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Union seeks federal investigation of Kaiser mental health services

Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) - 6/13/2014

June 13--The National Union of Healthcare Workers -- which represents mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente -- has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to launch a criminal investigation into allegations that Kaiser delayed care and falsified appointment records for thousands of its mental health patients.

The union, which has been in contract negotiations with Kaiser for almost four years, said the charges against Kaiser mirror those that have been levied against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is embroiled in a scandal involving long wait times for veterans seeking mental health counseling and other services.

Kaiser Permanente released a statement Thursday dismissing the letter as another union ploy aimed at discrediting the HMO in the midst of "protracted" labor negotiations. Kaiser said the union was trying to capitalize on the national scandal surrounding the VA.

"Frankly, it's disgusting, and insulting to everyone who is currently affected and even hurt by the problems facing the VA," said John Nelson, a vice president for Kaiser Permanente.

The union alleges that chronic under-staffing at Kaiser mental health programs has resulted in long wait times for people seeking individual therapy, and that it manipulated its records to conceal these wait periods from state inspectors.

Sal Roselli, president of the NUHW, said he hopes Holder and members of Congress will investigate Kaiser with the same vigor they are pursuing the VA. Roselli said Kaiser has been hit with class-action lawsuits accusing the HMO with denying mental health care to patients who later committed suicide.

"Yesterday Eric Holder announced a criminal investigation of the VA, and I see Congress members asking for the smoking gun, the direct link between denial of care and people dying. Well, these class-action lawsuits and the evidence we've been presenting and exposing demonstrates that direct link between denial of care by Kaiser and suicides of Kaiser patients," Roselli said.

The U.S. Attorney General's Office did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the union's letter.

The union said its claims are supported by a $4 million fine against Kaiser last year by the state Department of Managed Health Care. The fine came after the state agency, which represents the interests of health plan members in California, conducted a survey of Kaiser medical services and found serious "deficiencies" in Kaiser mental health programs.

But Kaiser said the union's allegations are misleading and exaggerated the 2013 findings by state regulators. The fine resulted from a "routine survey," Kaiser said, "and did not involve the quality of mental health care that Kaiser Permanente medical teams provide." All of the issues have been resolved, it said.

"The union is trying to jump into the news around the very real, very painful and ongoing challenges involving the Veterans Administration and our nation's veterans in need of care, in an irresponsible and opportunistic attempt to further the union's own agenda," Nelson said in his statement.

The union said Kaiser's own mental health staff first raised the issue of long wait-times and substandard care in a report the union prepared in 2011. The state survey confirmed many of the union's findings, the union said.

The union said two class-action action lawsuits against Kaiser claim patients who sought mental health treatment committed suicide while waiting for services.

"The government should be forcing Kaiser to obey the law in terms of access to care," Roselli said.

Kaiser defended its Northern California mental health care, which it said is one of the highest rated in the state, according to the 2014 California Office of the Patient Advocate report card.

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(c)2014 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

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