Kaiser Permanente Insurance Reviews

NOW THE LIFE RISK ISSUE: My wife is 3 months old pregnant woman. After the last visit to the doctor on March 29th, we got some reports saying my wife has to go through some immediate diagnosis and which may impact to the baby and I took the appointment on April 11th. But they kicked out of the hospital without treatment because my account was terminated.

Now my wife or I have no insurance. I called Maryland Health Connection to get the new insurance, But they are saying, "Open enrollments are over, you have to wait till Nov 2018 and you will get eligibility only from Jan 2019." I am not even eligible for special enrollment. Is this FAIR? What should I do? How can I save my wife and baby? I am not rich enough to pay cash. :( Someone, please help me in getting the insurance at least to my wife.

Speaking with a supervisor is absolutely impossible and if you try to complain all they do is send you a letter repeating back to you your complaint with no intention of fixing it. I'm screaming into the void right now, but I feel completely helpless and I know so are probably thousands of others. I was lucky enough to be able to change my insurance in 2018, but I know others are not able to do so and Kaiser is monopolizing on their misfortune. I wish I could give zero stars.

My therapist asked what I wanted. I said, "To be able to sleep at night without pain in my arms keeping me awake." "You are old what do you expect" was his response. Now to my husband's ER visit after paying the huge amount in insurance...He was unable to stand because of severe dizziness and vomiting. We had to call 911. They took his vitals and started IV then transported him to the hospital. His blood pressure was extremely high even with his medications for it. The ER was great until they said there is nothing more we can do in the ER.

They unhooked him to move taking away the call button. He needed to use the restroom and only I was there to help. He fell into the metal doorway causing lumps and bleeding to his head. Then move us to another room for the night. At which time our care helpers came in to inform us that the walker he needed because of the severe dizziness was not covered by our insurance? But we could get one from Costco for a cheaper price. Kaiser stinks.

My father has been experiencing 3 weeks of extreme diarrhea. He was so dehydrated he passed out at his Kaiser doctor's office. He was taken by ambulance, given quick IV fluids and released. No care for the diarrhea. Primary doctor ordered stool samples but his care facility can't get them. I have spent 3 days calling every number Kaiser has to get him admitted to a Kaiser hospital for the samples and IV fluids - all to no avail. I tried to get in touch with a "patient advocate" and was given a wrong number. I sat on hold for hours trying different approaches to reach his doctor to ask that he be admitted. There were "no phone appointments available" and nurses eventually call back saying "take him to the ER". He has been there twice, not treated, only given fluids after 5 hour waits in the hallway strapped to a gurney with no food or water. It is insane.

Each call MUST begin at the "appointment center" where a phone employee appears trained to keep you from seeing a doctor. Each time I called to report what was going on with dad and attempt to relay a message, I was argued with. The last one said "I SEE YOU SAW HIS DOCTOR YESTERDAY, WHAT HAPPENED AT THAT APPOINTMENT?" Each person "makes notes" but the next person says they "cannot see the notes". Two years ago he has a procedure with a cancer specialist to check for a malignancy. After the procedure, I never received the diagnosis. Left 5 messages!!! Finally had his podiatrist check the outcome notes! Kaiser has NO geriatric services. Kaiser has NO psychiatric services - they contract out. Two assisted living facilities told me Kaiser and the VA are nearly impossible to deal with.

A year later, I need another procedure done because IT'S FOR MY HEALTH and of course no cost discussion, no one know how much anything costs or what's covered, and I get a bill for over $600, $200 of which was for a "new office visit". How is it okay to screw over people who need these services to be in good health and to literally put them in debt? Kaiser Permanente has been by far the worst experience I have ever had. Unfortunately I did not have much of a choice because it was my employer who had signed up (and is now switching to Cigna). If you have a choice, DO NOT SIGN UP WITH KAISER. They DO NOT have your best interest at heart. Just another money hungry corporation looking to screw over common people who need the services doctors provide. Absolutely disgusting.

Today she went to the Dr. for an issue with her breast. Her Dr. saw her and thought she might have an abscess. Her Dr. sent her to another facility to have an ultrasound. They told her they could not help her and she would have to wait 2 weeks to have it done. She had blood coming out of her nipple! What is wrong with these people? When she called customer service they said go to ER after she already explained to them that she had already seen her Dr. and her Dr. sent her. All Kaiser cares about is preventive medicine! They don't want to help those that are ill!

