Healthcare Reform: A Look at the Kaiser Permanente Model

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Recommended: The need for universal health care

It is terrifying to discover that you have terminal cancer. What is more terrifying is being left uninsured. This is what happened to one Californian. He lost his job due to recession cuts and tried to get onto his wife’s insurance coverage. However, she too lost her job and insurance. So now this man is left at home writing in pain because he cannot access pain killers. With his economic background, it is difficult to access federal coverage. There are problems like this occurring every day. I believe that we need to improve not only the amount of people covered by health insurance, but the quality as well. To illustrate this, I look to Kaiser Permanente, who I have both volunteered and been a patient with, for the model of healthcare reform.

Doctor Sidney Garfield and Henry Kaiser’s partnership that goes all the way back to the 1930’s became a revolutionary network of healthcare providers working with the insurance company. Kaiser Permanente’s formative years were amidst the Great Depression and Dr. Garfield was charged with task of supplying medical care to thousands of Los Angeles Aqueduct workers. Being the Depression, financing was very difficult so Dr. Garfield simply charged 5 cents a day for each employee to the insurance company of the contractor. This was the essential birth of prepayment in the health insurance system, but that alone was not enough. Due to the potential patient load, Dr. Garfield focused upon preventative safety measures rather than simply reactionary care. This fundamental philosophy of innovation and the focus on health as opposed to mending has been the hallmark of modern Kaiser Permanente. The advertising campaign and slogan “Live Well and Thrive” encourages this very philosophy a...

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..., Thomas R. The Healing of America: a Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. Kindle ed. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

"Taiwan Takes Fast Track to Universal Health Care." Interview by Thomas R. Reid. NPR: National Public Radio: News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts. NPR News, 5 Apr. 2008. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. .

"USATODAY.com - Study: 4 in 10 Medical Malpractice Cases Groundless." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. The Associated Press, 10 May 2006. Web. 08 Mar. 2010. .

Waitzkin, Howard. At the Front Lines of Medicine How the Health Care System Alienates Doctors and Mistreats Patients--and What We Can Do About It. New York: Rowman & Littlefield,, 2001. Print.

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