Davita spent $1.2 million lobbying in 1Q

The El Segundo, Calif.-based company lobbied on bills that control how the government pays for kidney dialysis services, according to form filed April 21 with the House clerk's office.

DaVita has a huge stake in policies that affect dialysis reimbursement since the government pays for the care of nearly all 390,000 people in the U.S. on dialysis.

Lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on legislation that would change how the government pays for Amgen Inc.'s anemia drug Epogen, a $2.5 billion product used exclusively in kidney dialysis centers.

Medical experts have warned that Medicare's current payment policy encourages doctors to overprescribe the drug to receive more government reimbursement. The bills moving through Congress would change that by lumping the costs of the drug into payments for all other dialysis-related services.

Under the new policy, dialysis center operators like Davita are expected to cut down on their use of Epogen.