While all of this went down, there was security present (because my husband is intentionally hurting nurses... sarcasm intended here), and the DIRECTOR OF PATIENT CARE SERVICES!?!? Our lawyer does not feel this is a battle worth fighting, but I say NO. This doctor should not be practicing medicine and needs to be held accountable. Training MUST take place on how to respect patients as the Kaiser code says that they do (I scream BS).

We, again, requested to see a liver specialist and to have a CT scan done immediately but ** said it was unnecessary, placated us by saying he would do a CT scan in three months. My Mom and I knew ** was wrong, so we made another appointment, returned on 08/21/2017 with Dr. **. He took one look at my Mom and could see her health was not good. ** ordered a CT scan stat and a liver panel test. My Mom and I drove to Kern Radiology then returned to Kaiser. ** told my Mom her CT scan was clear and she probably had a bladder infection. However, he said her bilirubin levels were almost double what they should be. We were never told by ** about a MELD score, or a liver transplant should be considered.

Following morning we received a phone call that the CT scan was not clear as ** had stated; instead it displayed a network of lesions on my Mother’s liver. ** called my Mother and said he would finally arrange an appointment IN TWO WEEKS with a hepatologist in Los Angeles. My Mother again stated that she didn’t feel well. ** told her just to wait until she saw the liver specialist. Two of the lesions were over 5 cm which meant they were growing for some time. I emailed Dr. ** and requested a cancer test be conducted immediately. ** never emailed back. Seeing that my Mother’s health was declining, I emailed ** and requested a direct admission into the hospital. ** never returned the email.

My Mother was hospitalized in March/2017 when a lesion was detected on the right lobe of her liver and hardening of her bladder wall. ** noted this yet never fulfilled his duty to refer my Mother to a hepatologist. ** also failed to observe obvious signs of bladder cancer. ** and Kaiser repeatedly dismissed my Mother’s bladder issue as a UTI. Any over the age of 70 with constant blood in the urine, flank pain and problems with urinating should undergo tests for bladder cancer. We were never told by ** about a MELD score, or a liver transplant should be considered. My Mom went to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical and told she needed a liver transplant ASAP. The doctors at UCLA were horrified that my Mom’s health was allowed to deteriorate by Kaiser. UCLA performed a biopsy and cancer tests (which I had requested Kaiser conduct, but they denied), and it was discovered my Mom had cancerous lesions over her entire liver.

Members of a health insurance company should not have to beg for services. Kaiser forces members into a network that leads to dead ends. Kaiser essentially is just a giant urgent care. Frank ** should not be practicing medicine. I will be moving to have his medical license revoked. If he is your physician, then switch to another immediately. ** epitomizes everything Kaiser is notorious for: lazy, placating, incompetent, apathetic, and views your health through the lens of cost-benefit analysis so that Kaiser can keep their expenses down and profits up. ** is worthless and should be in prison. I had to stand over my sweet Mother’s coffin because of **. I stood in front of a chapel full of family and friends at my Mom’s funeral and explained what ** and Kaiser had done. My family is proceeding with a wrongful death medical malpractice and bad faith lawsuit against Frank ** and Kaiser Permanente.

At that point I literally told off the doctor, requested a statement of refusal for treatment, which she provided. All the appointments were a waste of time and money. We contacted a private doctor and paid for all the tests out of pocket. That doctor diagnosed the problem and prescribed medications to actually treat my wife. Next step is to file a formal complaint, dispute the charges for appointments, contact the medical board with a complaint of misdiagnosis, insurance general to file a complaint for refusal of treatment, and retain a lawyer for advice and possibly a lawsuit. My advice to anyone who is not with Kaiser, stay away, far, far away. Those who are, leave. Those who had been wronged, file complaint with Kaiser, with the medical board, with your state’s insurance general and definitely contact a lawyer for advice.

The doctor also explained how labor will work at a Kaiser hospital: I have to call their nurse hotline when I think I’m in labor so they can tell me which of the three inconveniently placed affiliate hospitals I should go to. The closest one is 30 minutes away, the next closest is 1 hour. (To compare: there is at least one non-affiliated hospital 15 minutes from my home.) If the Kaiser beds are all full but I show up anyway because I didn’t call the nurse hotline or it filled up during the trip, the doctor literally said I would “deliver in the hallway behind a curtain.” She was not joking. I was horrified by their callous attitude, their overbooked physicians and techs, and the general inconvenience of Kaiser’s locations and doctor choices. I’m changing providers right away out to protect myself and my baby.

