Another election means another dialysis related proposition on the ballot. This time it’s Proposition 23. Like Proposition 8 in 2018, this ballot measure is again sponsored by SEIU-UHW West, a labor union that is trying to organize at DaVita and Fresenius and their dialysis clinics. Proposition 8 was an attempt to limit dialysis center profits to 115% of costs. All I remember was that all the nurses and technicians at my dialysis center were opposed to it. My clinic is part of a non-profit hospital so they were not part of DaVita or Fresenius. I’m not sure if they are unionized as part of the hospital staff since sometimes they do cover at the dialysis unit in the hospital.
Reading through Proposition 23, it seems like the requests are reasonable, such has having a doctor on-site. However, having spent two and a half years on in-center hemodialysis, the proposal won’t matter much. We already have nephrologists doing rounds once a week, sometimes more often. There are several registered nurses on-site and if anything happens, it’s usually an emergency and the staff will call 911 for paramedics. Maybe it’s because we’re right next to a hospital, there is an emergency room 30 seconds away. I never felt medically neglected during dialysis sessions. The other requirement about reporting infections, I thought that was done already. Medicare has an entire website that compares the over 6,000 dialysis centers in the US.
In the end, this proposition, like Prop 8 that failed, is just SEIU trying to gain more members and more power. I don’t think they actually give a shit about the patients. Organizing and bringing in membership dues is their main priority. These propositions are aimed at lowering the profit margins for the commercial dialysis centers so they will negotiate with the union. It will probably hurt small or non-profit dialysis centers since many are not making money if they have a large % of Medicare patients. I’ll check with the nurses again but I’m pretty sure they will want me to vote no on this propositions too.
Life with chronic diseases 
One thought on “Proposition 23”