CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Kaiser Permanente, AI, and the Workers on Strike, Again

“Kaiser executives say they’re not using AI to make patient care determinations, but they won’t say what technology is underpinning the online questionnaires that automatically determine whether patients require urgent appointments and assess whether they may be a threat to themselves,” said Carolyn Staehle, a behavioral therapist in San Francisco. “Whatever Kaiser wants to call it, it’s not a human being making these potentially life and death decisions, and it’s not the same level of care as being assessed by a licensed therapist.”

 Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization (HMO) is forcing its therapists onto the streets in the ongoing battle to deny mental health parity with medical in its services to 12 million members.

The 2400 striking mental health care workers are members of the National Union of Health Care Workers (NUHW). They walked out on Wednesday, March 18, a “practice” strike, but most likely a taste of what’s to come. In 2022, these workers struck for ten weeks, the longest mental health care workers’ strike recorded. Two issues dominated negotiations from the start: workload for Kaiser therapists and wait time for Kaiser patients. The strikers won on both, forcing concessions until then all but unheard of. The strikers won break-through provisions to retain staff, reduce wait times for patients and a plan to collaborate on transforming Kaiser’s model for providing mental health care.

This time, it’s inevitable the fight will be just as hard fought.  But the NUHW members are battle-tested; each contract fight with Kaiser........

© CounterPunch