Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance Company

 

Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest managed care companies in the United States. They provide health plans that help people get quality care while keeping costs down.

Kaiser Permanente plans are convenient and affordable. Their plans come in a range of deductibles, making them flexible enough to fit into any budget. And Kaiser Permanente has a large network of top-quality doctors and hospitals.

Browse Kaiser Permanente plans here.

How Kaiser Permanente is Organized

Kaiser Permanente is made up of 3 distinct organizations:

• Kaiser Foundation Health Plans market and manage the health plans offered to individuals and businesses. Kaiser Foundation Health Plans is a not-for-profit organization.
• Kaiser Foundation Hospitals are a network of hospitals that serve both Kaiser plan members and the general public. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals is also a not-for-profit organization.
• The Permanente Medical Groups are networks of doctors that serve Kaiser plan members. The Medical Groups are for-profit organizations, and receive funding from the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans.

The Kaiser Family Foundation was also started by Henry Kaiser, one of Kaiser Permanente's founders. However, the Kaiser Family Foundation is not related to Kaiser Permanente.

The History of Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente got its start back in 1945. The industrialist Henry Kaiser was leading several large construction projects on the West Coast, including the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Grand Coulee Dam. To cover the health of his workers, Kaiser had created a series of complicated relationships with various hospitals and insurance companies.

In the early 1940s, Kaiser and Dr. Sydney Garfield created the organizations that would become Kaiser Permanente. From the beginning, Kaiser Permanente's focus was on providing preventive care and educating members about maintaining their health.

Kaiser Permanente Today

Kaiser's business expanded dramatically after the U.S. Congress passed the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973. The law provided Federal grants to start and expand HMO health plans, and removed some of the restrictions of doing business as an HMO plan.
Changes in the health insurance market forced Kaiser Permanente to scale back its operations in the late 1990s. Many regional branches in the Northeastern United States and along the Atlantic coast were either closed or sold.