Bills » Nancy

“OK. That is unfortunate. And… ?”

“We would like you to help kill it. Nancy is a proponent and major influencer in the state senate. We would like you to convince her to reconsider her support of the bill. It would make the gods ecstatic”

BILLS » NANCY

January

Eventually our driving and dinner conversations — turn to different bills that are appearing on the senate floor. He is very interested in dialysis-related bills, for obvious reasons. There are several of them, one of which (2022-114) reduces the numbers of nurses and technicians that are needed for a given number of patients.

“So this bill will increase the number of people who can get dialysis by reducing the needed nurses?” Mark asks me.

“Yes, the current ratio is twelve patients to one nurse. The language of the bill would double that, so twice as many patients would require only one nurse.”

“So it would reduce costs and increase profits?”

“Yes, but it would also increase risks to patients. If an event occurred with two of the patients at the same time, there wouldn’t be a second nurse available. The probability of co-occurrence is almost double: if it is a 10% chance with twelve patients, it is a 20% chance with twenty four.”

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“That is a lot of increased risk”

“At the same time, the bill would make dialysis available to another ten thousand or so poorly insured patients, because of the cost reduction. So they would go from no dialysis to the prescribed amount, we are hoping.”

“And that is worth the risk?”

“I don’t know.”

We are at an Indian restaurant tonight — ordering a dozen different breads for just the two of us. Mark really loves Indian bread and food. He says it is nostalgic of a previous life. I know he lived in India for a while, so maybe he is referencing that? He barely eats anything when the food comes, but his eyes seem like they might be glistening when he looks at it.

Normally he stares straight at me, like he is trying to see who I am through the portals of my eyes.

“What are your thoughts about ‘2022-114’ today?” He shifts the conversation after asking about my dialysis session.

“I am likely to vote against it. I haven’t said this publicly but I do not think the risk is worth it. I would rather focus on getting more money for those that need dialysis than increase the risks to those that get it.”

“So… you are on the same side as Amasa and Voyager?”

“Apparently, yes. I can’t believe it is for the same reasons, but maybe they are as concerned as I am about patients. It seems like something else is going on though: I can’t understand them wanting to give up profits. Especially Beloved is a for-profit company making billions of dollars… I suspect they and their shareholders would like to make billions more.”

“When does the vote come up?”

“Thursday. The bill will fail: it does not have the votes. — How is the bhatura?”

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