The consultation visit did give me a lot of good information and helped me understand options and feel better about my situation, but I was absolutely floored when a week later I was slammed with my bill. The cost of the consultation visit (which was only about 35 minutes and no tests were run) was $345.50. Three hundred. And forty five dollars. Just to talk to a doctor. My insurance only covered $50 out of it. I never would have booked the appointment if I knew I would be set back on my bills and eating nothing but rice for a month, over something that I could have easily just scoured the internet for answers.

I was given an IUD, and the doctor refused to investigate to see if I needed surgery. (Endometriosis is a surgical disease and my last surgery was about 10 years ago.) Kaiser treats people like numbers, and not like people. Thank goodness my husband's insurance changed to Cigna and I have more options now to get my back the attention it needs. I don't understand how Kaiser doesn't get sued more often. Oh and the best part? They want you to do everything in house but don't have any ERs. I had to make a trip to the ER recently and they left me with a $1,000 bill because it wasn't within Kaiser coverage. They really screw you over. Kaiser tries to control you and make sure all the services you get are with them, but then they don't provide you with good treatment or care. I really hope something is done about Kaiser. After 7 years, I won't miss them.

I did get a letter from KP about 4 months later saying the problem had been fixed and thanking me again for bringing it to their attention. Now after a full year the problem stills exists!!! I reported it again and am getting the same runaround from absolutely disgracefully incompetent customer service. I tried being polite and patient last year. This year I'm having fun informing these disgustingly apathetic and ignorant morons of my precise opinions of them. Point here is that it doesn't matter how you treat them, they are not listening anyway.

On the positive side, I've been overall happy with the actual medical service at KP with doctors and nurses all being very good. Customer service personnel however varies greatly with actually being very good, as long as there is no problem to deal with. If you actually have an issue that needs resolution, forget it. They are completely incompetent, condescending, and disgracefully apathetic in any professional desire to actually successfully solve an issue. We'll see what happens next year as I am sure this problem will persist with these idiots.

Finally I asked a Kaiser employee who was mopping the floor (as no one else was around) to find out how much longer I would have to wait. When the doctor finally showed up, he didn't even step into the room. He didn't introduce himself. He simply poked his head in the door and said, "It looks ok. Follow up with your PCP." Really??? If I could get an appointment with my PCP, I wouldn't be here in urgent care.

When I complained to my doctor via email (because that seems to be the only access I have to him) he told me that Kaiser has added 80,000 new patients. Then why haven't they added sufficient doctors and staff to accommodate those 80,000 new patients. After all the years of being a Kaiser member, I am ready to cut ties with them. And perhaps the worst thing of all is that they just flat don't care that their service has turned so awful. They don't care about their patients. You are nothing more than an ID Number and a co-pay to them. Please think twice before contracting with Kaiser, Georgia.

In the past two weeks the pain has become so severe I can't work. I returned to my naturopath who advised to stop taking **, she said I do not have acid reflux and all my symptoms point to liver dysfunction and an immune response. I have been to the ER, where they just prescribed ** and said follow up with my MD as scheduled. I then had more pain even with the ** and trouble breathing and swelling in my abdomen so I went to Kaiser urgent care. They gave me a ** shot which did not ease my pain. So they suggested 9 ** a day, knowing I have a mass in my liver which is poorly functioning, and follow up with my MD.

Now my right arm is swollen and my right side of my rib cage is so painful I can't lay any direction. I went to a chiropractor who said I have no ribs out but said it appears I have lymphedema. I have been sending these messages to Kaiser. I am not being treated. I'm told based on my age [32] they will not biopsy the liver mass unless it's 5 cm, even though I have worsening symptoms associated with cancer. This is the worst care I have ever received and I am now hiring an attorney. I am unable to purchase private insurance because enrollment is closed and I am stuck with this awful facility.

This was something that I have never experienced with insurance before, not with Lifewise or Group Health and it's not something I am currently experiencing with Molina. It's only Kaiser, and nobody should trust them when they say they only provide the best insurance, and I wholeheartedly believe that any positive reviews of them must be sponsored, because they simply are disorganized and outright lie to their customers.

What followed for the next 90 days I had a kidney infection resulting in me taking antibiotics during this time. I eventually recovered. I fired the doctor and choose a different primary doctor. Then one day, I received a notice my new doctor is no longer with Kaiser. Kaiser had assigned me to a new doctor. I filed a complaint with member service in regard to my first doctor. Nothing was said or done. However I have learned what she wrote in my file. So hurtful.

