. 30 by the Bakersfield Californian.

“Let’s make this simple,” the paper wrote. “This is an example of a special interest – in this case, a labor union – using the state’s initiative system to get what it could not get by organizing the workers of the state’s two largest dialysis businesses. If labor organizers believe the larger companies have not acted in good faith, they should take their beef to the courts, not the voters.”

Reference s :

www.noprop8.com

http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1399974&session=2017&view=late1

www.surveyusa.com/client/PollPrint.aspx?g=85614f00-b105-4f49-a6e5-630e246d8d52&d=0 www.yeson8.com

https://www.yeson8.com/despite-spending-105-million-dialysis-industry-independent-poll-shows-voters-favor-prop-8/