Any experience with Kaiser Permanente?

[Jenny in GA]

Some of you read my other thread about how my husband's company is not paying for our health insurance anymore, and it was be $1400/month for us now.

 

Anway, someone suggested Kaiser to me. Are they an HMO? Has anyone dealt with them? Are they more likely than other companies to accept a pre-existing condition?

 

Thanks for any info or experience.

[valkett]

Not sure about preexisting condition, but we have had Kaiser for the last 10 years. It has been fine for us. Care has been good, my boys have had the same doctor. For us, it was a nice transition from going from the military health care system to civilian. The pharmacy is in the same location as the doctor. We've had broken bones, pneumonia, mono, cellulitis, and various other illnesses... all handled very professionally.

 

The records department was great to my son. He was going the military and they needed more medical documents from when he had a bone infection when he was 8 (the records were actually military, Kaiser just had the copies). The ladies copied a bunch of different sheets and researched more for him. I'm sure most places would do the same, these ladies were just super nice about it.

 

Anyway, we've been happy overall.

 

Valerie

[sloakley]

We were with Kaiser in California from 2002-2007 and it was a good experience. I'm not sure about pre-existing conditions, as it was group coverage for us. We always had to get a referral to see specialists, and in some cases the wait to see certain doctors was longer than just seeing any doctor that had an opening. Having babies at Kaiser was much less expensive for us than with other insurance providers.

If Kaiser was still an option for us we'd chose that over the PPO we have now. I don't know how much it varies from state to state, though.

Stephanie

[Little Nyssa]

I will never, ever set foot in Kaiser. They minimize costs by restricting care and beds. Worst case scenario happened to a family I know-- Dr was not allowed to hospitalize their psychotic teen-- seriously delusional & hearing voices-- he was sent home. the boy committed murder a few hours later. The doctor resigned & refused to work there any longer.

[mommymonster]

My DS2 has a brain tumor. We went through months and months of diagnostic crap and although it was an emotional nightmare, our Kaiser doctor was beyond amazing. She referred us appropriately at every turn. Once we received the diagnosis, they have also been amazing. During DS2's tumor surgery, his pediatrician sat with us for three of the six hour surgery. Just sat there. We have had weekly chemotherapy treatments for a year, and they've been great. For DS6, who needed feeding clinic, they were amazing.

 

I think for mental health issues, though, that they probably aren't equipped to do everything. That's one area where we've been disappointed.

 

I guess with big organizations, you just need to be persistent in finding the right care. If someone says no, figure out something else. Approach it from a different perspective.

 

I don't know about preexisting conditions, but that is part of the new healthcare law. You would want to maybe do some research on the topic.

[lynn]

We had Kaiser when we livedin GA about 13 years ago. They may have changed over the years but here is my experience. At first Idid not think I would like it but once I understood how it worked I came around. I always got appointments when I needed them. I liked that they had sunday hours even I had to drive 30 minutes to a different Kaiser facility. DS had strep quite a bit in kindergarten and I would usually find this on Sundays. I also liked that they had their own pharmacy adn I could pick up prescriptions in the same building and usually did not have to wait more than a few minutes. I did have to see the nurse practitioner a few times but she was very professional and it never bothered me. I did use their urgent care once and there was no wait time.

[Laura Corin]

I used Kaiser when we lived in California. I found them fine.

 

Laura

[KirstenH]

Kaiser is great if everyone is healthy and you do everything they recommend. If you're at all outside the norm in your medical decisions (no vax, refusing invasive tests for genetic issues during pregnancy, refusing birth control), you will run into problems ... at least that was my experience being a Kaiser member from 2003-2006.

[ChristineW]

We have Kaiser and have been very happy with it. I have never had trouble getting one of my kids seen for illness and its easy to schedule routine care online. I did have to wait 6 months for a colonoscopy--I'm under 40 and asymptomatic but have a family history but once I was off the waiting list, I had the procedure done the same week. There is a minor injuries and laceration clinic in the same building as the er where you can schedule "an appointment" for minor injuries rather than waiting 3 hours in the ER for x-rays and stitches.

 

I live in Northern California. Kaiser is huge up here. It was also the only full coverage insurance through DH's firm that we could afford. BC/BS coverage was $400 a month more and covered less.

[Liz CA]

We've had Kaiser when my ds was born and there was no problem whatsoever. Also pediatricians were fine. Docs seem to change a lot as people rotate in and out of the Kaiser system.

I found that care of chronic conditions and / or care of the elderly was less than stellar - but this is just one experience here.

[Ellie]

We had Kaiser--first in San Diego, then in San Jose--from 1974 to 2004. I almost wept when we left Kaiser behind for the new job in Texas.

