[Don Plumley]

I've been of the opinion that I want Health Insurance for the big, bad events - and in those cases I want to go right to the very best specialist on the planet when I want to see them without delay. So I've always happily paid more for a PPO plan that lets me go directly to specialists.

I am sure Kaiser is great for 98% of the time, and they are affordable. But I also know of a few cases where delayed treatment due to the gatekeeper effect likely worsened a condition (cancer spread) or was fatal (it's probably just heartburn/stress - instead a descending aortic aneurysm).

YMMV