More than fifty NUHW members from across California, including many Kaiser Permanente mental health workers from Southern California who just settled a 196-day strike, gathered in Sacramento on May 14 for NUHW Lobby Day.
The event coincided with Mental Health Matters Day at the State Capitol, and NUHW members visited 62 legislators and their staff members to advocate for two NUHW-sponsored bills that aimed to improve conditions for Californians providing and seeking mental health care.
“I feel really proud of the work we’re doing,” said Ligia Pacheco, a therapist for Kaiser in Los Angeles, who’s been back on the job for less than a week since the strike ended. “It’s hard to return to work after being on strike for so long. I’m honored by how many of my patients waited for me to return. I love working with them, but I love having the opportunity to advocate for the fundamental changes we need to establish real parity for mental health care.”
Legislators and mental health advocates showered the Southern California Kaiser workers with praise for their strike. Mental Health America of California Director Heidi Strunk thanked the workers for taking a stand and asked them to join her for a photograph during the official Mental Health Matters Day event at Capitol State Park.
Bains authored AB 1429, an NUHW-sponsored bill that would have made it much easier for Kaiser patients to get fully reimbursed for mental health treatment or medication that they couldn’t get directly from Kaiser.
The Assembly Health Committee voted overwhelmingly last month to advance the bill, but like many other bills this session it failed to get out of Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, doomed by the state’s looming $12 billion budget deficit and exaggerated cost estimates for implementation submitted by the California Department of Managed Health Care.
NUHW’s other sponsored bill, State Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 747, did advance out of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee and is heading for a full vote of the Senate. The bill is aimed at providing transparency about the disparity in compensation between behavioral health workers and comparable workers who provide medical/surgical care.
Health plans and large medical groups would have to report compensation data to the Department of Industrial Relations, so analysts can better understand the disparity in pay and consider what might be done to encourage more Californians to enter behavioral health professions.
Currently, Kaiser pays occupational and physical therapists 20 to 50 percent more than mental health therapists even though the jobs require similar educational and licensing requirements.
Speaking with Kaiser therapists, State Sen. Sasha Perez noted that she’s heard concerns from Kaiser members about “being pushed into group therapy… when that’s not what the person is searching for.
After meeting with Sen. Perez, Jessica Duran, a therapist with Kaiser in Los Angeles, said she was happy to be able to continue holding “Kaiser’s feet to the fire” following the strike.
“It’s really important to me that we continue the fight and have support from legislators in changing how Kaiser does business,” Duran said. Our visits were really successful. We got a lot of feedback and a lot of wonderful questions.”
