“I was almost devastated,” says Karen Cardosa, a grocery clerk in Albany, Oregon, “when UFCW told us they were no longer offering Kaiser Permanente as an insurance option.”

Cardosa and her family had been KP members for years through the union’s Local 555 Employers Health Trust. That changed when a variety of issues resulted in KP losing the account, which covered many Local 555 members. The union continued to represent nearly 2,000 Kaiser Permanente pharmacy and radiology employees, who—as KP staff members—continued to have KP health care.

But today, Kaiser Permanente is again an option for up to 15,000 UFCW members and dependents in the Northwest region who are covered by the health trust.

New way to compete

An affordable price, high quality, a new hospital, expanded clinics and a new billing system helped win back this account. But something else was also at play.

Thanks to the Labor Management Partnership, theCoalition of Kaiser Permanente Unionsand Kaiser Permanente take a joint approach to winning and keeping health plan members that is almost unheard of elsewhere in this country.

Bringing together union members and KP sales and marketing teams, the campaign helped win, expand, win back or retain 33 accounts covering 125,000 KP members in 2014, with a focus on public-sector accounts.

A broad reach

The effort spans almost every level of the organization and the unions.

Leaders of the local and international unions that belong to the union coalition play an active role in advocating for KP as the preferred health care provider when negotiating contracts or benefit programs with employers.

In addition, some 45 frontline union ambassadors spoke to 25,000 KP members and potential members at outside union and community events in 2014. “I have enjoyed working side by side with the sales and marketing representatives to promote Kaiser Permanente,” says Sera Jordan, a medical assistant, union ambassador and SEIU Local 49 member in the Northwest. “It has enabled me to share my firsthand knowledge of Kaiser Permanente and the care we provide.”

UBTs are a selling point

而以单位为基础的团队，通过让一线员工在提高质量、服务和负担能力方面有发言权，是工会购买医疗服务的一大卖点。去年，在KP Value Compass的每个节点上，UBTs推出了超过8000个绩效改进项目，包括数千个可负担项目，平均每个项目节省了4万多美元。

“通过与工会合作伙伴的合作，我们能够提供满足每个人需求的客户解决方案——包括不属于KP的工会，他们在购买决策中有巨大的影响力，”会员销售和服务行政主管Kate Kessler说。“我们在自己的企业中有强大的劳工伙伴关系，这是我们的独特之处，我们可以说那种语言。”

Find outwhy record membership mattersto our current and future members on InsideKP.