Medicare Blog

what is kaiser permanente medicare group#

by Prof. Ena Bernier Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

Kaiser Permanente is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Kaiser Permanente depends on contract renewal. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a 5-star rating system.May 19, 2022

What is the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group?

In partnership with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, the Permanente Medical Groups are dedicated to the mission of improving the health of our patients and communities.

What does Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage cover?

If you live in a state that offers Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage plans, you can get full coverage that includes Original Medicare Parts A and B, prescription drug coverage (Part D), and additional optional benefits like hearing, vision, and dental care.

What is the organizational structure of Kaiser Permanente?

This structure was adopted by Kaiser Permanente physicians and leaders in 1955. Each entity of Kaiser Permanente has its own management and governance structure, although all of the structures are interdependent and cooperative to a great extent. There are multiple affiliated nonprofits registered with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

What is Kaiser Permanente Ventures?

One of the ventures of the Permanente Company is Kaiser Permanente Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in emerging medical technologies. The history of Kaiser Permanente dates to 1933 and a tiny hospital in the town of Desert Center, California.

image

What is the Kaiser group?

Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare plans in the United States, with over 12 million members. It operates 39 hospitals and more than 700 medical offices, with over 300,000 personnel, including more than 80,000 physicians and nurses.

What does Group Medicare mean?

Group Medicare Advantage plans are insurance plans offered by employers or unions to their retirees. EGWPs are provided by private insurance companies who manage your company's retiree Medicare benefits. Under EGWPs, Medicare pays the insurance company a fixed amount to provide benefits.

Is Kaiser Medicare or Medi Cal?

Kaiser Permanente participates in Medi-Cal in many counties. This means that, if you are a current Kaiser Permanente member and your situation changes, you may be able to keep your same doctor and continue your care with Kaiser Permanente if you qualify for Medi-Cal.

Is Kaiser Senior Advantage the same as Medicare?

This is a Medicare Advantage plan, which means that it generally replaces your Medicare coverage. You agree to let Kaiser manage your Medicare benefits. It is an HMO (health maintenance organization) with a closed network of providers.

What are the 4 types of Medicare?

There are four parts of Medicare: Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D.Part A provides inpatient/hospital coverage.Part B provides outpatient/medical coverage.Part C offers an alternate way to receive your Medicare benefits (see below for more information).Part D provides prescription drug coverage.

What is my Medicare group number?

Your Medicare group number should be on your insurance card for your Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement or Part D plan. If you only have Original Medicare, you don't have a group number, but your 11-digit Medicare number is on your red, white and blue Medicare card.

Does Kaiser Permanente accept Medicare and Medicaid?

You can get Medicare Advantage plans from private health care providers like Kaiser Permanente. Part D is prescription drug coverage that can be added to Original Medicare and is available from private health care providers like Kaiser Permanente.

Can I have Medi-Cal and Kaiser?

Qualify for Kaiser Permanente You may be able to become a Medi-Cal Managed Care member with Kaiser Permanente. You must qualify for Medi-Cal and live in a county where Kaiser Permanente has a contract to provide Medi-Cal Managed Care services.

Who qualifies for free Medicare Part A?

You are eligible for premium-free Part A if you are age 65 or older and you or your spouse worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least 10 years. You can get Part A at age 65 without having to pay premiums if: You are receiving retirement benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board.

What is the difference between Kaiser Senior Advantage and Senior Advantage Plus?

As a Kaiser Permanente Senior Advantage member, you enjoy the ease of combining your Medicare coverage with Kaiser Permanente coverage in a single plan. Now, with Advantage Plus, you can get valuable comprehensive dental, hearing, and extra vision benefits added to your plan.

Why do doctors not like Medicare Advantage plans?

If they don't say under budget, they end up losing money. Meaning, you may not receive the full extent of care. Thus, many doctors will likely tell you they do not like Medicare Advantage plans because private insurance companies make it difficult for them to get paid for their services.

Can I get Medicare Part B for free?

While Medicare Part A – which covers hospital care – is free for most enrollees, Part B – which covers doctor visits, diagnostics, and preventive care – charges participants a premium. Those premiums are a burden for many seniors, but here's how you can pay less for them.

