Money pours in to California ballot measure on dialysis clinic profits

Midterm elections are fast approaching — and the battle over a California ballot measure that would cap dialysis clinic profits is heating up. A California Healthline analysis finds that dialysis companies have forked over more than $104 million to a "Vote No on 8" committee to battle Proposition 8, a union-backed measure that would limit profits to 115 percent of the cost of care. The biggest spenders: DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, which operate the majority of chronic dialysis clinics in the state. The California Medical Association and the American Nurses Association have joined clinics in opposing the measure, which supporters say could lower health costs.