washingtondc: Kaiser Permanente

superherogirl (

alena) wrote in

washingtondc,
@ 2005-12-01 09:39:00

Kaiser Permanente
Hi, I'm currently looking for a new healthcare provider, and I'm interested in Kaiser Permanente, because their prices are much better than my current provider (Cigna). But I'm wondering... why are they so cheap? what's the catch here?

So, does anyone here have any experience with Kaisier Permanente? I'm especially interested in the facility at Chantilly (Chantilly Medical Center). Thanks!

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catsaurus
2005-12-01 02:45 pm UTC (link)

I have Kaiser, but I haven't been to Chantilly. I go to the Falls Church center. Honestly, I love it. I've never had a problem getting an appointment for anything. I had to get a rather unusual procedure done (for my age) and they gave me no grief about it at all, and actually followed up with me when I was slow in scheduling the appointment. You can go in on weekends if you have a semi-emergency. Prescriptions are dirt cheap, esp. if you do the mail order. I pay $3.00 for two months of BC pills.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble!

(Reply to this)

	ami_tutti 2005-12-01 02:45 pm UTC (link)
	yes, they're way less expensive because they are an HMO. i have heard mostly bad things about kaiser (and my background is HR). if you can afford to stay with cigna, i would highly recommend it. (Reply to this)

	devil_panda 2005-12-01 02:48 pm UTC (link)
	As with anything else, you get what you pay for. I tried Kaiser a few years ago and had a horrible experience... their customer service was awful. I ended up switching providers when they refused to continue a prescription I had through my previous doctor. (Reply to this)

t_grrl
2005-12-01 02:58 pm UTC (link)

i would not recommend kaiser if you like to have one doctor who will get to know you and care about you. My experience with them is that you can never see the same doctor, you see a NP most of the time, and they shove you in and out so quick if you have a condition or issues that need personal attention it gets downplayed. you don't have the choice to see a specialist unless they feel it is necessary, then you have to go to their specialists.

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	catsaurus 2005-12-01 03:00 pm UTC (link)
	I actually always see the same doctor, who I chose. I also always see the same NP for my pap smears/annual exams -- I chose to see a NP, as I prefer them to most docs, I feel they give more personal service. But judging from yours and the other responses, I must be in the minority!!! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	t_grrl 2005-12-01 03:51 pm UTC (link)
	wow, that's impressive. my experience was from several years ago, so maybe they have gotten better. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	gwai_lol 2005-12-01 04:04 pm UTC (link)
	The Falls Church KP is top notch. everything is so conveniently in one building. I wish I had it, my Fiance has it and whenever I take him in, he is seen much much quicker than I am at my doc, and gets much much better prescriptions. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	catsaurus 2005-12-01 04:06 pm UTC (link)
	Maybe that's it. I go to Falls Church Kaiser -- they could just be way better than the other Kaisers! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	saidy 2005-12-01 03:08 pm UTC (link)
	i have only had friends with kaiser, but no one i know has had a good experience with them. its easy to get an appointment, but terribly difficult to get to a specialist. (Reply to this)

buwicked5
2005-12-01 03:36 pm UTC (link)

I was w/ Kaiser from age 5 to age 23 (well, it was the month I turned 23 -- this past July). I loved them, and actually kept them after I graduated from school, but did not have a full-time job and, therefore, no health insurance. Anyway, I had one bad experience there, which was when my primary-care physician -- whom I'd never seen -- changed my BC meds (Kaiser had changed preferred drug carriers), and refused to believe that the pills were making me crazy. A quick call to my gyno got everything cleared up. I then switched to a different PCP b/c of that experience, and, tho I only saw my new PCP once, I was sad to leave him. I went in for a knee issue, and said, "I need physical therapy." He referred me then and there. I know my mom had to wait a while when she tore her meniscus to get an MRI, and it can also take a while to get appts w/ other specialists. I love the way my new PPO has handled all my health issues over the last two months, but I wish there was somewhere I could go on the weekends when I have issues. Then I wouldn't have had to go to the ER 4 times, esp. the 2nd time I had strep, when Kaiser would have either a) sent me to urgent care and I would have paid my regular copay (instead of $100 for a hospital visit thru UHC) or b) had a NP prescribe antibiotics for me over the phone.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	catsaurus 2005-12-01 03:42 pm UTC (link)
	Word! I was starting to think I was crazy, as the only one who loves Kaiser. I forgot to mention the nurse triage hotline. Love that! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

buwicked5
2005-12-01 04:01 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I kind of figured from some of your comments, that's why I thought I'd pipe in. ;-) It's definitely been a big adjustment from Kaiser to UHC. I had to find a new PCP (still haven't done that), gyno, and an orthopedic surgeon. My family (dad, grandmother, and great-uncle) all used the same orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser. The advice line is awesome tho. The one for UHC is pretty worthless -- "I can't walk b/c I think I retore my meniscus." "Yeah, maybe you should go to the ER." Thanks, genius.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	catsaurus 2005-12-01 04:08 pm UTC (link)
	I was wondering if I was just really lucky, or had low standards or something! Glad I'm not crazy. I think, sadly, the state of healthcare in the U.S. makes it challenging to get quality care no matter what your insurance. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	buwicked5 2005-12-01 04:19 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, I'd love to combine Kaiser and UHC b/c they're each strong where the other is weak. And, BTW, I went to the Kaiser facilities in Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Kensington. I think I went to Falls Church once, when I had an ear infection in high school. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mokey4 2005-12-01 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	Do you know anyone who has gone to the DC facilities? Somehow I think everything in DC is sub-par. I haven't found a single doctor I like yet, although I like my ob-gyn. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	buwicked5 2005-12-01 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	Two yrs ago, I went to PT at North Capitol St (kitty-corner from Gonzaga). But I only went there once, and it wasn't for a dr. The guy was nice, cleared me to go skiing in CO the next day, and I didn't bust my knee while I was in CO. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sampegleg
2005-12-01 06:15 pm UTC (link)