What is Kaiser Permanente?

Kaiser Permanente ( / ˈkaɪzər pɜːrməˈnɛnteɪ /; KP ), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Permanente is made up of three distinct but interdependent groups of entities: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP) and its regional operating subsidiaries; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the regional Permanente Medical Groups. As of 2017, Kaiser Permanente operates in eight states ( Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia) and the District of Columbia, and is the largest managed care organization in the United States.

How many members does Kaiser Permanente have?

Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare plans in the United States, with over 12 million members. It operates 39 hospitals and more than 700 medical offices, with over 300,000 personnel, including more than 80,000 physicians and nurses.

How many people left Kaiser Permanente in 1945?

The end of World War II brought about a huge plunge in Kaiser Permanente membership; for example, 50,000 workers had left the Northern California yards by July 1945. Membership bottomed out at 17,000 for the entire system but then surged back to 26,000 within six months as Garfield aggressively marketed his plan to the public. Sidney Garfield & Associates had been a sole proprietorship, but in 1948, it was reorganized into a partnership, Permanente Medical Group.

How many states does Kaiser Permanente operate in?

As of 2017, Kaiser Permanente operates in eight states ( Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, ...

What is the Permanente Federation LLC?

In addition to the regional entities, in 1997, the then-twelve Permanente Medical Groups created The Permanente Federation LLC, a separate entity, which focuses on standardizing patient care and performance under one name and system of policies. Around the same time, The Permanente Company was also chartered as a vehicle to provide investment opportunities for the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. One of the ventures of the Permanente Company is Kaiser Permanente Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in emerging medical technologies.

What was the Kaiser Company's role in the war?

In 1939, the Kaiser Company began work on several huge shipbuilding contracts in Oakland, and by the end of 1941 would control four major shipyards on the West Coast. During 1940, the expansion of the American defense-industrial complex in preparation for entrance into World War II resulted in a massive increase in the number of employees at the Richmond shipyard. In January 1941, Henry Kaiser asked Garfield to set up an insurance plan for the Richmond workers (this was merely contract negotiation with insurance companies), and a year later Kaiser asked Garfield to duplicate at Richmond what he had done at Desert Center and Mason City. Unlike the two other projects, the resulting entity lived on after the construction project that gave birth to it, and it is the direct ancestor of today's Kaiser Permanente.

When was Kaiser Permanente founded?

The history of Kaiser Permanente dates to 1933 and a tiny hospital in the town of Desert Center, California. At that time, Henry J. Kaiser and several other large construction contractors had formed an insurance consortium called Industrial Indemnity to meet their workers' compensation obligations.

How many members does Kaiser Permanente have?

Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. We currently serve 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia.

Why is Kaiser Permanente important?

Kaiser Permanente exists to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.

What is Permanente Medical Group?

Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management.

What is Medicare Advantage?

In general, private insurance companies across the United States offer Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans to those who are eligible for Medicare. What plan is available in your location depends on what insurance companies are approved by Medicare to sell Part C plans.

When do you enroll in Medicare Part A?

Most people are enrolled in Medicare Part A automatically when they qualify due to age or disability. You can enroll in Part B or choose to get your Part A and Part B benefits through a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan during a period of time called your initial enrollment period. You may risk paying a late enrollment penalty if you decide to enroll later.

What percentage of medical expenses does Medicare cover?

While Original Medicare insurance covers 80 percent of medical and hospital expenses, beneficiaries are responsible for the remaining 20 percent, as well as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.

Is Kaiser a non profit?

Today, Kaiser has one of the country’s largest nonprofit health care plans and provides coverage for over 12 million people enrolled in the program. Medicare recipients can enroll in a Kaiser Permanente program if they are a resident of Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, or the District of Columbia.

Does Kaiser offer Medicare Advantage?

If you live in a state that offers Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage plans, you can get full coverage that includes Original Medicare Parts A and B, prescription drug coverage (Part D), and additional optional benefits like hearing, vision, and dental care.

