I've been working in and around the healthcare industry for the last eight years. Throughout that time I've come to find that if anyone was looking for a conversation starter, all you had to do is say the word "Kaiser" and watch the fireworks begin. Inevitably, you would hear someone say, "I love Kaiser!" while someone else would counter with, "I can't stand them!"
In fact for a long time, I put the topic of Kaiser in the same conversation category as politics and religion. Its just something you avoid talking about if you're speaking with someone new and want to keep the conversation polite.
It always floored me how no one seems to be "middle of the road" on them. They either love Kaiser or they hate Kaiser and here's why: _____________ (fill in the blank). Actually, I take that back. The only people that seem indifferent to Kaiser (they neither love, nor hate) are people that never go to the doctor or haven't had any real illness or affliction in their life time.
Recently, my organization (which has over 1000 people on our employer group health plan) decided that they may offer Kaiser as a lower cost alternative to our current carrier, UnitedHealthcare (UHC). When UHC got wind of this, they told us that they would raise our premium rates in 2012 an additional 5% over and above their usual annual increase of 10% to 15% (Basically, trying to cushion the blow of any potentially lost revenue if/ when some of our employees switch over to Kaiser).
Anyhow, we decided to design a simple online survey asking our employees what they wanted. The results were astounding! First and foremost, when I do mass emails like this to our employee population I rarely get ANY response. With that in mind, I decided to make the subject line very straight forward. I simply wrote "Should [our organization] offer Kaiser?" With in two hours of the email going out we had heard from 10% of our people. With in two days (over the weekend), 25%. I wish I could convey to you just how amazing this is!!!
The results: True to it's own campaign - "Thrive" - Kaiser seems to have found the hidden immunity idol...
- So far 70% of respondents say they would like to enroll on Kaiser.
- More shocking than that, 25% of respondents say they would be willing to pay the same premium that they pay for their current UHC plan (That is huge! We were considering Kaiser because it would be a "lower cost option," but basically 25% of folks are telling us they simply prefer Kaiser, with or without the savings).
So, what about you... Kaiser, love it or hate it?
1 comment:
Hey Christine - LARA member and new follower here.
I don't have Kaiser but my sister does. Until recently, she has been very happy with it, ALTHOUGH there have always been long waits and complicated scheduling issues to get follow-up visits for her and her husband.
Recently, though, he became extremely ill. After being officially admitted to the hospital through the emergency room (vomiting blood, and losing it at the other end, too) around 8:00 am, getting transfusions and various surgical tests, he remained stranded in the emergency room until 10 pm that night, cold and miserable on an uncomfortable gurney. There wasn't a bed/staff who could prepare a bed for him in the "regular" hospital till then.
He was also discharged, a day or so later, without ever having a doctor give him a face-to-face official diagnosis of what was wrong with him, or what to do next. There were discharge papers that referred to a special diet, see attached - but nothing was attached. I understand many facilities are chronically understaffed, and stories like his aren't unusual.
Kaiser may be excellent at preventative care and urging people to thrive, but if I had to be sick, I'd rather be almost anywhere else.
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