When I first encountered the description of Proposition 8, I thought immediately that I’d vote for it.

The measure states that it “regulates the amount of outpatient kidney dialysis clinics charge for dialysis treatment.”

I’m sure you can guess why I would mmediately think to vote ‘yes.’

But, after reading more into the details of the proposition, and doing more reasearch,  I concluded that voting yes on Prop 8 is actually extremely dangerous.

Voting yes on Prop 8 will have a drastic impact on the state of California.

Prop 8 will cause community dialysis clinics to reduce their services and eventually close.

By limiting what insurance companies have to pay for dialysis care, clinics will lose a lot of money, which will reduce the amount of treatment they can provide.

When professionals analyzed this proposition, they found that Prop 8 will result in 83 percent of dialysis clinics operating at a loss.

Additionally, hundreds of clinics will close across the state, leaving people who are very sick or those with  kidney failure basically stranded.

To make matters worse, passing this prop will also lead a rise in life-threatening conditions.

Many doctors and other healthcare professionals strongly oppose voting yes.

Many of them see this prop as harmful to patients receiving dialysis and believe voting yes will increase the risk of life-threatening complications involved in the treatment.

In addition, voting yes will actually increase the cost of taxes for all Californians.

According to Voterguide, “this measure will increase taxpayer costs nearly $300 million annually.”

The risk of clinics closing will cause patients to go to the emergency room, which ultimately hurts taxpayers.

On the other hand, many people in favor of Prop 8 argue it will lower healthcare costs for everyone.

This is not true.

Taxpayers pay for healthcare.

If certain groups of people want free healthcare, that means taxpayers will pay more in taxes to provide to that need.

However, dialysis corporations overcharge patients.

California’s top dialysis clinic charges some patients as much as 350 percent above the actual costs of providing care, or as much as $150,000 per year.

This actually makes healthcare more expensive for all of us, not

just dialysis patients.

Many people in favor also argue Prop 8 is supported by a wide range of healthcare professionals and organizations.

Some of these organizations include Dialysis Advocates, LLC, Californians for Disability Rights and Congress of California Seniors.

While this is true, the proposition is actually opposed by thousands of healthcare professionals and dialysis patients.

I think it is fair to conclude if the patients receiving this treatment oppose the proposition, then it is probably not a good thing.

Organizations like American Nurses Association and California Medical Association are largely against this proposition.

In fact, they suggest that Prop 8 will severely limit what insurance companies are required to pay for dialysis care.

Moreover, according to these notable organizations, these arbitrary limits will not cover the actual cost of providing care.

These organizations are not only more credible, but they are far more well known within the  medical community than the organizations that support the proposition.

Personally, I would rather listen to the the notable, trusted associations on their stance instead of an organization many have never even heard of before.

While I can see why some support this, as I did at one time, it’s a terrible decision to make for the state.

Ultimately, when  I read the proposition would make dialysis treatment less expensive, I thought it was an amazing idea and could not understand why anyone would not support that

As I looked into it though, I realized the proposition was not the best decision  and would do more harm than good for patients.

I believe there are better ways to make healthcare and treatments cheaper for patients than Prop 8.

An option that doesn’t put patients risk and skyrocket the costs of healthcare.

Californians, join doctors, nurses and patient advocates and vote against this proposition that will put dialysis patients at even more risk.

Vote no on Prop 8.

Sydney Karlos is a freshman studying journalism.