Kaiser Permanente healthcare in N Seattle - Pros/cons

[josie13]

Originally Posted by Arcos

It's that time of year again! I have to pick health insurance and I was wondering if people could advise me on standard healthcare (no major health concerns) at Kaiser Permanente.


1) General quality of care
2) Typical wait time to get an appointment with
a) Primary care
b) Specialists
3) Pharmacy - wait times, costs, quality of service
4) Urgent Care - wait times, costs, quality of service
5) Availability of coverage elsewhere in the country?

If anyone has direct knowledge of Kaiser Permanente in Northgate, that would be great!

Thank you.

Please note: My experience is with Kaiser HMO. I've never had Kaiser PPO. Also, this is for regular health care insurance, not a Medicare Advantage plan. I'm not old enough for Medicare yet.

My family and I have been with Kaiser since before it was Kaiser. We were with Group Health for years. We usually go to Kaiser in Bellevue and Redmond. I went to Northshore for my earliest COVID shots. The only time I went to Northgate was for physical therapy, and the PT there was great. I've been to the Capitol Hill location for a few office visits.

1) General quality of care. We've been treated for everything from migraines to cancer, and I've been happy with the general quality of care. We've had x-rays, scans, MRIs, ECGs, mammograms...a ton of procedures. I like that all the Kaiser doctors know everything about your medical history because all the records are shared.

2) Typical wait time to get an appointment with Primary Care in Redmond: Anything from same day to a few days, depending on the severity. To see a Specialist, again it depends on the severity. For a routine eye exam, for example, they might schedule you two months out. For my child's regular endocrinology appointments, anything from one to two months out. You can usually be seen sooner if you're willing to visit a few different Kaiser clinics. That's how I ended up seeing my OB/GYN at Capitol Hill a few times. Some specialists rotate between a couple of clinics.

For something like cancer, you'll be seeing a number of different specialists so fast that it might feel *too* fast.

3) I like the pharmacies at Bellevue and Redmond. Fairly short wait times. Your cost will vary according to your plan. i have a Silver marketplace plan and pay $10 per prescription for some refills. Others are completely free. The pharmacists are very helpful and knowledgeable. The Bellevue pharmacy is open 24/7, which has been a lifesaver sometimes.

4) Availability of coverage elsewhere in the country? I have the HMO version, so I have to stick with Kaiser if I'm traveling in an area where Kaiser is available. If I'm in an area with no Kaiser available, then I can only get emergency or urgent care services. The same applies for traveling outside the USA, as described here:
https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org...home-ca-en.pdf

[Arcos]

Thank you for the detailed post. This is very helpful.