For our Medicare health plan members

If you're already a member of a Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plan, you can see and download much of your plan information online.

For our members turning 65

If you have individual or group health coverage through Kaiser Permanente and are eligible for Medicare coverage for the first time, we can take you through your options. Visit our website for members turning 65 and over and learn how to make a smooth transition to our Medicare health plan.

Join a Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plan

Go to our Medicare health plan website and explore what's available in your area. Learn all about when you are eligible, when you can enroll, and which plans offer the right cost and coverage for you or a loved one.

Need to know the basics?

Learn about Medicare parts A, B, C, and D. Get an overview of eligibility, enrollment dates, and your rights as a member. Check out the seminars available through our Medicare health plan website and see if there's one scheduled in your town.

Important information

You must reside in the Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plan service area in which you enroll.

Who is the founder of Kaiser Permanente?

In a 1974 interview, Kaiser Permanente founding physician Sidney Garfield, MD, reflected on this earliest relation between Kaiser Permanente and Group Health Cooperative:

Which group of health cooperatives offer the same medical care as Permanente?

In Seattle, Wash., the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound made the offer of medical care on the same basis and at the same price as Permanente.

Did Kaiser acquire Group Health?

It’s official. Kaiser Permanente has acquired Group Health Cooperative, making Kaiser Permanente Washington our newest region, the first in over 30 years. Although this merger is brand new, the 2 organizations began collaborating more than 65 years ago.

When did Group Health start?

In fact, few know that our common roots go as far back as 1950, just three years after Group Health Cooperative’s founding.

Is Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound a Kaiser Permanente?

Although this merger is brand new, the 2 organizations began collaborating more than 65 years ago. Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (they dropped the “of Puget Sound” in 1995), like Kaiser Permanente, was always a mission-driven organization that approached health care in a very different way from traditional fee-for-service medicine .

image

Overview

Kaiser Permanente , commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Permanente is made up of three distinct but interdependent groups of entities: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP) and its regional operat…

Structure and governance

Kaiser Permanente provides care throughout eight regions in the United States. Two or three (four, in the case of California) distinct but interdependent legal entities form the Kaiser system within each region. This structure was adopted by Kaiser Permanente physicians and leaders in 1955.
Each entity of Kaiser Permanente has its own management and governance st…

History

The history of Kaiser Permanente dates to 1933 and a tiny hospital in the town of Desert Center, California. At that time, Henry J. Kaiser and several other large construction contractors had formed an insurance consortium called Industrial Indemnity to meet their workers' compensation obligations. Sidney Garfield had just finished his residency at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center at a time …

Quality of care

In the California Healthcare Quality Report Card 2013 Edition, Kaiser Permanente's Northern California and Southern California regions, KP received four out of four possible stars in Meeting National Standards of Care. KP North and South also received three out of four stars in Members Rate Their HMO. KP's performance has been attributed to three practices: First, KP places a strong emphasis on preventive care, reducing costs later on. Second, its doctors are salaried rat…

Research and publishing

Kaiser operates a Division of Research, which annually conducts between 200 and 300 studies, and the Center for Health Research, which in 2009 had more than 300 active studies. Kaiser's bias toward prevention is reflected in the areas of interest—vaccine and genetic studies are prominent. The work is funded primarily by federal, state, and other outside (non-Kaiser) institutions.
Kaiser has created and operates a voluntary biobank of donated blood samples from members al…

Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine

Kaiser Permanente announced its plan to start a medical school in December, 2015, and the school welcomed its inaugural class in June, 2020. The vision for the school is to redesign physician education around the pillars of patient-centered care, population health, quality improvement, team-based care, and health equity.
Mark Schuster, MD, PhD was named the medical school's Founding Dean and CEO in 2017. The …

Controversies

In order to contain costs, Kaiser requires an agreement by planholders to submit patient malpractice claims to arbitration rather than litigating through the court system. This has triggered some opposition.
Wilfredo Engalla is a notable case. In 1991, Engalla died of lung cancer nearly five months after submitting a written demand for arbitration. The California Supreme Court found that Kaiser had …

See also

• Kaiser Family Foundation

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9