In Washington, Medicaid is known as Apple Health. Most Apple Health clients have managed care, which means they are assigned to a managed care organization (MCO) for preventive, primary, specialty and other health services. There are 5 MCOs in Washington; Kaiser Permanente serves Apple Health clients through a partnership with one of them, Molina Healthcare of Washington.
Assigned Clients- Who We Serve
Medicaid clients assigned to Kaiser Permanente through our MCO partnerships topped more than 22,000 Apple Health clients. 51% are children, 49% are adults (as of December, 2024).
Area – Kaiser Permanente Medicaid footprint
The majority of our Medicaid clients are served via our partnership with Molina; our contractual agreements with Molina have 2 distinct models: In Clark and Cowlitz counties, Kaiser Permanente participates in a delegated subcontract with Molina to provide care on a capitated basis (meaning a fixed payment per client, per month). In the Puget Sound and Spokane metro areas, Kaiser Permanente contracts with Molina as a fee-for-service provider for primary and specialty care. Our fee-for-service arrangement with Molina also includes a care coordination fee and annual quality-gated shared savings incentives. Kaiser Permanente currently serves Apple Health clients in the following 8 counties:
- King
- Pierce
- Thurston
- Kitsap
- Snohomish
- Spokane
- Clark
- Cowlitz
Social Health
Many Kaiser Permanente members struggle with inadequate housing, hunger, financial stress, and other circumstances that create barriers to good health, particularly members enrolled in Medicaid. Kaiser Permanente works proactively to identify our clients with these and other adverse social needs and to connect them to community-based programs and government assistance-programs that can support their well-being.
Safety-Net Partnerships
Kaiser Permanente is committed to building partnerships with the health care “safety net” — institutions that play a critical role in delivering health care for the uninsured and underserved. Through grants, training, and technical assistance, we work with safety- net hospitals and health centers to help these institutions reach people who are low-income, uninsured, or under-resourced in our communities, and move the needle in eliminating health disparities. We do this by investing in quality improvement and other support efforts that aim to transform care and improve health access for those most in need.
Social Health Screening and Identification
Kaiser Permanente uses standard social health screening questions and data analytics to identify clients vulnerable to food-insecurity, homelessness, financial strain, and other adverse social factors. By expanding social health screenings across an increasing number of clinical settings and client services touchpoints, with a focus on high-risk populations, Kaiser Permanente is steadily increasing the number of clients screened for social needs every year. We screened nearly 3 million clients for social needs in 2024, including 32% of our Medicaid clients. These screenings and other data sources helped us identify over 1 million clients with social needs and connect nearly 500,000 clients to public benefits and community-based programs that support overall health.
The Kaiser Permanente Community Support Hub™
The Kaiser Permanente Community Support Hub™ is dedicated to helping people meet their basic needs. The Hub operates proactively, using text, email, and phone calls to encourage members to complete social health screenings and to offer help finding and enrolling in community-based resources and government assistance programs that support overall health. The Hub also provides on-demand services, including an online directory of resources that anyone can use to search for local programs that help with housing, food, paying utility bills, and more.