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Fresenius Dialysis

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American Kidney Fund Steered Financial Aid To Patients Of Its Two Biggest Corporate Donors, Lawsuit Claims

The American Kidney Fund is supposed to help patients pay for health insurance premiums and other costs for treatment based solely on a patient’s financial need, and not favor companies that donate to it. But a new whistleblower lawsuit claims the charity created a so-called blocked list of dialysis clinics whose patients would not get financial assistance while it made sure patients at clinics operated by DaVita and Fresenius would.

The New York Times: Top Kidney Charity Directed Aid To Patients At DaVita And Fresenius Clinics, Lawsuit ClaimsOne of the nation’s largest public charities steered financial aid to patients of its two biggest corporate donors — the dialysis chains DaVita and Fresenius — while denying help to people who used smaller, unrelated clinics, in violation of anti-kickback laws, according to a federal whistle-blower lawsuit unsealed this week in Boston. The charity, the American Kidney Fund, helps patients who need dialysis by paying their health insurance premiums and other costs for treatment. But under a longstanding federal agreement intended to prevent illegal kickbacks, the charity is supposed to provide help based solely on a patient’s financial need, and not favor companies that donate to it. (Abelson and Thomas, 8/2)

Modern Healthcare: Whistleblower Alleges DaVita, Fresenius Involved In Kickback SchemeAccording to the whistleblower complaint, which was first unsealed on Thursday after the U.S. Justice Department declined to intervene, most of the American Kidney Fund's money goes toward helping patients pay for dialysis treatment through grants. DaVita and Fresenius are among the organization's biggest donors. When the American Kidney Fund became pressed for donations, it began restricting grants to only patients whose dialysis providers contributed to the fund, according to the lawsuit, which was initially brought in 2016 by a former AKF employee of 12 years. DaVita and Fresenius pressured the AKF to do so, according to the complaint, which was first reported by Bloomberg Law. (Livingston, 8/2)

Bloomberg: DaVita, Fresenius Broke Kickback Rules, Whistleblower Says“The Department of Justice has looked at this matter and decided not to pursue any action against DaVita,” company spokeswoman Courtney Culpepper said in an email. “Unfortunately, some health insurers seeking to avoid high-cost patients may continue to try to challenge charitable premium assistance. We, in turn, will continue to defend our patients’ right to access such assistance.” (Tozzi, 8/2)

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Davita Charitable Fund Inc Foundation Profile | 96 Grants | Grant Bay

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Davita Charitable Fund Inc

Davita Charitable Fund Inc | Foundation Profile

Federal Way , WA Key People Contact Info

GrantBay analyzes IRS Form 990-PF data to help grant seekers find fit funders like Davita Charitable Fund Inc. Data shown is extracted from Form 990-PF filings.

EIN: 85-2950661

Foundation Overview

Based in Federal Way, WA, Davita Charitable Fund Inc has awarded 96 grants totaling $14,086,262 to organizations in Delaware, New York and 8 other states across the US. Individual grants range from $3,165 to $806,400, with a median award of $25,000.

Latest Tax Year

2024

Total Giving (all years)

$14,086,262

Total Assets

$35,635,818

Median Grant (all grants)

$25,000

Latest Form 990-PF Snapshot

Total Grants

64

Median Grant

$25,000

% Median Grant Growth

+150% (vs previous year)

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https://abc7news.com/post/california-props-propositions-prop-22-campaign-donations/7625556/

11 2020

Top donors for the propositions ranged from for-profit companies, to non-profits and individual contributions. DaVita, Inc., a healthcare company, donated money against Prop 23. The $66 million sum was the most amount of money donated by a single donor out of all propositions on the ballot this year, and most likely helped push the vote against the measure.

For Prop 22, Uber Technologies, Inc., Doordash, Inc. and Lyft, Inc. donated a total sum of over $150 million. Uber successfully won a lawsuit filed last month by drivers with the company that complained the entity was pushing in-app ads pressuring drivers to support the measure.

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Fresenius Medical Care - Wikipedia

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Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA is a German healthcare company which provides kidney dialysis services through a network of 4,171 outpatient dialysis centers, serving 345,425 patients.[3] The company primarily treats end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which requires patients to undergo dialysis 3 times per week for the rest of their lives.

