Tell Kaiser to
keep humans
in mental healthcare
Therapy is about human connection.
Not artificial intelligence.
Kaiser Permanente has $67 BILLION in reserves. It can afford to do mental healthcare right.
Instead Kaiser wants the “flexibility” to:
Layoff therapists in order to outsource even more mental health services, making it harder for patients to access care and cementing mental healthcare as an inferior service separate from the rest of Kaiser’s integrated healthcare system.
Replace therapists with artificial intelligence, depriving patients of the human-to-human contact that makes mental health therapy effective.
Eviscerate patient care protections therapists fought to win over the past decade.
Kaiser’s Mental Healthcare System
Is Losing Its Personal Touch.
Kaiser has begun deploying Artificial Intelligence without any input from its therapists. Patients seeking mental healthcare are no longer guaranteed to talk to a human therapist trained to ask the right questions to determine what kind of treatment they need and how urgently they need it.
Now, patients just answer prompts, and Kaiser telephone operators and AI decide the next step. As a result, therapists report seeing more patients who should have been seen immediately or assigned to a different treatment program.
And Things Will Get Worse
If Kaiser Gets Its Way.
In contract negotiations, Kaiser wants to end hard-fought patient care safeguards and facilitate laying off therapists in Northern California to further outsource mental health services and push patients onto AI protocols.
Kaiser once committed to using AI only to help its therapists; now it wants to use AI to replace therapists.
Therapists are fighting for humane and human-centered mental health services at Kaiser.
We’re calling on Kaiser to settle a contract that:
Ensures that new technologies help us do our jobs, not eliminate our jobs.
Guarantees that patient care is always guided by licensed therapists, not call center operators, AI tools, or Kaiser executives focused more on profits than patient care.
Protects patient care standards that we’ve fought so hard to win, including making sure therapists have time to return patient calls and emails, prepare for appointments, and coordinate care with other Kaiser providers.
Keeps mental health care part of Kaiser’s integrated healthcare delivery system, not outsourced to a satellite system that separates therapists from the rest of Kaiser’s care team.
What's at Stake?
MORE FACTS ABOUT KAISER’S
Mental Health Failures
In 2022, Kaiser Agreed To Pay A $200 Million Penalty, Including A $50 Million Fine, After Regulators Found Severe Understaffing And Long Wait Times For Mental Health Care.
In A Follow-Up Survey, State Regulators Found That Kaiser Had Failed To Fix 19 Out Of 20 Deficiencies, Including Monitoring And Coordinating Care For Patients Sent Outside Of Kaiser For Mental Health Therapy.
Kaiser Promised To “Transform” Its Behavioral Health Services By October 2025, But It Remains Under State Monitoring And Continues Denying Patients Timely Care.
Access to care is still a problem
In A Recent Survey Of Kaiser Therapists:
53% Of All Respondents Reported Considering Leaving Kaiser During The Last Six Months Due To Working Conditions.
79% Of All Respondents Said They Believe Kaiser Has A Higher Level Of Commitment To Physical Health Care Than It Does To Mental Health Care.
In Kaiser’s Psychiatry Department:
In Kaiser’s Virtual Behavioral Health Department, Where Kaiser Uses Cookie-Cutter Treatment Programs And Telehealth Appointments:
75% Of Therapists Report That Management Interferes With Or Challenges Their Treatment Recommendations In Ways That Are Harmful To Patients.
Kaiser is profiteering off California patients
Kaiser Is Cutting Corners On Mental Health Services Even Though It Has More Than $67 Billion In Reserves.
Instead Of Investing In Mental Health Services, Kaiser Is Spending Billions In Premiums Paid By California Residents To Fund Expansion Initiatives In Pennsylvania, North Carolina And Nevada.
How Kaiser is setting the stage for therapist layoffs
Kaiser Had Agreed That The Use Of New Technologies Like AI Is To Help Therapists, Not Replace Them, But Kaiser Doesn’t Want That Language In Its Next Contract.
Kaiser Had Agreed That External Networks Of Mental Health Therapists Are For Helping Patients Access Timely Mental Health Care, Not Replacing Kaiser’s In-House Therapists. Now Kaiser Wants The “Flexibility” To Lay Off Therapists And Outsource More Care.
Patient Care Protections Kaiser wants to eliminate
Protected Patient Care Time: Therapists Previously Fought To Have Enough Time In Their Schedule To Perform The Full Range Of Patient Care Duties, Including Responding To Patient Calls And Emails, Preparing For Appointments, And Tailoring Treatment Plans. Kaiser Wants To Take Away This Time, Which Would Lead To Less Patient Care And More Therapists Burning Out And Leaving Kaiser.
Shorter Appointment Wait Times: Kaiser Wants To Eliminate Scheduling Rules That Help Patients Get Timely Return Therapy Appointments By Preventing Kaiser From Overloading Therapists With New Patients.
Collaborative Care: Kaiser Wants To Eliminate Model Of Care Committees Where Therapists And Managers Have Worked Together To Improve Care.
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