 

Mr. Ellie had open heart surgery in 1996, with a quadruple by-pass. It didn't cost us a penny, and he got excellent care. I had two children, then a hysterctomy (not the dc's fault, lol), and had excellent care. Older dd had asthma, and she always received excellent care.

 

The only complaint I ever had was the E.R. service when I took Mr. Ellie in when he had his heart attack. :-p But it worked out anyway.

 

If we could get Kaiser here, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[EJCMom]

I had Kaiser when I worked -- before I was married or had kids. I loved them. I have asthma, and got excellent care. They are the ones who actually diagnosed me.

My MIL has Kaiser through her work. She has an excellent plan. She tripped and fell and broke her wrist in two places, requiring surgery. The entire ordeal, from the first x-ray to the pain medication after the surgery to her post-op office visits cost her a grand total of $4 out of pocket.

[elegantlion]

I had Kaiser in the early 90s. The doctor I had diagnosed my cancer at a very early stage, which I credit to her, not Kaiser. However, my care was good throughout my tx. The only glitch we had is that they would not pay for an out of network second opinion. I had a family member pull some strings to get them to do so and we went with the second opinions course of tx. Kaiser paid without issue. I only paid office co-pays.

[idnib]

We have Kaiser but I hardly ever use it. I'm not that into doctors but we need protection against large medical expenses. The few times I've used it has been fine.

 

That said, I happened to read Consumer Reports a couple of days ago and Kaiser was really highly ranked across the country, across thousands of people. There were a few insurance situations ranked a bit higher but they were local coop situations. But a well-done survey by Consumer's Union might be more helpful than a few anecdotes so I thought I would throw that out. I think when it comes to any insurance you'll always find people who had a great experience and some disgruntled people as well, so it's good to look at surveys with high numbers of participants.

 

Here's a link about the survey:

 

http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-29/business/hc-ls-consumer-reports-health-insurance-ratings-20111029_1_health-insurance-kaiser-plans-private-plans

[Night Elf]

I found this website when I googled for Kaiser and pre-existing conditions. They list Kaiser as accepting, but say that any of the insurances that accept pre-existing may ask for higher premiums.

 

I will be very sad if I ever have to give up Kaiser. I've had some problems with pediatricians listening to my concerns but overall the healthcare has been great. We have a fantastic group coverage plan though with low deductibles and inexpensive prescriptions. I don't know what's going to happen when DH retires. We've never had any serious major health problems so I can't speak for that. But I've never had a problem getting a referral to a specialist. I feel Kaiser is very preventive care oriented.

 

I guess it wouldn't hurt to call them or go to their website for a free quote. I read that no one is denied coverage in a group plan but that individual plans may ask higher premiums for pre-existing conditions. I can't vouch for what I've read. I was just reading random websites for information. I couldn't find anything specific on the Kaiser website.

[Julie in Austin]

I don't want to get into personal details, but I feel that their cost-cutting nearly killed me. I'm still angry about is a decade and a half later.

[Venia]

Ive been with Kaiser on and off since childhood and really like them. You can change doctors and/or facilities at the drop of a hat, no questions asked, instantly. Most offices are all inclusive, except for emergency care of course. Ive even had a "natural birth" with a midwife (not home birth) with them and they were awesome. Both my kids are on alternative vaccine schedules and we have yet to hear anything negative from them. My only complaints have been wait times for general care. It seems that the general doctors are overbooked and usually late :glare:. Specialized care, though, has been top notch. They even covered every penny of my DH's multiple out of network emergency services, since we live so far away from the nearest full-service Kaiser hospital.

[bettyandbob]

I was with Kaiser from age 22-33, before I married through the birth of 2 children. A job change necessitated a change in insurance, otherwise I never would have switched.

 

I loved that labs, xray, pharmacy were all onsite. You could call the advice line say you needed a strep test and just get an order to go to the lab and not bother with a doctor appointment. If your strep was positive you picked up the prescription at the lab later. I liked being able to go to their urgent care anytime of the day or night and not having to go to the ER.

 

I had difficult pregnancies that they stayed on top of.

 

My mom has Kaiser now as a retiree. She had knee replacement surgery and a quadruple bypass. She looks and feels great today. She still goes to physical therapy, but her recovery has been amazing. My dad injured his arm recently and now he gets PT scheduled at the same time as mom (date night for retirees :D) He's been very happy with his care.

[stripe]

I had Kaiser when I was younger and some of my relatives have them. It is nice if you travel. My grandma, for example, can easily go in if she's sick while visiting her various kids in different cities. That is one nice thing about a giant system like that.

