Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance
Kaiser
Permanente is the largest non-profit health plan in the United States having
more than 8.6 million members in 9 States and the District of
Columbia. . The scope of Kaiser Permanente Health Care includes
preventive care, immunizations, emergency care, hospital and medical
services, pharmacy services, well-baby and pre-natal care, and screening
diagnostics.
Kaiser
Permanente Story
Kaiser
Permanente was born in 1945, and was the result of struggles of a young
surgeon, Sidney R. Garfield, MD, during the Great Depression. He started
off with a 12-bed Contractors
General Hospital in the middle of the Mojave Desert to provide health care to the workers
involved in building the Los Angeles Aqueduct. However, he found the going
tough, particularly with the financing part of the Hospital, and soon had
trouble getting the insurance companies to pay his bills on time because
he treated both insured and non-insured workers. Resultantly, the Hospital
ran into losses. Dr. Garfield was then joined by an
engineer-turned-insurance-agent, Harold Hatch, who came up with the idea
that insurance companies pay a fixed amount per day, per covered worker,
up front, which solved the immediate financial troubles of the Hospital.
Later Dr. Garfield stressed on preventive care and devised pre-payment for
long-term financial solution for Hospital problems. For just 5 cents per
day, workers received this new form of health coverage and for an
additional 5 cents per day; workers could also receive coverage for
non-job-related medical problems. Thus, started the success story of
Kaiser Permanente.
Modern
Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance
The modern
Kaiser Permanente is the largest non-profit health plan in the
United
States. Headquartered in Oakland, California,
Kaiser Permanente has its operations in 9 States and the District of
Columbia. The company has its stated objective “to
be the world leader in improving health through high-quality, affordable,
integrated health care.”
Kaiser
Permanente and Social Welfare
Kaiser
Permanente has a long history of community involvement with the end
objective of improving the health of the community and of the members
driving its social activities. The company initiated Direct Community
Benefit Investment (DCBI) program in 1996 not only to improve the health
of the communities, but also to increase access to affordable health care.
This program focuses on vulnerable populations, education, evidence-based
medicine, and public policy. In 2001, Kaiser Permanente invested $343
million nationwide on community services. Kaiser Permanente’s Institute
for Health Policy also contributes its bit to increase understanding of
key health policy issues in the country.
Kaiser
Permanente Accolades
Adaptive
Business Leaders (ABL), a nationally renowned roundtable of CEOs from
healthcare or technology companies headquartered on the West Coast,
awarded Kaiser Permanente with the Innovations in Healthcare Award for
Consumer Empowerment in June 2006. In 2007, the official website of Kaiser
Permanente received one platinum award (the highest recognition), one gold
award, and one silver award at the Eleventh Annual Healthcare Internet
Conference held in Las
Vegas. The previous year also saw the website
winning two platinum awards (the highest recognition) and one gold award
at the Tenth Annual Healthcare Internet Conference held in Atlanta.
