Anthony Alvarado, MD
Nephrology · Sacramento, CANPI 1497906374
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 10 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 6 manufacturers reported payments, led by Vertex at 36.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $150, 2.9 times the $51 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for nephrology clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $1,018.
Across 10 payments — averaging $35.60 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Vertex$129
- Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$92
- Vantive US Healthcare LLC$58
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$39
- AstraZeneca$25
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$13
Across 4 payments — averaging $57,101 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Vertex$228K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$356100%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Vertex | 2 | $129 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $92 |
| Vantive US Healthcare LLC | 1 | $58 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $39 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $25 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
How this compares
$356 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 1,341 nephrology providers in California.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 79 | $24,996 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 31 | $23,238 |
| Calcium Acetate | 41 | $6,046 |
| Calcitriol | 218 | $3,894 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 79 | $2,177 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 150 | $1,855 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 48 | $1,698 |
| Lidocaine-PrilocaineLidocaine/Prilocaine | 46 | $1,494 |
| Losartan Potassium | 122 | $1,422 |
| Furosemide | 84 | $1,177 |
| Terazosin Hcl | 22 | $1,073 |
| Bumetanide | 13 | $971 |
| Lisinopril | 66 | $798 |
| Carvedilol | 54 | $721 |
| Doxazosin Mesylate | 30 | $563 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other nephrology in Sacramento
- Jose MorfinSacramento$1M
- Naveen AtraySacramento$51K
- Anjay RastogiLos Angeles$2.2M
- Glenn ChertowStanford$2M
- Luis AlvarezPalo Alto$1.8M
- Rodolfo BatarseRancho Mirage$910K
- Vandana MathurWoodside$769K
- Yasir QaziOrange$618K
- Rafael VillicanaLoma Linda$610K
- Sunil PatelApple Valley$509K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.