Opinions on Kaiser insurance

[Anonymous]

PP here. By the way, I had the federal BCBS PPO plan for several years, including years when I had cancer, and was very happy with it. Unlike Kaiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Run away. I had them in California growing up and they were terrible. Told me my torn ligament was a bruise, and made me suffer with a knee that would just pop out for years without agreeing to even an MRI or surgery. Told my father his appendicitis was a flu and let his appendix rupture. Recently, didn't diagnose mom's blood clot for days, treating it as a flu, and when they finally figured it out, claimed it was then too risky to operate. She died a week later. Bad cheap system that I will never ever use for my family. If you came in with a fever saying you had been to Liberia, they would definitely send you home and tell you to take some Tylenol. Bad.

Was this in California or here? I only ask because I have Kaiser, and I've had a HORRIBLE time getting appropriate treatment for a knee injury, but once I had a blood clot, the treatment was fantastic and unbelievably well-coordinated. Of course, I've also been hassled incessantly to get a mammogram, and have told at least 20 people that as soon as my knee is fixed and I can walk, I'll be happy to come in and get a mammogram.

What I especially like is the availability of care - I can make kids' appointments the same day, usually with their physician. Their urgent care is near us and is 24 hours, and you can stay overnight without being transferred to a hospital, if you just need monitoring. I know the primary care doctors are overworked (because I know one personally), but the staff usually seems pleasant and helpful.

[Anonymous]

Happy with primary care and every specialty care except mental health.

Very upset, actually, with options.

ONE person who could see my kid for behavioral therapy/ coaching re ADHD and takes over two months to be seen per apt based on schedule only.

I wanted a grief counselor when a parent died and I was told to find someone outside kaiser but still in the "select" option because they didn't have anyone??? Well, my plan stopped that option so out of luck.

[Anonymous]

I've had them for the last 7 years. The convenience of having everything in the same building is wonderful. I've had the same doctors since joining. The only difference is that my primary for OB/gyn care used to be a NP. They phased that out a few years ago. She's still there, but my care is overseen by an OB.

On the couple of occasions that I had something outside of the ordinary, getting proper treatment is a hassle. I waited months for an ultrasound to diagnose gallstones. I had a ton of weird symptoms and saw a lot of kaiser doctors. No one could diagnose it. I paid cash to see my old doctor and he suggested it was Lyme disease. He was right. Kaiser treated appropriately after we got the right diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

For those on Kaiser--do you just figure that based on your personal and family history you will have normal, easy to diagnose illnesses?

I have really excellent Federal PPO insurance and have had a nightmare of a time getting a chronically ill child diagnosed, which has taken dozens of doctors. I have wondered what this would have been like with Kaiser. Many doctors we saw went pretty quickly and wrongly to a psychological diagnosis--if Kaiser has mediocre mental health care I wonder if they would have done that.