affordability

Labor and management in every region are working together to make Kaiser Permanente the recognized model for delivery of high quality, affordable health care. And our Labor Management Partnership is a unique part of that model. At the 2011 Union Delegates Conference, LMP Senior VP Barb Grimm caught up with Dennis Deas, senior director of National Performance Improvement, to find out what every team should know to make KP the best—and the best at getting better.

It was one of those weeks. Many people could not ignore economic news, despite the abstract way we talk about it that makes so many people feel powerless and intimidated.

The administration announced its “compromise.” Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the richest people in the country, would remain in effect for another two years. The president’s own party was in revolt.

When we casually reveal where we work at social gatherings, most of us who work at KP get an earful. Often it’s positive. Some times it’s not. And sometimes friends, relatives or acquaintances ask us if they should join Kaiser Permanente.

Many of us are thinking about the opportunities that could open up for Kaiser Permanente with health care reform. Experts talk about Kaiser Permanente as one of the models that could be the “gold standard” of how to provide health care in the country. While the specifics of health care reform are still being defined, it is clear that many people who currently do not have health insurance will have access to coverage.

The United States Congress has passed a law that President Obama will sign that will guarantee access to health insurance for nearly everyone who lives in the US. This legislation is a huge step in the direction of making access to health care a right, not a privilege.

Finally.

There is much to be critical and unsure of in the new law. But, I don’t think that is what we should focus on.

According to UC-Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez, the disparity of income in the US today has never been greater than at any time in the last century.