Kaiser Health Plan

Based on the counsel of his advisors. President Richard Nixon believed that the Kaiser Health Plan could be replicated at a national level as a means to control health care costs. Because many of President Nixon s advisees were Californians, they were familiar with the Kaiser health system, the home of some of Mr. Kaiser s first prepaid health plans. They knew that HMOs at the time offered numerous possible advantages to the traditional health care system. These HMOs (1) were cost effective, (2) provided quality care, (3) decreased administrative waste, (4) instituted health care utilization controls, and (5) demonstrated a high degree of patient satisfaction. ... 

Figure 18.2 Type of health plan for workers with employer-sponsored coverage (From the Kaiser Family Foundation and HRET, Employer Health Benefits, 2002 Annual Survey, Menlo Park, CA The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2002.)...

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