The California Dialysis Council (CDC) has a long history of being a respected and active association in California. Since the inception of the organization in 1982, the CDC has been the primary group in Sacramento addressing issues impacting the ESRD community. The CDC continues to fulfill this role with State Legislators, the Administration and State Agencies involved in regulating the delivery of dialysis services in this state.

The CDC ~ Political Action Committee (CDC~PAC) has been an integral part of what the CDC can do legislatively in Sacramento. The funds in the CDC~PAC account are used to attend fundraisers and support candidates who recognize the unique challenges of the dialysis community. We strongly encourage all CDC member companies to contribute to the CDC~PAC. We expect a challenging year and hope that you can contribute. As a reminder, state PAC’s are different from federal PACs in that corporate contributions are permitted. Thus, a company check may be used to make a contribution to the CDC PAC. The limit on contributions to a state PAC like the CDC~PAC is $6,500 per calendar year.

Last year, the CDC worked on many fronts in representing our membership. In particular, the CDC spent considerable time and effort on SB 1474 (Alquist). This measure would have required dialysis facilities to incur significant unnecessary costs by imposing State requirements beyond and sometimes in conflict with the Conditions for Coverage from CMS. We were finally successful, working through dialysis providers within the Senator’s district, in convincing the Senator to withdraw SB 1474.

The California budget crisis impacted Medi-Cal providers during 2008-2009 by causing the Governor and the Legislature to agree on a 10% cut to reimbursement for Medi-Cal providers. CDC has been very active in opposing these cuts and has participated in the Alliance for Patient Care, a group of over 60 Medi-Cal providers which was formed to oppose these cuts. Fortunately, a court suit resulted in the restoration of rates for dialysis and a few other provider groups, but the lawsuit continues to wind its way through the courts. If the lawsuit is overturned, we could still be impacted by these cuts. Also, we still have work to do. A new cut of 1% is scheduled to begin on March 1st. CDC will be working hard to stop further cuts in Medi-Cal reimbursement. With a budget deficit of $42 Billion for 2009-2010, our task will be difficult!

Click here for an open invoice we have provided to assist in making your contribution.

Thank you for your consideration in this important matter.