Written 1/18: Even more terrible. Half the time they say the member is active, the other half they say they are not. I refaxed the information but they can't check the fax until next week. Their member benefits department cannot communicate with their member administration department to check the fax. They are overbilling. Two reps told me you can only get meds from their pharmacy but the third told me you can get them at an external pharmacy, this after the member was switched to their pharmacy. Their pharmacy isn't taking calls and you can only get voicemail. I am currently on hold for 45 min. and counting and have been on hold for 3 hours total today.

Each time I call they ask the same info even though they are supposed to keep notes on previous calls. The information was faxed three weeks ago and they said they got it. Now they are saying they don't have it. This amounts to discrimination against people who have had transplants. Kaiser's own tests showed the person's function is excellent. Also, they make it very hard to transfer medical records for patients. They simply won't request them from previous doctors, adding huge costs for patients to ask their doctors to make copies and send the records. I definitely do not recommend Kaiser. Stick with original Medicare, or if you are going with a Medicare Advantage Plan in Maryland go with Johns Hopkins or the University of Maryland Medical System.

I filed several complaints for her to be reinstated. One message simply requested that my message be relayed. In response to each message or request I received more or less the same form letter, then finally a response that it would become a formal complaint. Whenever I've filed complaints or grievances in the past at Kaiser, they always receive the same form letter: "We've looked carefully at this and nothing will change;" in other words, you lose, you are a sucker for paying the equivalent of second mortgage for our care and signing an arbitration agreement to get in so that you can never sue. Ha ha. I know three disgruntled doctors who left Kaiser because of their unethical treatment of patients and new doctors. I support my family on a public school teacher's salary and have little choice. But it may be necessary to spend my retirement on better care.

The other problem is the cost! Exorbitant by any standard. While I paid $5 co-pays in So. Calif., that increased to $35 in No. Calif. ER cost was $75 per visit, only $10 in So. Calif. No. Calif. required a $20/month premium payment, with $0 premiums in So. Calif. Why the huge increase from So.Calif. to No.Calif. is a mystery that even Kaiser can't explain. Their administrative services are probably the worst in the entire world. I would venture to say that even 3rd world countries are better at administration than Kaiser. It took me 3 months to get transferred from So. Calif. to No. Calif. Why? I was billed several times for a copay that I was told was waived because it was included with the cataract surgery. I had to write a letter about that.

This was not the only time I was billed in error. In So. Calif., I went to urgent care and was told they were quite busy but I could make an appointment for later in the day and make the $5 copay at that time. I did that, went to my 2:30 pm appointment and then received 6 months of billing for a $5 copay that I made when I went to the appointment. Apparently, they were billing me for the $5 when I made the appointment even though I was told there would be no copay since I made the appointment. Again, that took writing several letters and finally sending them a statement from my bank showing the $5 payment on that day! Due to the increased costs of this below-standard medical care, I chose to change my insurance and am now with another company.

Interestingly, my copays are only $10 per office visit on the new insurance and if I choose mail order for my prescriptions there are no copays at all - zero! The new insurance has a $24 per month premium but I am more than making that up with the $10 copay instead of $35. And I am saving a bundle with the zero cost for my 3 prescriptions by using mail order. I would never recommend Kaiser to anyone due to the high costs and sub-standard care, coupled with incredibly inadequate administrative capabilities. They need to withdraw all their misleading ads on TV since the care I received and the problems they caused certainly do not come anywhere near what they are advertising that you received from them. In short, they are terrible!

Original Review: Jan. 13, 2018

Fighting since July 2017. They will not cover general anesthesia used for two endoscopes stating not medically necessary--not the procedure itself just the anesthesia. Three denials and an external appeal denial for a needed surgery to fix my stomach structure that is causing me to not be able to process food properly, vomiting daily, extreme acid exacerbated by a hiatal hernia, aspirating on acid in my sleep, uncontrollable burping all day long at work and extreme stomach cramping. Their own surgeon states I am susceptible to pneumonia from the acid issue, dementia from prolonged use of **, and Barrett's esophagus or cancer from long term exposure to the acid in my esophagus.

I was finally approved in January 2017 with this surgeon only to receive a phone call ONE WEEK before schedule me surgery to let me know approval has been rescinded due to this being a complication of a surgery from 3 1/2 years ago. It is illegal to deny coverage for a pre-existing condition. They are denying coverage for everything I submit except for medication. I have several acquaintances that are also having issues getting approvals for basic coverage. They also are refusing to cover the testing that was done to ensure I didn’t have cancer in my esophagus already. $3200 for this. $1500 for anesthesia they won’t cover. Those have already been performed. $35,000 for the needed surgery they won’t cover. Kaiser isn’t doing anyone any favors in this state so far.

