COLUMBUS, Ohio — Through a recently certified petition, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is advocating an amendment to the state's constitution designed to ensure that kidney dialysis clinics provide quality and affordable treatment to patients.
According to the petition, the proposed amendment, "Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection," would require certain minimum patient care standards in dialysis clinics and rebates for patients who have been billed excessive charges for dialysis treatment.
Other requirements in the amendment include dialysis clinics maintaining and reporting to the Ohio Department of Health regarding their compliance with the laws and regulations and that all dialysis clinics specify the costs included in the calculation of "reasonable charges for dialysis treatments."
The next step is for the summary language and signatures of the petition to be certified, according to the Attorney General's Office, for the Ohio Ballot Board to determine if the amendments contain a "single issue or multiple issues." Following the board's decision, petitioners will then be required to collect the signatures of registered voters in each of Ohio's 88 counties for each issue.
Also, according to the Attorney General's Office, the total number of signatures collected must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor during the last gubernatorial election in 2014.