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Prop 23 Fails: Voters Reject New Requirements For Dialysis Clinics
(Illustration by Chava Sanchez/LAist)
California voters have rejected Proposition 23. As of Wednesday afternoon, the vote count was 64% against, 36% in favor, but the gap was enough for the Associated Press to call it.
The ballot measure would have required physicians to be on-site at clinics that perform dialysis, the blood-filtering treatment for people whose kidneys aren't functioning properly. It would also have required consent from the state in order for a clinic to close and required clinics to report infection data to California health officials.
Supporters, backed by a major health care workers union, argued that having a physician onsite would ensure that clinic workers don't rush through treatments, and that reporting infections to state health officials would increase transparency about conditions at the facilities.
But the prevailing argument came from opponents, backed by major dialysis companies and with endorsements from the L.A. Times and Southern California News Group, who said requiring physicians would increase health care costs, ultimately forcing some clinics to close and potentially make treatment harder to access.
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