Received by email a few days ago. Unfortunately this is all too typical, and here’s why: Kaiser Permanente doctors are trained to minimize your symptoms, and pressured to always default to the least expensive treatment. In fact, nearly all of the grievances we hear about are at least partially due to this cost-saving practice. Many… Read More »
We’ll call this one the “George Halvorson, first reform your own organization” Edition. An Elite Notary explains why it is so difficult to obtain legal representation in California in medical malpractice cases. Hint: it’s all about MICRA and mandatory binding arbitration, and claims against Kaiser have decreased 20% as a result. Just the legal filings,… Read More »
At the end of February, the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) issued a cease and desist order against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, for denying physical, occupational and speech therapy to members with “non-physical conditions.” This action was in response to more than 100 complaints that were received by the department since 2009. According… Read More »
An interesting podcast from Sarah Varney of KQED’s The California Report, on why Kaiser’s premiums have risen in recent years to levels often on a par with traditional health insurance rates. Among others, she interviews KP CEO George Halvorson, who as usual would like his customers to disbelieve their own experiences in favor of his… Read More »
And the fraud just keeps on coming, albeit somewhat delayed on our part. Dr. Hamid Safari, the Kaiser Fresno perinatologist who was accused of unsafe practices and causing the deaths of two babies, was cleared by the Medical Board of California and tried to get his job back. Of course the MBC practically requires a… Read More »
We haven’t done one of these Thrive ad parodies in awhile. Hope you enjoy it, and as always, feel free to copy, email and share. The rest of the parodies can be found here.
Kaiser News and Scandals Part 4, Privacy and ‘Thrive’-acy Edition. Another case of inappropriately accessed electronic medical records. This happens a lot. Anyone at KP with a Health Connect login can access your records at any time. Yes, there are access logs, and if it is discovered the person will be disciplined — but that… Read More »
So many scandals, so little time. Enjoy Part 3 of our belated Kaiser Permanente News Roundup. Kaiser involved in Pay-to-Play scheme intended to provide lobbyists with off-the-record access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the Washington Post’s reporters and editors. So what else is new? The Colorado Division of Insurance fined Kaiser $367,000… Read More »
Part 2 of the Kaiser Permanente stories we missed during our hiatus from posting: After an initial refusal by Kaiser, California Department of Managed Health Care officials finally obtained the documents needed to complete investigation of a complaint that call center scripts sometimes lead to misdiagnoses and delayed care. Two Bay Area residents filed a… Read More »
So many Kaiser stories have crossed our desk during the time we were not posting regularly that it would be impossible to put them all in one entry. The following is Part 1 of our attempt to catch up (we’ll add these to the Horror Stories pages later). Some of them were widely reported at… Read More »