Los Angeles Times: Dialysis industry is spending big — $2.5 million — to avoid oversight in California
Los Angeles Times: Dialysis industry is spending big — $2.5 million — to avoid oversight in California
SACRAMENTO — The dialysis industry spent about $2.5 million in California on lobbying and campaign contributions in the first half of this year in its ongoing battle to thwart regulation, according to a California Healthline analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the state.
Last year, dialysis companies poured a record-breaking $111 million into a campaign to defeat a ballot initiative, Proposition 8, that would have capped their profits.
This year’s political spending, which includes an online and broadcast advertising blitz, is aimed at killing a bill in the state Legislature that would disrupt the industry’s business model — and probably reduce its profits. The dialysis industry counters that the bill would threaten some low-income patients’ access to the lifesaving treatment.
“Nobody is spending $2.5 million out of the goodness of their hearts,” said David Vance, a spokesman for Common Cause, a nonprofit group that advocates for campaign finance reform. “That kind of money is spent to get the attention of legislators and to get results.”
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