4 weeks later, still nothing back from surgeon as to status of surgery and the pain is increasing, no meds, he is taking large amounts of ibuprofen. We call doctor for update and request pain medication. Told surgery possibly 4 months down the road. Can't prescribe pain meds, must go see PCP, for that, who is by the way, booked up for the next 3 weeks. Either that or go back to urgent care. Again, wow... the surgeon he was referred to who knows the extent of damage and deformity of my husband's leg cannot prescribe pain meds nor did he communicate any kind of pain management plan until the surgery was performed.

My husband does not abuse any pain medication, turns it down when asked if needed, so when he states he can't take it anymore, he means it. Still waiting and yes have to go back to urgent care for help. We feel lost in their system and not the first experience unfortunately. It seems to be the norm. More I could share, that's just one incident.

I will say phone representatives that I've dealt with have been very nice and very helpful. Though the check-in is weird, those ladies were very nice and helpful. The doctor was pretty monotone, but I felt he listened and inquired adequately. I made a list of all of my concerns the night before the appointment to make sure I touched on everything since it is a slight pain to travel all the way out to their clinic and I'm not even sure how far out he's booking. Anyway, to my pleasure, he wrote referrals to my oncologists and my pain clinic, both are not with Kaiser (but accept it). Within 30 mins I was approved to continue with my current pain clinic... I'm still holding on my oncologists, that's the major concern. He also referred me to a behavioral health/psychiatrist with Kaiser to address anxiety and sleep issues. And I can call myself to schedule with a dermatologist.

The pharmacy was pretty quick and so was the lab draw and all of the employees at each (all in the same building) were really nice. It is going to suck when I get my narcotic prescriptions from my outside providers, because I'll have to physically carry them to the Kaiser clinic/pharmacy to refill each month. So my appointment was at 3 and between arrival at 3 and check in, I was taken back at 315. After I left the doc I went downstairs to pharmacy and lab, the wait at both was minimal. I was at out pretty much 430 and accomplished a lot. I still have followup calls to make with kaiser to schedule a few more appointments.

One drawback is that, while the function is present online and on the app to make my own appointments, whenever I try it says the function is not available and prompts me to call. I'll try to remember to edit this if my opinion of them changes. Just wanted to gives a heads up to GA people like me that were backed into a corner on the healthcare exchange this year.

Kaiser (Georgia) needs to hire some more people. Also, they need to train their managers; and the people at the front desk how to be courteous; kind; respectful and caring to their patients. To Charissa **, you need to either find you another job or attend a anger management class because you are indeed miserable and to work on the front of the line with people isn’t for you. Your attitude is ugly just like you. Please find you something else to do. I AM TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT YOU CHARISSA **!

Kaiser demanded that my son advocate on his own behalf for a treatment my son did not believe he needed for a diagnosis he did not accept. (That is, Kaiser ignored me and my husband's letters and phone calls as Kaiser only pays attention to requests submitted by patients on their own behalf.) My attempts to get my son to talk to Kaiser exacerbated his condition. In our case, 1) Kaiser's demand was medically unsound (causing harm rather than healing) and 2) Kaiser's denial of out-of-network benefits may be a violation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in that Kaiser's actions contributed to the result that my son has not yet received treatment for his disease.

I have chronic pain issues, which are basically ignored, even though I have painful condition. Which affects my daily life in a very negative way. The last is it for me. I went to the ER, and I had two doctors feeling my stomach, which hurt like all living hell. Why?! She felt it was diverticulitis, and I dared to ask for pain medication because I was in horrid pain. I did not even get a full understanding of what I was sick with. Nothing was explained to me. What the CAT scan showed!? I was given medication, and that was it.

Today a doctor I was seeing for a aftercare from the ER. I was told I had a nodule. Was found on my liver and one in my lungs. I had a CAT scan four months prior, and nothing was found like that. I was freaked out, who would not be!? I got a message from my healthcare provider that I only needed to get a scan in a year time. I did not have one nodule in my lungs but two. The liver nodule was not even mentioned. I want further testing as how could three nodules developed in such a short time. They are not that "little" either.

