Contributions from a Fortune 500 health care company flowed into the campaign coffers of Republican Sen. Dean Heller late last year after the Nevada lawmaker co-sponsored a bill championed by the firm, an analysis of public records show.

Nevada Senator Dean Heller speaks in Las Vegas, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. (Elizabeth Brumley/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

DaVita Spring Valley Dialysis is shown at 3855 S. Jones Blvd. in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

DaVita Five Star Dialysis Center is shown at 2400 Tech Center Court near Smoke Ranch Road in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

DaVita Five Star Dialysis Center is shown at 2400 Tech Center Court near Smoke Ranch Road in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

DaVita Five Star Dialysis Center is shown at 2400 Tech Center Ct. near Smoke Ranch Road in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

DaVita Five Star Dialysis Center is shown at 2400 Tech Center Ct. near Smoke Ranch Road in Las Vegas Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Contributions from a Fortune 500 health care company flowed into the campaign coffers of Republican Sen. Dean Heller late last year after the Nevada lawmaker co-sponsored a bill championed by the firm, an analysis of public records shows.

Denver-based DaVita Kidney Care, a division of DaVita Inc., has contributed to the campaigns and leadership political action committees of all eight original House and Senate sponsors of the Dialysis Patients Demonstration Act, which was filed in the fall of 2017, Federal Election Commission records show.

Heller, considered the most vulnerable Republican senator up for re-election in 2018, has received at least $39,100 in contributions from DaVita’s political action committee and officials with the company since 2015, according to a Review-Journal analysis of the FEC records.

Forty percent of those donations were made in December, one month after Heller joined as an original sponsor and filed the bill in the Senate on Nov. 2.





Legislation’s history

Megan Taylor, a Heller spokeswoman in Washington, said Heller joined three other senators in filing the dialysis bill “to help improve the lives of thousands of Nevadans who are suffering with kidney disease.”

In a news release, Heller said the legislation would create a demonstration program that would allow dialysis centers to serve as central command posts that provide access to interdisciplinary teams for patients with end-stage renal disease after suffering from other ailments.

“Nevadans suffering from end-stage renal disease are among the sickest and most vulnerable patients on Medicare, and they often struggle with multiple chronic conditions and require unique care,” Heller said in the release.

The bill was first filed Oct. 26 in the House by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo.; Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif.; and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. All four lawmakers have received contributions from DaVita and its officials since 2015.

Heller was an original co-sponsor of the Senate bill on Nov. 2 with Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.; Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. All four have received contributions from DaVita and its officials since 2015, though Bennet did not receive any in 2017.

Heller and Nelson sponsored similar legislation in 2016.

DaVita Kidney Care CEO and President Javier Rodriguez, in a release dated Nov. 3, said the proposed demonstration program would be good for taxpayers and the health care system because it would empower patients, emphasize physician leadership and lead to innovation.

DaVita is a leading provider of dialysis services and offers integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services. It operates multiple clinics in the Las Vegas Valley.

Fresenius Medical Care North America, which also operates dialysis clinics in Nevada, sent a letter to Heller and other Senate sponsors in support of the bill and what it called the “Finance Committee’s interest in advancing value-based care” and an integrated system of treatment.

But the Dialysis Clinic Inc., the nation’s largest non-profit dialysis provider, said the legislation has serious flaws.

Doug Johnson, vice-chairman of the Dialysis Clinic, said in a news release that “on closer review, it becomes clear that the bill doesn’t improve patient care, rather it creates a new payment method that would only benefit the largest providers in the industry.”

The bill is before the Senate Finance Committee, a panel that includes Heller and Nelson.

‘Undue influence’?

Lawmakers cringe at the suggestion of a “pay to play” system in which contributions to officeholders provide access to policymaking.

The practice, however, is scrutinized by watchdog groups like the Center for Responsive Politics that track money in politics and government.

“There is always a question of whether the money is having undue influence on votes in Congress,” said Sheila Krumholz, the Center for Responsive Politics executive director.

“The close relationship with the company (DaVita) and the senator merits attention,” she said, to determine whether the company is returning a favor to somebody who lined up with its policy agenda.

Krumholz said the current campaign system benefits lawmakers who need donations for expensive campaigns “and the most likely sources of those donations seek something in return.”

Campaign contributions

A month after the bill was introduced, Heller’s re-election campaign and his HELLERHIGHWATER PAC received contributions from DaVita’s PAC and officials with the company, including Rodriguez.

The company and its political arm have given contributions to every sponsor of the House and Senate bills.

The DaVita PAC alone gave $11,500 to the Heller campaign and his PAC in 2017. The bulk of those donations were made in December, the last month of the reporting period. Heller received a total of $24,100 in 2017 from DaVita’s PAC and officials.

Heller faces a GOP primary challenge from Danny Tarkanian, a Las Vegas lawyer. If Heller wins the June primary, Heller likely would face Rep. Jacky Rosen of Henderson, a freshman Democrat who is seeking her party’s nomination. Because Heller’s race could decide which party controls the Senate in 2019, his campaign is expected to be expensive.

In FEC reports, Heller raised $823,721 in the last quarter. He was outraised nearly 2-to-1 by Rosen, who raised more than $1.5 million. However, Heller has more than $4.2 million in cash on hand. Rosen has $1.8 million. Tarkanian raised $331,217 and has $450,513 in cash.

About 40 percent of Heller’s contributions come from PACs or special interest groups, higher than the 27 percent average for Republican senators, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Heller campaign spokesman Keith Schipper said they have raised more funds than Senate candidates Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, and Republican Joe Heck had raised at this point in their 2016 race.

Although national groups are expected to spend heavily in the 2018 Senate race, Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics said Heller will need to deplete some of his funds in the primary to beat Tarkanian.

“He is going to have to take his primary very seriously,” Kondik said.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. Contact Alexander Cohen at acohen@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0261. Follow @capitolmuckrakr on Twitter.

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