With a global headquarters in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, and a North American headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, it has a 38% market share of the dialysis market in the United States. It also operates 42 production sites, the largest of which are in the U.S., Germany, and Japan.[4]

The company is 32% owned by Fresenius[5] and, as of 2020, generates around 50% of the group's revenue.[6]

As of 2024, the company was ranked as #612 on the World's Best Employers list published by Forbes.[7]

History

In 1996, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA merged its dialysis business into W.R. Grace's National Medical Care to form Fresenius Medical Care.[8]

In 2000, the company pleaded guilty to billing Medicare for unnecessary medical tests and to paying kickbacks for lab business and paid a $486 million fine.[9][10][11]

In February 2012, the company acquired Liberty Dialysis Holding, which added 201 clinics, for $1.5 billion.[12]

In March 2012, Rice Powell was appointed CEO.[13][14]

In 2013, the company acquired Shiel Medical Laboratory, expanding services to New York City metro area. In December 2017, the company sold this business to Quest Diagnostics.[15]

In February 2019, the company acquired NxStage, a U.S.-based maker of in-home dialysis devices, for $2 billion.[16][17]

Legal issues

In March 2019, the company paid $231 million to the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations of civil bribery to obtain business in 13 countries, including Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Spain.[18] As part of the settlement the company agreed to retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for at least two years. In March 2023, the company was certified by the monitor that its compliance program is reasonably designed and implemented to detect and prevent violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The certification was accepted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice.

In July 2022, the US Department of Justice joined a civil lawsuit against Fresenius Medical Care, alleging that a unit of the company, Fresenius Vascular Care, violated the federal False Claims Act and engaged in fraud by performing unnecessary procedures on dialysis patients that "exposed patients to grave risks" and then billing Medicare and other insurance providers for them from January 2012 to June 2018.[19] The lawsuit includes 19 US states and was originally filed in 2014 in New York.[20]

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission began investigating Fresenius Medical Care along with DaVita under allegations they use illegal tactics to push smaller companies out of the market.[21]

In May 2025, the benefits fund of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita Inc., another dialysis provider, alleging that the two companies illegally conspired to inflate treatment costs for dialysis patients by billions of dollars.[22]

References

  1. "Company Profile". Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  2. "SEC filing Form 20-F". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 25 February 2019.
  3. "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). Fresenius Medical Care.
  4. "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Fresenius Medical Care.
  5. "Shareholder structure". Fresenius Medical Care.
  6. Zuzanna Szymanska (February 20, 2020), Fresenius forecasts 2020 profit growth driven by drug, dialysis units Reuters.
  7. "Fresenius Medical Care". Forbes.
  8. "History - Fresenius".
  9. "Fresenius Unit to Pay $486 Million In Medicare Fraud Settlement". The Wall Street Journal. January 20, 2000.
  10. Vise, David A.; Adams, Lorraine (January 19, 2000). "Firm Settles Health Care Fraud Case for $500 Million". The Washington Post.
  11. HELDMAN, PAUL (January 20, 2000). "FIRM TO PAY $486M FRAUD SETTLEMENT". Sun-Sentinel. Bloomberg News.
  12. "Fresenius Medical Care Closes Acquisition of Liberty Dialysis Holdings" (Press release). Fresenius Medical Care. February 29, 2012.
  13. Munzinger Archive. "Rice Powell".
  14. Hallam, Kristen (March 9, 2012). "Fresenius Medical appoints Powell to become CEO as Lipps retires". Bloomberg L.P.
  15. "Fresenius Medical Care closes divestment of Shiel Medical Laboratory to Quest Diagnostics" (Press release). Fresenius Medical Care. December 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  16. "Fresenius Medical Care completes acquisition of NxStage Medical" (Press release). PR Newswire. February 26, 2019.
  17. BANNOW, TARA (February 26, 2019). "Fresenius Medical Care closes $2 billion NxStage acquisition". Modern Healthcare.
  18. Lynch, Sarah N.; Raymond, Nate (March 29, 2019). "Fresenius Medical Care to pay $231 million to resolve criminal, civil foreign bribery charges". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-03-29.
  19. Stempel, Jonathan (2022-07-13). "U.S. accuses Fresenius Medical Care unit of fraud in dialysis treatment". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
  20. Landi, Heather (2022-07-13). "Freesenius False Claims Act whistleblower suit adds DOJ". Fierce Healthcare. Archived from the original on 2025-03-22. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
  21. Sisco, Josh (July 13, 2024). "Feds tackle dialysis giants with antitrust probe". Politico. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
  22. Scarcella, Mike (2025-05-12). "Dialysis giants DaVita and Fresenius Medical sued by employee benefits plan". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-06-24.

