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Hawaii Joins No.California KaiserPermanente Mental Health Workers Strike; CA investigates KP [1]

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Date: 2022-09-04

..This is the second time this year that Kaiser’s mental health staff, who are represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, have gone on strike. They went on strike for three days in May. This time, the union says the strike is open-ended and was launched as a last resort. ... In addition to the strikes, the union has filed complaints with regulators.

Last Monday, healthcaredive.com reported that the California Department of Managed care on August 22 had

launched a targeted enforcement investigation into whether [KP] health plans are providing patients with timely access to appointments, as required by law … The probe follows a complaint earlier this month by the National Union of Healthcare Workers to the DMHC that accused Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of illegally canceling behavioral health services for thousands of enrollees in Northern California in response to the impending strike by non-physician clinicians. The strike by DMHC-represented clinicians began on Aug. 15….

The unions contend that KP has long actively neglected to comply with California law on timely access.

..The more than 2,000 mental health therapists on strike will remain off the job until Kaiser increases staffing at its clinics and ends “dangerously long” wait times for therapy sessions, according to the NUHW. The union contends Kaiser is breaking California law and violating clinical standards by making patients wait months to start therapy and four to eight weeks between appointments. California law requires health plans to arrange for care to be provided out of network if timely access to mental health services is unavailable from in-network providers….

Although KP is popularly believed to be a nonprofit “health maintenance organization“ (i.e., insurer as well as provider of medical “care”), that’s only one-third true.

Kaiser Permanente ..Kaiser Permanente is made up of three distinct but interdependent groups of entities: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP) and its regional operating subsidiaries; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the regional Permanente Medical Groups [which are] physician-owned organizations, which provide and arrange for medical care for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan members in each respective region. The medical groups are for-profit partnerships or professional corporations and receive nearly all of their funding from Kaiser Foundation Health Plans. ... Around [1997] The Permanente Company was also chartered as a vehicle to provide investment opportunities for the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups [13] [ one such opportunity being] Kaiser Permanente Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in emerging medical technologies...[14]

This is far from the first time that KP has run afoul of state of California regulators: KP has a long history of being fined in the millions for medical workplace and related violations, and California has passed legislation requiring rigorous financial reportage to the state more in the way commercial businesses are required than are nonprofit organizations. A fairly thorough overview of the impacts of KP’s habitual financial habits upon vulnerable patients and non-physician staff are detailed in this post. and the other 60+ dk posts at that tag. Below is the full bibliography of professional journalism and union links for the several KP posts by me, most recent first:

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/4/2120683/-Hawaii-Joins-No-California-KaiserPermanente-Mental-Health-Workers-Strike-CA-investigates-KP

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