I just wanted to chime in that my experience with Kaiser has been great. I grew up in NoVA, and my Dad’s insurance was Kaiser. When it was my time to choose my own health insurance (after about 8 years of PPO’s), I went with Kaiser.
I always see the same doctor and OB, unless I just need to pop in for a strep test or some such (which they can always accomodate on short notice). The entire OB staff is just incredible. I had three miscarriages prior to the birth of my son. I truly came to know those folks on such a great level, and they took such good care of me, physically and emotionally.
I could not sing Kaiser any higher praises! Welcome to KP Antigen! Thrive!
ps. the fact that I can email my doctor, AND have universally gotten a personal response within 48 hours every single time is incredible.
I wonder if the thing with seeing the same doctor, or getting potluck each time, varies by location. I mean, if you need to be seen for something semi-urgent, you get whomever they can fit you in with and that’s cool. But it would seem to be really a bad thing to have potluck for ongoing stuff.
Back when Kaiser first came on the horizon, I was living in North Carolina. Closed health systems were pretty new - the industry was pretty much all the standard 80/20 reimbursement. As I understood it, you couldn’t go anywhere BUT their in-house doctors, though even back then they must have had arrangements for some specialists and deals with outside hospitals, because it would have been too cost-prohibitive to build their own.
That said: for the OP: Do you have a number of doctors you already have dealings with, and would have to leave? Or are you at a stage in life and health where it’s no big deal to switch?
What kind of access would you have to specialists if something Big were to happen? I know if I got cancer or something, I wouldn’t want to be limited to someone who worked only for Kaiser.
What kind of reputation do they have in your area? I’ve heard good stories in some areas and bad in others. My officemate has Kaiser (northern Virginia) and is happy, then again she’s young and doesn’t have a bunch of health problems.
On rereading, I see you’ve chosen Kaiser. Cool! Driver8’s mention of billing is something worth thinking of. When I had my gallbladder out I got bills from the hospital, the surgeon, the anesthesiology practice, the pathologists, and someone’s nanny’s dog-walker (or so it seemed!).
These are all good questions, Mama Zappa, and I tried my best to get them answered to my satisfaction before making the decision. Of course, it’s hard to really know what it’ll be like, since the Magic 8-Ball has been just useless lately.
I’m in my early 30s and don’t see the doctor too often. My therapist is within the Kaiser extended network, so I won’t need to drop her, which was a huge consideration for me. The Kaiser plan offered by my employer is a “select” plan, which means I have access to a number of doctors outside of the Kaiser buildings. I’ve been told that it will affect the “seamlessness” of care I would get if I stuck with the one-stop-shopping option of all my doctors in one center, but I’m okay with that. The other big one was my OB/GYN. All the official Kaiser OB/GYNs have privileges at hospitals that are really far from my home, and I would rather deliver (if I ever manage to get pregnant) at my local hospital. It turns out my “Women’s Care” group is Kaiser-affiliated as well, so I won’t need to drop them either. My primary care, my dermatologist, and my endocrinologist will need to change, but I’m not attached to them. I really like my primary care doc, but I only see her twice a year, so that didn’t seem a strong enough reason to avoid switching to Kaiser.
The hardest part was figuring out my infertility coverage. I may not even need it, but we’ve been trying 16 months and only managed one (lost early) pregnancy. My old plan covers more, percentage-wise, but has a lifetime maximum. Kaiser covers a lower percentage but there’s no limit. Given that all the prenatal and delivery costs are astronomically more expensive under the old plan, I figured I’d jump over to Kaiser and just eat the extra cost of IVF if I need it.
It looks like they have a pretty big number of specialists and deal with several good area hospitals, so I’m not too worried. Again, who knows until I’m in that situation? The Kaiser folks claim it’s all going to be world-class care with their doctors, but if I have rare XYZ Super Cancer and the best guy to help me is in a non-Kaiser hospital, I guess maybe I’d be stuck. I do know I could use Kaiser stuff across the country if necessary.
Half my coworkers are with Kaiser and love it. Everyone I’ve spoken to about their use of Kaiser has either been healthy or dealing with basic chronic health issues like diabetes or autoimmune problems. They all say it’s cheap and convenient and they feel like it’s a healthcare system instead of an insurance system, which they love.
That’s going to be my favorite part. I hate that about the American system. When I go to a movie, I pay to see the movie. I don’t pay the cashier, the ticket-ripper, the projector guy, the actors, and the key grip separately. So why do they do that crap with a hospital? Take my money and then give it to the right people, instead of sending me weird bills six months later. Gah!