View from the Chair: Holiday Gifts from Dialysis Clinics—and an Idea for 2026

Every year on social media, Facebook groups for dialysis patients tend to include threads in which patients share their feelings about gifts their clinics do—or don’t—give them at Christmas time. Primary among these responses is gratitude. Most patients did not expect a gift and were pleasantly surprised—and very thankful for the lifesaving care they receive:

• “These angels in scrubs are true blessings!”

• “We got nothing, but we didn't expect anything. We brought gifts to them.”

• “We should be grateful they keep us alive.”

• “We are truly blessed to have these committed professionals on our team!”

• “Been doing dialysis nearly 8 yrs only got gifts maybe 2 or 3 times. But still grateful for that. Must be expensive buying for all of us.”

• “No one should expect a gift. It’s a medical facility. If there is a gift, that’s a perk. If no gift, remember that the staff is keeping you alive and that is a gift.”

• “I was in-center for 18 years. Are they obligated? No. But they get a budget for it. Might as well make it decent stuff.”

Clinics are not obligated to give gifts of any kind, and exceeding $15 per item or $75 per year per beneficiary runs the risk of a civil monetary penalty (CMP), per the 2020 Office of Inspector General rule on beneficiary inducements. One patient misunderstood the source of the holiday gifts, noting:

• “Many taxpayers would prefer that their tax dollars are not spent buying gifts for dialysis patients. At the rate this is going, my children who are currently paying into Medicare will get nothing as Medicare is going broke.”

Winning Gift Ideas

Within the federal (or state) fiscal limits, certain inexpensive gifts, particularly cookbooks, blankets, scarf and glove sets, and gifts with a personal touch sparked joy:

• “I got my gift from dialysis this year yesterday and it’s a reusable shopping bag. I’m not sure why they don’t get us better stuff anymore. I got a great renal cookbook one time years ago. Such a great gift. It’s gone downhill ever since. I’ll use it, but already have too many reusable bags as is. (I do appreciate the gesture though).”

• “My favorites? Blanket. Gloves. A renal cookbook like they used to give us every year.”

• “We got a Christmas cookie. It was good.”

• “Ours gave out a Christmas card they all signed and I enjoyed it.”

• “They gave me a mini waffle iron! It is so cute and I had just saved a bunch of tiktoks right before I recieved it that show how to make high protein lunch and breakfast sandwiches with one! I was going to get myself one after the holidays! Im super lucky. I'm on peritoneal dialysis.”

• “We got a bag, a hat and gloves! We got a blanket last year and it is very warm!”

• “My clinic gave us each a blanket and a crossword puzzle book!”

• “We got Panera sandwich boxes this year and personalized Sony headphones last year!”

• “I got a nice blanket!”

• “I got a hat, glove, and scarf set with a reusable bag.”

• “We got grocery gift cards and a turkey!”

• “My clinic gave us all book bags and a flannel blanket for Christmas! We also played bingo Tuesday which was a lot of fun!! I won some S&P shakers and a Christmas pot holder & towel.”

• “We got a blanket and a sandwich.”

• “Ours had a fun Santa pen, homemade soaps, and some other things.”

Missing the Boat…

Other gifts made patients and some clinic staff appreciate the thought, but wonder about the execution:

• “Our company gave just a bag and did not allow the clinic to use any part of their budget on gifts. The workers agree they should do better. The good ones try to add a little extra holiday cheer!”

• “There’s just many more useful things for us to get that’s all…”

• “Before this director took over during covid, they used to do bingo, raffles for Thanksgiving meals, small gifts during Christmas, mother's day and father's day but now we just get a piece of candy.”

• “Just fyi, us employees were horrified to see that empty reusable bags were the patient gifts this year. We are very sorry.”

• “There were some years they just gave us some hand lotion. I was always glad they thought of us!”

• “We just got a premade lunch nothing like last year.”

• I’m a social worker, and my clinic is giving out the bags. We are so embarrassed! It’s so cheap…they aren’t even heavy duty bags.”

• “I'm a tech and I just put gift bags together for our patients. I asked our manager if we could add to it since the company is being so cheap. She bought some cute coffee cups with lids that have inspirational sayings on them. I filled them with candy. It's not much more but we want our patients to know we care.”

• “I liked when they use to give blankets and such. This year I think it was a little yeti knock off mug with a few pieces of candy. Thankful they thought about us.”

• “When every one got the empty grocery bag instead it just hit everyone kinda awkward and funny. The staff was embarrassed to hand it out.”

• “The company sends us what we give to the patients every year. I was embarrassed this year and didn’t hand them out…”

• “I got a water bottle and a little calendar, definitely not as nice.”

• “I got a sucker.”

• “At my clinic they give us a small bag of candy from the 99 cent store.”

This Year, Consider Gifts that Include Patient Education

The OIG rules offer a $500 per beneficiary, per year “safe harbor” for non-marketing patient education. Those who were excited about cookbooks, which can help them self-manage their complex dietary limits, may also be pleased to receive information that helps them:

• Ponder transplant decisions

• Understand fluid balance

• Help them prevent long-term complications like renal osteodystrophy

• Better understand their disease and its treatment.

There are any number of excellent kidney patient and care partner education resources in the U.S renal community, and I’m sure any kidney organization would be happy to talk to dialysis company representatives or clinic staff about what might make thoughtful, useful holiday gifts.

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