External links

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DaVita Inc. is an American company that provides kidney dialysis services through a network of 2,675 outpatient centers in the United States, serving 200,800 patients, and 367 outpatient centers in 11 other countries serving 49,400 patients. The company primarily treats end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which requires patients to undergo kidney dialysis, often 3 times per week for the rest of their lives unless they receive a kidney transplant via organ donation. The company has a 37% market share in the U.S. dialysis market.[citation ^needed] It is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Denver.[2]

In 2023, 67% of the company's revenues came from Medicare and other government-based health insurance programs. In 2023, 89% of the company's patients were covered by government-based health insurance programs. Commercial payers, which accounted for 33% of revenues in 2023, generate nearly all of the company's profit as they reimburse at a much higher rate than government-based health insurance programs.[2]

The company is ranked 341st on the Fortune 500.[3]

History

The company was founded in 1979 as Medical Ambulatory Care, Inc., a subsidiary of National Medical Enterprises, Inc. (now Tenet Healthcare).[4]

In August 1994, 70% of the company was acquired by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners in a leveraged buyout for $75.5 million,[5] including a $10.5 million investment by DLJ.[6] The company then changed its name to Total Renal Care Holdings, Inc.

In October 1995, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $107 million.[4] By December 1996, DLJ had made a 386% return on its $10.5 million investment.[6]

Acquisitions and divestments

On February 27, 1998, the company acquired Renal Treatment Centers for $1.3 billion in stock.[4][7] The integration went poorly and in July 1999, the CEO and CFO resigned. After tripling in value between 1995 and 1998, by July 1999, the stock price was down 71% year-to-date.[8][9] In October 1999, Kent J. Thiry, then 43 years old, was named CEO.[10]

In 2000, the company sold its non-U.S. operations.[11] In October 2000, the company was renamed DaVita Inc.[12] The name "DaVita" was derived from the Italian language phrase "Dare Vita", which means "to give life".[13]

In October 2005, the company acquired Gambro Healthcare.[14]

In 2012, DaVita acquired Healthcare Partners for $4.42 billion.[15] In September 2016, Healthcare Partners was renamed DaVita Medical Group.[citation ^needed] In June 2019, the division was sold to UnitedHealth Group's Optum division for $4.3 billion.[16]

In 2014, DaVita acquired Colorado Springs Health Partners, with 600 employees and 110,000 patients.[17]

In March 2016, it acquired the Everett Clinic Medical Group, a 20-site physicians practice with 315,000 patients in the Seattle area, for $385 million.[18]

In May 2017, it acquired WellHealth Quality Care.[19]

Legal issues

In October 2014, the company agreed to pay $350 million to settle claims that it provided illegal kickbacks to doctors.[20]

In June 2015, the company agreed to pay $450 million to settle allegations that it unnecessarily disposed of drugs and then billed the U.S. federal government for this waste.[21]

In June 2018, a jury awarded the families of 3 of the company's patients $383 million in wrongful death claims after the patients died from cardiac arrest after undergoing treatment at DaVita centers.[22]

In October 2018, it agreed to pay $270 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by providing inaccurate information that caused Medicare Advantage Plans to receive inflated payments. James Swoben, a whistleblower, received $10 million.[23]

In July 2021, a federal grand jury indicted DaVita and former CEO Kent Thiry on charges of labor market collusion alleging participation in conspiracies with Surgical Care Affiliates to suppress competition for the services of certain senior-level employees. The company and Thiry were acquitted by a jury in April 2022.[24][25] In October 2021, the Federal Trade Commission imposed limits on the company engaging in more mergers in Utah because of its history of buying up competitors.[26]

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission began investigating Davita along with Fresenius Medical Care under allegations they use illegal tactics to push smaller companies out of the market.[27]

In May 2025, the benefits fund of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, a rival dialysis provider, alleging that the two companies illegally conspired to inflate treatment costs for dialysis patients by billions of dollars.[28]

References

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