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Ehrlichman: “Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to
by dadkins 16y ago
Ehrlichman: “Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can … the reason he can do it … I had Edgar Kaiser come in … talk to me about this and I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because … the less care they give them, the more money they make.”
President Nixon: “Fine.”
- jbarciauskas 16y agoAmericans consume enormously wasteful amounts of medical care. Kaiser Permenante seems to have excelled by reducing not medical care in general but specifically that care which does not improve outcomes, as its record as having the best outcomes in the regions it serves proves. The quote above was considered a "smoking gun" illustrating the depravity of the health insurance industry by Michael Moore in SiCKO but now is an incomplete summary of how KP has become a model of success.
- dadkins 16y agoMore recently (from Wikipedia): "In 1999, a number of groups successfully sued Kaiser Permanente in regard to its In the Hands of Doctors advertising campaign. The lawsuit revealed that doctors at the organization were not fully in control of decision-making and that there may have been persuasion to limit care with financial bonuses."
- RK 16y agoOn the other hand, it would sound just as perverse if they said "the more care we offer, the more money we make" (as opposed to trying to actually heal the patient).