Kaiser was cited last year for canceling over 111,000 therapy appointments during a 10-week Northern California strike
Today is the last scheduled bargaining session before the open-ended strike begins on Monday
GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA — With 2,400 mental health workers in Southern California set to begin an open-ended strike on Monday, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is urging the state agency that regulates Kaiser to avoid a repeat of Kaiser’s practices in 2022 when the HMO illegally canceled more than 111,000 individual and group therapy appointments during a strike by Northern California therapists. State authorities later imposed a $50 million fine on Kaiser for these and other violations with Kaiser paying an additional $150 million as part of a settlement agreement signed last year.
In a recent letter to the head of California’s Department of Managed Health Care, NUHW Researcher Fred Seavey wrote, “Given Kaiser’s documented track record, we are concerned that Kaiser intends to respond to the upcoming strike by employing the same methods it has used during previous work stoppages. Such methods would jeopardize the health and safety of Kaiser’s enrollees, many of whom are diagnosed with disorders that can have life-threatening consequences.”
State law requires Kaiser to continue providing mental health care during a strike, just as it would be required to maintain medical care. Kaiser must arrange for patients to receive care from out-of-network therapists practicing in the community if Kaiser’s in-network therapists cannot deliver timely and geographically accessible care. If Kaiser cancels a patient’s appointment, it must promptly reschedule the appointment “in a manner that is appropriate for the enrollee’s healthcare needs and ensures continuity of care consistent with good professional practice,” according to state law.
In 2022, Kaiser violated these provisions of state law. Even though it readily accepted patients’ monthly premium payments, it canceled 111,803 therapy appointments during a 2022 strike by Northern California therapists. It failed to reschedule most patients’ appointments and failed to offer care from out-of-network providers.
Nearly 2,400 Kaiser mental health professionals in Southern California, including therapists, psychologists, social workers and psychiatric nurses, are poised to start an open-ended strike on Monday, Oct. 21 to demand that Kaiser fix its behavioral health system that it has acknowledged to state officials forces patients to wait too long for care because it lacks sufficient staffing.
The workers provide behavioral health care for Kaiser’s 4.8 million members in hospitals, clinics, medical offices and patients’ homes from San Diego to Bakersfield. Their contract expired on Sept. 30 and the last scheduled bargaining session before the start of the strike is today (Thursday).
“Kaiser mental health professionals are working around the clock to document for Kaiser exactly when patients need treatment and which patients have more urgent needs,” NUHW President Sophia Mendoza said. “Kaiser has a legal responsibility to provide care during a strike, and our state government has an obligation to make sure Kaiser is following the law in real time. It’s not enough to fine Kaiser for violations after the fact. Kaiser can afford fines, but its members can’t afford to have their care illegally delayed and denied.”
To avoid a repeat of the mass appointment cancellations that occurred during the Northern California mental health strike, NUHW is calling on the California Department of Managed Health Care to:
Establish methods for Kaiser patients to file complaints when their appointments are canceled and provide an expedited review of complaints.
Require Kaiser to inform all of its members in Southern California of their rights to receive ongoing care during the strike and the steps that Kaiser will undertake to arrange and deliver out-of-network care as required under state law.
Perform real-time monitoring of Kaiser’s performance by conducting site inspections and reviewing daily reports from Kaiser clinical sites.
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The National Union of Healthcare Workers is a member-led movement that represents 19,000 healthcare workers in California and Hawaii, including more than 4,700 Kaiser mental health professionals.
