The history behind Kaiser Insurance Company is a unique tale of how a small hospital was able to obtain funding to provide insurance during the depression era. The year was 1933 and the setting takes us to a hospital in Desert Center, California. Henry Kaiser was an industrialist looking for a way to meet the health needs of his employees. Sidney Garfield was a physician looking for work. With a heart for humanitarianism, Dr. Garfield never wanted to turn a patient away for the inability to pay. As the industrialist, the doctor, and innovation merged, a new insurance HMO was born, Kaiser Permanente. Through much trial and error, the company that later birthed Kaiser Permanente was in full operation by 1945.
By the end of World War II, most people could not afford the cost of health care; Kaiser Permanente became favored by unions who found them to be an affordable health care solution for their members.
Kaiser Permanente is the largest non-profit HMO nation wide. Their company consists of non-profit hospitals, non-profit health plans, and non-profit medical groups. Because on Kaiser Permanente’s non-profit status, they focus on more social or charitable causes as an organization as a whole. Some of these areas include providing health care for the homeless, and specified services for pregnant women and children.
Today, Kaiser Permanente serves over 8 million members in nine different
states as well as in Washington D.C. Kaiser Permanente of CA serves over
3 million members and their network includes more than 4,000 doctors.
Henry Kaiser founded Kaiser Permanente of HI in 1958. Today, they serve
over 200,000 members. Kaiser Permanente of HI works with the Hawaii Permanente
Medical Health Group to include a large number of clinics and doctors in
their network. The Hawaii group has received numerous recognition and praise
for their strides in caring for the Hawaiian resident.
Kaiser Mid-Atlantic serves those in the region of Washington D.C. Virginia, and Maryland. They serve nearly 500,000 members and run over 25 medical centers.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance has ranked Kaiser Permanente of Ohio as Excellent. Kaiser Permanente of Ohio serves over 140,000 members.