© Ariana Bindman

Kaiser workers strike at the Oakland Medical Center to protest the HMO’s “unethical” working conditions on Aug. 16.  

As Kaiser therapists approach the fourth week of an indefinite strike, an interesting twist has developed in the battle against California’s largest HMO. State regulators launched an investigation last week into whether Kaiser Permanente is violating state laws by failing to offer its members timely access to mental health care during an open-ended strike that started on Aug. 15. The Department of Managed Health Care said it received 19 patient complaints from Aug. 15 to 20 about access to behavioral health appointments at Kaiser. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents the striking therapists, also filed an official complaint with the agency, alleging Kaiser has been shirking its legal duty to provide care.

Kaiser said in a statement that several hundred mental health care workers were continuing to work and support members through the strike. “As of today, about 40% of our dedicated clinicians are caring for members instead of striking, with more returning each day,” Kaiser said in a statement last week. “In addition, our Kaiser Permanente psychiatrists, clinical managers, and other licensed clinicians have stepped in to meet with people needing care.”

The union disputed Kaiser’s claims that an adequate workforce remains in place to meet members’ mental health needs. “Kaiser lies to patients about when they will get an appointment; they lie to state leaders about complying with California mental health access laws; and now they’re lying about how many therapists have crossed the picket line,” union spokesperson Matt Artz wrote in an email to SFGATE.

The Department of Managed Health Care is a regulatory body governing managed health care plans, and it has closely watched Kaiser’s mental health services after receiving complaints from patients in May. The department hit Kaiser with a $4 million penalty in 2013 for providing poor access to behavioral health services, including long wait times and actively discouraging patients from seeking individual care. Kaiser was fined again in 2017 for failing to provide required data on patient care to the state’s Medicaid program.

“The goal is to move as quickly as possible to ensure enrollees’ health care rights are protected,” Rachel Arrezola, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in a statement last week. “The Department will follow the evidence, and take all appropriate actions to protect enrollees.”

More than 2,000 licensed therapists, psychologists, social workers and chemical dependency counselors are participating in the strike at hospitals in Northern California, calling on Kaiser to increase staffing and end their patients’ long waits for appointments. The union claims that patients in Northern California face waits of four to 12 weeks between appointments with Kaiser clinicians. 

Kaiser claimed in a statement that the union was intent on calling a strike even though it was close to reaching an agreement in bargaining. It also said the union is mainly demanding that health care workers spend less time with patients.

At this point, there are no signs of Kaiser and staff returning to the bargaining table. Union workers will be at the picket lines joined by their families and community members on Labor Day, marking the fourth week of the strike and the longest strike by mental health workers in U.S. history. 

“Kaiser walked out of bargaining right before the strike when we rejected its contract ultimatum that had more money for clinicians, but nothing for patients,” Sal Rosselli, the union president, said. “We’re ready to go back to the bargaining table when Kaiser is ready to talk about improving access to mental health care and giving therapists enough time to perform their patient care duties, so Kaiser can retain its therapists and obey state mental health access laws.”