Record profits for Kaiser: 40% increase over last year

Once again, Kaiser Permanente’s profits are setting records. Today the HMO announced third quarter profits of $997 million and year-to-date profits of $3.1 billion, up 40% from last year’s record of $2.2 billion. Kaiser’s 2014 profit margin of 7.3% is a significant increase over last year’s record of 5.1%.

Times aren’t looking so turbulent, are they?

Where is all this money going? Certainly not to its mental health services. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Kaiser has added 442,000 members this year, but its staffing levels lag far behind. Patients seeking psychiatric care have to wait weeks, even months. Withholding services while increasing membership is an effective way to score record profits but it leads to woefully inadequate patient care — not to mention $4 million fines and media scrutiny.