[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.