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It runs dialysis clinics and sells the machines and filters used to clean blood when kidneys fail.
Fresenius Medical Care is the world's biggest owner of dialysis clinics. Dialysis is what happens when your kidneys stop working: a machine takes your blood out, runs it through a filter, cleans it, and puts it back. Patients usually need this three times a week, for hours at a time, often for years. That regular, repeat business is the engine of the whole company.
It makes money in two main ways. First, it treats patients directly — it runs thousands of clinics, mostly in the United States, and gets paid by government programs like Medicare, plus private insurers. Second, it sells the products that make dialysis possible: the machines, the filters (called dialyzers), and the fluids. Those products go to its own clinics and to other providers around the world. Think of it as a restaurant that both cooks the meals and manufactures the ovens. Roughly three-quarters of revenue comes from treating patients, with the rest from selling the gear. Total revenue runs around €19–20 billion a year.
The company is based in Germany and grew out of Fresenius, a larger German health group. In recent years it has been dealing with pressure on profits, especially in the US, where staffing costs are high and government payment rates are tight. It has been cutting costs, selling off some non-core assets, and pushing newer treatments like home dialysis, where patients clean their blood at home instead of travelling to a clinic. Home dialysis is growing and tends to be cheaper and more convenient. The company also spends on research to improve its machines and filters, pays a dividend, and works to pay down debt. The simple takeaway: Fresenius Medical Care earns steady money from a service people cannot skip, and its challenge is doing that profitably as costs rise.
Saved answer · last researched 11 Oct 2026