Why Is Kaiser A Bad Choice For Health Care ? (San Diego: 2014, insurance)

[CNYC]

I keep hearing this over and over but get conflicting answers as to why people don't like Kaiser. The most interesting response I got was from someone in the billing department at Scripps who said they are a union based health care carrier so their rules are much stricter.

It so happens that one of the Kaiser Plans is the only one that covers a very expensive medicine I need to take. It doesn't look like I have other choices and out of pocket for my meds would be too much.

Can anyone shed some light on Kaiser and WHY NOT to use them ?

Thank You

[nightlysparrow]

Any health plan, including Kaiser, can remove drugs from their formulary at any time. Maybe you should look at all the factors when making a choice. High copays could erase any savings you might get on your medication, for example.

"Please remember that this list is subject to change and will be updated from time to time during the year."

https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org..._formulary.pdf

[oddstray]

I know several people who use Kaiser and are quite content with their care. The biggest complaint I heard was the problem parking at some of their facilities.

[Jenkay]

I just went through a year of cancer treatment through Kaiser and I have no complaints.

[Macrina]

I've been a member of Kaiser for 25+ years and believe I've had very good care, both here in Northern CA and in Washington.

[moved]

I had Kaiser and everything was fine, with the exception of the constant telephone calls reminding me of something. I got rid of them, and switched to Blue Shield 65+, and now use UCSD, which I like much better. Especially because it's becoming my second home these days. The radiology dept and lab are in the same buildings,as the doctor's offices, also along with also being at the hospital.

Kaiser had me running all over the place. I haven't used them for two years, and I still get automated calls from them.

[Morwyn_7]

I have had Kaiser for 25+ years and very satisfied with them. No problems at all. If I move from this state I will miss them.

[thepinksquid]

I've had Kaiser for about 3 years, and no complaints. Prior to that I was always on PPO-type insurance and, by comparison, care at Kaiser is much more efficient. No headaches with billing, either. Like moved said, the robo-calls are annoying though.

[malcorub16]

Maybe they are referring to the Kaiser Zion Hospital in San Diego which is old and outdated unlike the other health care systems in the area (Sharp, Scripps, UC San Diego, Palomar) which all have newer facilities in SD County. Two patients per room is something for public hospitals, not the private sector in San Diego.

But, they are finally opening up a new facility off of Ruffin Road and the 15 next year or the following.


Kaiser breaks ground on new hospital | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

[sav858]

I've had Kaiser for most of my life and never had an major issues with them. Recently they had a mix up for who was the primary person on the insurance and kept trying to charge me full price for my daughter's doctor's visits ($120), but not her twin brother's for whatever reason, but they always waived it because they knew that wasn't right. Anyways it took them forever to finally fix it after my wife had gotten a collections from them, which they also fixed and we never had to pay a dime of. It was an annoying mix up but they took care of it and we've never had to pay anything large or unreasonable out of pocket. We spent a week in the hospital when my twins were born and it only cost us $100 total, I hear other people's deliveries cost WAY more.

When I lived in San Diego I only had them the 4 years I was in college, the rest of the time it was Aetna or something and I went to Scripps network hospitals/medical centers. One thing I found odd though is how they only have one actual hospital in all of San Diego, the East Bay alone has like 5.