I also went to the center at North Capitol when I was pregnant back in 2001/2002, I had great care there! I hated the first OB/GYN they put me with and had it put in my chart that he was never to see me again, but all the other docs I had, because I had to see them all due to being pregnant were fantastic! Another plus about Kaiser was at the time I didn't have to pay a single co-pay to have my daughter, not even to have the pregnancy test done. I saw the bills from the hospital and it would have been over $30K without them.

I'm actually looking at going back to Kaiser because my job offers Blue Cross/Carefirst, which I'm not exactly happy with. And I can save the company $300 a month if I decide to go back to them.

If I decide to go back, my premimum would be $180 per month, which is the exact same plan I had before, but the only change now is that if you have a baby you pay a $500 co-pay over the course of the pregnancy, which is still a pretty good deal.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	mokey4 2005-12-01 05:22 pm UTC (link)
	The weekend emergency care thing sounds nice. Maybe I'll switch. I sprained my ankle on a Friday a few weeks ago and it took me a while to get to the doctor because i just couldn't bear the thought of an ER- if there was an actual doctor's office i could have gone to on the weekend i would have gone much sooner. (Reply to this)(Parent)

anacoluthia
2005-12-01 04:02 pm UTC (link)

because of kaiser refusing to cover the BC pill i've been taking for the last SIX YEARS, I have had the most miserable three months of my life on the hormonal roller coaster the other pills have put me on.

they have been rude to me over the phone on several occasions, and they will not let you speak to your doctor over the phone, but rather demand that you leave a message and hope they decide to call you back sometime, maybe.

unfortunately the other more expensive ppo plan offered by my employer does not cover BC at all, as they are a bunch catholic woman-hating bigots. so yeah... i'd stay away, if you can.

then there's that whole needing a referral to see a specialist thing...

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	aussy1 2005-12-01 04:11 pm UTC (link)
	Unfortunately, my company just switched to Kaiser and I know I have to see a specialist for an issue that has been documented by my previous specialist... I'm totally dreading having to go through that whole process. Is it really that bad? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

anacoluthia
2005-12-01 06:36 pm UTC (link)

mostly they're jerks about it, and try to tell you that you don't need to see one. you can't show any weakness with these people. you can't ask them. you have to tell them.

and frankly, i wasn't terribly impressed with the allergist i finally did see, who again told me they wouldn't cover the drugs i've been taking for the last few years and that i have to make do with their crappy substitutes that don't do shit for me.

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anima_i
2005-12-01 05:13 pm UTC (link)

okay my family grew up on kaiser and 2 of my siblings have sickle cell disease. Kaiser is great in some regaurds. It has taken care of every bill and prescription and my brother's prescription is over 3000$ a month. However their doctors are mediocre, many times we have had to argue for a goood specialist. So if there is nothing horribly wrong with you and you dont need the "best " of anyone than Kaiser is awesome.

(Reply to this)

moveablefeast
2005-12-01 08:38 pm UTC (link)

I had extremely good experiences with Kaiser the whole time I had insurance through them - I much preferred my Kaiser HMO plan to my current Anthem plan. I think that's mostly because with Kaiser, when I needed something, I called one number and went one place to accomplish everything I needed to accomplish.

It's simple, it's cheap, and it's never been a hassle. Anthem has, so far, been complicated and expensive, and takes exponentially more effort for stupid little things.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

buwicked5
2005-12-01 09:05 pm UTC (link)

LOVED the one #, one place thing. Very frustrating when I switched to UHC (not under my current plan) and the nurse couldn't prescribe BC pills over the phone, the pharmacy couldn't tell me who to call about getting a dr to write a new 'script, etc. NOt to mention the pharmacy wouldn't call Kaiser to request the Rx I'd just had written (and Kaiser wouldn't just send it out, which makes sense to me). It was like going around in circles, I ended up being off my pills for a month, then paying out of pocket for 2 mos' worth of pills. My new UHC plan is much better b/c it doesn't require getting BC pills thru their mail order -- how much of a pain in the ass is that?

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	kristinewithak 2005-12-01 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	I had Kaiser at my old job, I never had an issue wtih them. And they are the cheapest if you are getting insurance on your own. (Reply to this)

	drucat 2005-12-02 12:36 am UTC (link)
	Cigna is much, much better than Kaiser. But if you have nothing ongoing that you take medications for or anything and you never use your health insurance really, it might be worth it for you... (Reply to this)

	porktruck 2005-12-02 02:30 am UTC (link)
	My wife and I have been steadily reproducing over the last two years. Two healthy babies delivered by Kaiser so far. We LOVE our pediatrician. My wife likes her doctor. I just get a physical every year, so anybody can do that. (Reply to this)

	kiparui 2005-12-03 05:14 am UTC (link)
	this may be the first ever thread on the internet about kaiser where the majority of the comments are not "kaiser is teh devil!" which they are. (Reply to this)

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