Kaiser - Cancer Care Questions (Sutter: health, best, pay)

[ecsdude]

Hoping someone here has had some experience and knowledge about Kaiser as it pertains to cancer care (namely colon cancer). Specifically, does anyone know who the best oncologists would be within the Kaiser network? I am checking health grades, yelp and other sites to try to find the most outstanding oncologists possible.

Also, has anyone here had experience with Kaiser Senior Advantage and/or Medi-Cal and has ran into restrictions getting 2nd opinions from outside of Kaiser? It seems the only ways around this are: (1) to appeal to get Kaiser to pay for an outside opinion but that isn't guaranteed and would likely require getting 2nd and 3rd opinions from within Kaiser first, or (2) to leave Kaiser Senior Advantage and go back to Medi-Cal, then sign up with another hospital like Sutter, get the 2nd opinion and any specialist visits, then if you wish to return to Kaiser re-sign with Kaiser Senior Advantage. According to the Medi-Cal rep, this is possible. It certainly seems kind of risky, as you wouldn't want to be caught without coverage or stuck with Sutter if it ends up being more expensive for treatment, for example.

Ideally, hoping some kind Kaiser doctors could chime in, even via private message if preferable.


Thank you in advance.