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Joint Letter of Support Regarding Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Clinician Strike
Joint Letter of Support Regarding Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Clinician Strike
STATE CAPITOL
415 SOUTH BERETANIA STREET
HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I 96813
October 5, 2022
Families across Hawaiʻi are currently facing historic challenges that impact their mental health: from the
pandemic, to climate change, to economic uncertainty. As a result, our behavioral health care system is
under increasing stress. Our state is taking action — we’ve made investments in mental health programs
and made culturally competent care a priority in our communities. But we can’t do it alone — health
plans and insurers need to step up.
For years, we have been troubled by reports of a worsening mental health crisis that’s been aggravated by
systemic lack of investment. In recent days, 50 clinicians who serve over 260,000 patients across Hawai‘i
went on strike at Kaiser Permanente. These psychologists, therapists, and social workers say that they
have been unable to treat their patients with the frequency those patients need and are entitled to. Patients
are forced to wait up to 60 days to access initial behavioral health appointments and follow up care can
take just as long. Clinicians say that their colleagues have been quitting Kaiser in record numbers because
too few providers are being asked to care for too many patients.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently cited Kaiser for violating national
timely access standards for mental health care and placed Kaiser under a corrective action plan.
According to NCQA, Kaiser has understaffed its mental health services for years, has failed to take
effective measures to correct the problems, and has allowed the problems to worsen during the pandemic.
Today, Kaiser is the only health plan in Hawai‘i that’s been placed under corrective action by NCQA.
This must change — now. Kaiser enrollees deserve to receive medically-necessary mental health services.
Timely care is required by state and federal law. It is also essential for protecting the wellbeing of
individual patients, our communities, and our state.
We applaud the striking clinicians at Kaiser for standing up for their patients. We call on Kaiser
Permanente to resolve the strike in and to match the state’s commitment to investing in timely, accessible
mental health care. Finally, we call on state and federal regulators, and other public officials to vigorously
enforce all laws protecting patient rights.
Signed,