[ocelotmom]

One thing I've noticed about Kaiser is that people tend to have vastly different experiences at different locations, so you'll get the most useful info if you ask people who have used the facilities you would be using.

[DawnM]

I hated Kaiser in Los Angeles. I switched to Blue Cross-Blue Shield as soon as I could. My friend in San Francisco had a completely different experience, so it could be regional as well.

[ocelotmom]

I hated Kaiser in Los Angeles. I switched to Blue Cross-Blue Shield as soon as I could. My friend in San Francisco had a completely different experience, so it could be regional as well.

 

It is. Walnut Creek Kaiser in particular seems to get rave reviews, and that may well be where your SF friend goes.

[ChristineW]

It is. Walnut Creek Kaiser in particular seems to get rave reviews, and that may well be where your SF friend goes.

 

Good to know this. We primarily go to Walnut Creek so that might be the source of our satisfaction. DD gets OT in Oakland, and that facility seems great too.

[Crimson Wife]

It is. Walnut Creek Kaiser in particular seems to get rave reviews, and that may well be where your SF friend goes.

 

OTOH, I have heard plenty of negative things through the grapevine about that particular Kaiser facility.

 

We looked into Kaiser about a year ago when DH was between permanent positions. I was surprised to find out that it actually wasn't that much cheaper than a PPO for our family. I had thought that the tradeoff for having all the restrictions would be a significantly cheaper premium, but it wasn't.

[idnib]

We looked into Kaiser about a year ago when DH was between permanent positions. I was surprised to find out that it actually wasn't that much cheaper than a PPO for our family. I had thought that the tradeoff for having all the restrictions would be a significantly cheaper premium, but it wasn't.

 

Do you mean you were looking at buying policies on your own? We looked at that and it wasn't much cheaper than PPOs as well.

 

However both times when we were presented with options when DH changed jobs, it was significantly cheaper to go with Kaiser. I wonder why that is. I understand giving lower group rates than individual or family rates, but it was really different.

[sassenach]

One thing I've noticed about Kaiser is that people tend to have vastly different experiences at different locations, so you'll get the most useful info if you ask people who have used the facilities you would be using.

 

:iagree: This. In some areas, the popularity (read:it's cheaper than the other insurance companies) of Kaiser has outpaced their facilities, causing an overload of patients. Kaiser is a total love hate thing for me. Kaiser is a box. As long as you are fully functioning within the Kaiser box, you are generally fine. If you have to move outside of the box for any reason, good luck. Administratively, they have no idea how to interact with anything outside of Kaiser. This has been a particular problem when dh had to go to a non-Kaiser ER, and also with my son who also has Medi-Cal for disabilities. The other down side is what we are dealing with now with my husband. He has a nerve injury that is causing extreme pain. What he needs is an expensive implant. What they've done so far is prescribe pain meds. We may end up leaving Kaiser to get him what he needs. That said, this implant, while not experimental, is not that common. I'm not exactly surprised that it's not on their radar.

 

We have had ZERO problems getting referrals and tests for my son. I LOVE that his medical records are shared in the whole system, so I don't have to go through the whole history with every specialist he has. There is nothing that has lacked in his treatment, and I'm a picky mom about that.

 

I used to be afraid of Kaiser, because I grew up in LA and the system is pretty crappy down there. Here in NorCal, I've been pretty happy with it.

[sassenach]

One thing I've noticed about Kaiser is that people tend to have vastly different experiences at different locations, so you'll get the most useful info if you ask people who have used the facilities you would be using.

 

:iagree: This. In some areas, the popularity (read:it's cheaper than the other insurance companies) of Kaiser has outpaced their facilities, causing an overload of patients. Kaiser is a total love hate thing for me. Kaiser is a box. As long as you are fully functioning within the Kaiser box, you are generally fine. If you have to move outside of the box for any reason, good luck. Administratively, they have no idea how to interact with anything outside of Kaiser. This has been a particular problem when dh had to go to a non-Kaiser ER, and also with my son who also has Medi-Cal for disabilities. The other down side is what we are dealing with now with my husband. He has a nerve injury that is causing extreme pain. What he needs is an expensive implant. What they've done so far is prescribe pain meds. We may end up leaving Kaiser to get him what he needs. That said, this implant, while not experimental, is not that common. I'm not exactly surprised that it's not on their radar.

 

We have had ZERO problems getting referrals and tests for my son. I LOVE that his medical records are shared in the whole system, so I don't have to go through the whole history with every specialist he has. There is nothing that has lacked in his treatment, and I'm a picky mom about that.

 

I used to be afraid of Kaiser, because I grew up in LA and the system is pretty crappy down there. Here in NorCal, I've been pretty happy with it. It's not perfect, but I think we're getting good care.