Medical insurance - Kaiser?

[scottmandue]

At some point in the future I'm going to need a knee replacement, I'm currently with Blue shield HMO.
Talked to a friend this weekend that had a knee replacement and he is with Kaiser.
He told me they did a great job (such a good job I did't even know he had a knee job) because they have a surgeon that specializes in knees and that is all he does.
I have heard that about Kaiser, that they have specialist that only do one thing and are the best at what they do.

Anyone here have Kaiser and what is your opinion of the care you get from them?

[BeyGon]

You aren't far away, stick with Blue Shield and go to Hoag in New Port.

[Evans, Marv]

I've had Kaiser for decades. In fact I've had the same primary care guy for 22+ years. I read something rating various hospitals on different surgical services, & Kaiser was rated in the middle generally. I'm sure you can find lots of similar ratings online. Some Kaiser facilities were rated better at some things than others. I seem to remember Kaiser in this area was outranked by lots of local facilities for knee (or hip?) replacements. I'm happy with the health care they administer. It's semi production line, but I just want to get in there, get it done, & get out.

[Jim Richards]

Some of my friends love Kaiser, but my wife and I both had bad impressions that are hard to shake. We haven't used the Kaiser facility in SoCal, so YMMV.

Like Dean said, Hoag is very good.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by BeyGon

You aren't far away, stick with Blue Shield and go to Hoag in New Port.

Hoag hospital?

[Alansglide]

Been with Kaiser for years. Broke my back 6 years ago and had a surgeon who only works on spines do the surgery. Took 8 hours but pleased with the results.

[LWJ]

I sell health insurance in Oregon. Kaiser is a 4 letter word to some. I believe that is very much an outdated impression.

My wife and I did have a less than exceptional experience with Kaiser back in the 1990's so I can say that I understand where the angry people are coming from.

Today? I think Kaiser does as good or often times a better job on healthcare than other carriers. Why? The reason for the criticisms is usually the coordinated care model. I also think that because Kaiser has been doing this and working on their systems, they have gotten much better than others.

Bottom line? Go where you are comfortable. I have people who are angry and ecstatic about every health insurance company I work with.

Good luck!

[vash]

i love Kaiser.

my doctor is pretty proactive. she is sending me to a nutritionist tomorrow to answer my ridiculous questions. haha..

my bosses wife is getting knee surgery tomorrow. KP dot org!

[Don Plumley]

My view on health insurance is simple: when the chips are down I want to see the best specialist in the country. A couple weeks ago I directly went to see one leading specialists/researchers for a specific blood disorder at UCSF. No messing around with a gatekeeper or limits on who I can see.

Friend had a knee replaced at Kaiser in SoCal. His didn’t go well, and it took over two years and lots of tough letters, visit to the ombudsman, etc. before they would go back in a remove the excess scar tissue. That being said, they did a fine job of putting him on a helicopter to repair a dissecting aortic aneurysm.

For knee surgery, find the specialist that only does knees. Ask your MD friends who they would use. Hoag where you are is a good choice.

[Don Plumley]

Oh - a good friend died at Kaiser because they sent her home with antacids instead of diagnosing her aortic aneurysm. So I guess I’m not a Kaiser fan. They are fine for routine stuff, but I buy health insurance for big issues.

[Bugsinrugs]

I’ve had numerous surgeries at Kaiser. All went well. Where they lack is physical therepy. They give you a couple of sessions then send you on your way. Sometimes they even give you a big rubber band to work out with.

[Fly Mach .86]

"You will have the very best health insurance, at a fraction of the cost and you will have it immediately"! Guess who?

[craigster59]

Funny film story. We were dressing a set for a Michael Cimino movie called Sunchaser (he did "The Deer Hunter") and it was at a brand new Kaiser hospital by Baldwin Park.

We had to hang some stuff from a "T" bar ceiling and one of the set dressers sliced his hand open pretty good. Luckily, being at a hospital, they already had the ER/Urgent Care open so he went down to see if he could get it sutured up. They told him he wasn't Kaiser and we had to take him a few miles down the road to get taken care of. Not life threatening but thought it was a bit BS.

[Tobra]

There is good and bad with Kaiser. I suspect you are talking about a medicare advantage plan. You need to be circumspect in discovering exactly what they will and will not cover, and what your end of the bill is going to be.

I had a kid that I did an incision and drainage on a fairly severe abscess he developed after cutting his foot in the lake. Kaiser never did pay me. They said it was not an emergency, it could have waited until he got to a Kaiser facility, the nearest of which was like 900 miles away. It did not smell like it could have waited, kid was 1 day younger than my son.

YMMV

[BeyGon]

My MIL was with Kaiser, I never liked the way they treated her.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I'm currently with Kaiser and fighting them over getting a continuous glucose monitor. I have a rare form of late onset type 1 diabetes. I'm trying to stay as healthy as I can. My endocrinologist thinks it will be a hard up hill fight. I basically take too good care of myself to qualify. Other insurance companies may be similar but ever since Kaiser bought out Group Health who we were with prior, getting things approved for both my wife and myself has become much more difficult.