Press Release

September 22, 2022

In Case You Missed It: “What is it about NO that these folks just don’t understand?” Bakersfield Californian and McClatchy papers oppose Prop 29

For immediate release: September 22, 2022

Contact: Kathy Fairbanks, (916) 813-1010

In Case You Missed It:

“What is it about NO that these folks just don’t understand?”

Bakersfield Californian and McClatchy papers Oppose Prop 29

Sacramento – The Bakersfield Californian and the McClatchy papers including the Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune, are the most recent newspaper editorial boards urging California voters to reject Prop 29.

Noting that dialysis treatment is a matter of life and death, all agreed Prop 29 was an abuse of the ballot and would make it harder for dialysis patients to receive critical care.

Prop 29 on the November 2022 California ballot will jeopardize access to care, worsen our health care provider shortage and increase health care costs for all Californians. It is opposed by a broad coalition of patients, doctors, nurses, veterans, seniors, community groups, and business and taxpayer groups.

Excerpts from the Bakersfield Californian editorial:

• “What is it about NO that these folks just don’t understand?”
• “California voters are being asked to pass a proposition mandating dialysis clinic staffing that has more to do with a union’s battle to organize workers than enhancing service.”
• “The fear is that the costs imposed on clinics by this proposition would likely put some out of business, especially in rural areas. The staffing requirements would be difficult to meet, as physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are in short supply.”
• “People with kidney failure, who need frequent dialysis to survive, would lack access to the critical medical service.”
• “The union has a right to try to organize dialysis clinic workers. It does not have the right to use severely ill patients as pawns in the battle.”

Excerpts from the McClatchy editorial:

• “Proposition 29 is not a significant improvement on the earlier attempts. Just like the previous measures, it’s a proposed solution in search of a problem.”
• “Clinics are already required to have a doctor specializing in kidney disease on staff. While those doctors are not on the floors of clinics at all times, dialysis patients tend to see their own doctors while receiving treatment at clinics.”
• “Initiative opponents note that clinics include data on infections, hospitalizations and deaths in quarterly reports to federal authorities and that they already report ownership details to the state.”
• “It is already illegal to deny care for financial reasons, and more than 90% of dialysis patients are on Medicare or Medicaid, making that provision of the measure unnecessary.”

The Bakersfield Californian and Fresno Bee join the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Marin Independent Journal, San Jose Mercury News,  East Bay Times, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Orange County Register, Riverside Press-Enterprise, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Pasadena Star-News, Whittier Daily News, San Bernardino Sun, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Los Angeles Daily News, Torrance Daily Breeze, Redlands Daily Facts, and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin urging voters to reject Prop 29 in recent editorials.

Background:

Prop 29 is opposed by the California Medical Association, American Nurses Association\California, patients, and many others because it would jeopardize the lives of dialysis patients by forcing hundreds of dialysis clinics to cut back services or shut down – making it more difficult for dialysis patients to access their life-saving treatments. 

Prop 29 would make the state’s current health care provider shortage and emergency room overcrowding even worse, while unnecessarily increasing health care costs for taxpayers and consumers by hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

There are approximately 80,000 dialysis patients in California with failed kidneys who need dialysis machines to clean their blood and remove toxins from their bodies. Patients must receive dialysis treatment three times a week for four hours at a time to stay alive. Access to consistent dialysis treatments is so important that just one missed treatment increases patients’ risk of death by 30%. 

Prop 29 is sponsored by the United Healthcare Workers West (UHW) union – the same organization that abused California’s initiative process in 2018 with Proposition 8 and in 2020 with Prop. Now, this special interest is at it again with Prop 29.

Please visit No on Prop 29 for more information.