Sharon Brandon, 59, watched her cousin and her auntie die in a matter of months. Her beloved mother went in two weeks. Big Mama, the grandmother who famously distrusted doctors, lasted four months. <\/p>\n
Cancer, too far gone to halt, took them all. <\/p>\n
Were it not for a persistent Kaiser Permanente doctor badgering her to get her annual mammogram, Brandon might have suffered the same fate. Turns out, the screening captured the image of a tiny white mass of 1.2 centimeters: Stage 1 breast cancer. <\/p>\n
\"I feel very blessed that the doctors caught it early,\" said Brandon, an Elk Grove teacher's aide who underwent surgery. She is getting radiation and reports feeling well. <\/p>\n
Brandon's case exemplifies the Kaiser experience, experts say. That focus on prevention is what has helped Kaiser evolve from an HMO with a reputation for cut-rate, cookie-cutter care to the health care industry giant it is today. <\/p>\n
In the four decades since President Richard Nixon officially threw the federal government's weight behind the concept of HMOs, Kaiser has shed its early growing pains and stigma, rising to become a national model for health care reform. <\/p>\n
Today, Kaiser reports that it commands 43 percent of the privately paid insurance commercial market in Sacramento, more than any other health care insurer. In the greater Sacramento four-county region, Kaiser claims 30 percent of the market. <\/p>\n
Kaiser operates 35 hospitals and boasts 5.5 million Californians as its commercial customers, collecting $23.3 billion in premiums annually, according to a Citi Investment Research analysis. That analysis concluded that the nonprofit company has captured 40 percent of the state's commercial and individual markets, more than any competitor. <\/p>\n
Kaiser's upward trajectory is timely, coming as the Affordable Care Act stands poised to overhaul federal health care so that the industry, in effect, mirrors Kaiser's model of emphasizing prevention, wellness, integrated care and use of electronic medical records. Kaiser's top executive was among the influential players at the table in Washington, D.C., as the policies that would underpin the ACA were shaped. <\/p>\n
California officials also have cited the Kaiser model as they move to carry out the federal health care overhaul here. The Legislature recently selected Kaiser as a model for other insurers to follow when they offer products through the state's health exchange. <\/p>\n
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Originally posted here: <\/p>\n
Kaiser seen as a model for health care overhaul<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sharon Brandon, 59, watched her cousin and her auntie die in a matter of months. Her beloved mother went in two weeks. Continue reading