She did not like I questioned her non action of these nodules. She showed no compassion of how terrified I might feel. I truly do not believe that the doctors care about their patients. I do not think like they care about how I feel, no concern for truly for my health. I do not find I can talk with my doctor at all. I am so thankful I am getting off Kaiser insurance. Hopefully, my concerns will be addressed at my new health insurance. I strongly caution of against using Kaiser if you want to feel you matter, have your concerns addressed, or have any fast action to your health. If you have chronic pain issues, you are screwed.

Why is Kaiser charging their members more for services than they would someone who has no insurance at all? When I asked the representative she said because we have insurance once our deductible is met they cover everything. Uh yeah I get that. Still does not justify Kaiser charging their members more and as I pressed her on it she said she didn't know why. So I asked for someone who could answer my question and she told me she didn't know anyone who could. Definitely switched insurance the next day. Thank god the open season was still open. Will never go back to Kaiser.

Two other KM facilities - one a full clinic and the other a large medical center including Urgent Care are far, far closer but inconveniencing more people while serving the least seems to be the M.O. Can't say enough good things about the actual therapist; but her employer sucks monkey butts at what it takes to actually yield any kind of positive outcome here. Research indicates/recommends weekly and biweekly therapy for folks in non-functioning chronic depressive episodes. Wondering how this standard of care would look to a national board...

I at the same time was yelling at them to stop this and repeatedly stated to them, "You never move an injured person like that at all." Then the employee near my mother started again forcing her up while I'm yelling at her, "Stop this. You're hurting my mother." I then noticed just to my right Catherine ** PCP internist was motioning for her employee to do this, I demanded to get her name and she refused to tell me, I then demanded why nobody was offering any kind of assistance to her except making her situation worse, after repeating this a few times I was then told this quote- She is a liability, Not our concern, and was someone else's problem. "This is our policy like it or not." Unquote. I couldn't believe how absolutely cruel these people were considering she slipped on wet leaves and pavement, in a handicap parking spot no more than 30 yards away from the clinic's entrance.

Approximately 20 minutes went by and I then found out no one called emergency out of all things I demanded for this to be done and finally one of their employee's called. Thank GOD the ambulance was just across the street getting coffee and they were there in less than a minute. As the emergency crew was approaching I turned to inform them of what had just happened and to my shock and horror Kaiser employees had quickly forced my mother into standing up while she was screaming in pain. The emergency crew immediately took charge and rendered emergency assistance to her. In the ambulance they were absolutely disgusted on how my mother was mistreated by these Kaiser employees. We arrived at Westside hospital just next door to their Sunset clinic and went in.

Then adding more to this situation none of the medical staff were checking her over for injuries which she had such as swollen and bruised knees, bruising all over her left side and back, bruised and swollen hands, bruised and swollen feet, along with several cuts and abrasions all over. I had to insist on them to give the basic medical attention while they refused several times until they finally checked her left arm and literally nothing else. She had a fractured Humerus bone in the left arm, severely sprained right foot and she still had other injuries they would not check.

The doctor refused to prescribe pain meds even though her pain level was 9+ gave her a flimsy cloth sling instead of putting a cast on her arm, hurried her out like they couldn't wait to get rid of her and sent to home only to have her condition worsen that night and had to be taken by an ambulance back to the Westside hospital again to be treated for her injuries and yet again they placed an Ill fitting orthopedic sling on her arm instead of a cast, the doctor did prescribe pain meds this time but the overall treatment of her was still poor.

For me personally witnessing how my mother WAS mistreated when she fell and injured herself through no fault of her own, in a handicap spot on their property no more than 30 yards from the clinic's entrance, offered no medical assistance but still forcing my mother up in pain and against her will while telling me she is a liability, not their concern,and someone else's problem and the overall mistreatment of her I can't believe how heartless and cruel Kaiser's so-called medical staff was to my mother and my only hope is that others don't get mistreated like this...

Every time my father has to go into the hospital for something, he is 94 and disabled, he goes from a controlled by diet non-insulin diabetic to them shooting him with insulin to control his blood sugar because they won't listen to him or me about his proper diet to maintain his health. I have over the years ran into some doctors there that I know immediately don't know what they are talking about when they make certain diagnosis about something I have. I looked up my latest doctor after I started questioning her competence when she prescribed a medication that was completely wrong for me because of my other medications, allergies, and heart disease.

I looked her up and then some of the other ones I had seen, they were all nothings. None had any published works, had any specialized medical interest or field. There were no special commendations or top of the class, no further education, nothing. I realized that they just went through medical school to get a job that pays well. After I had an emergency and wound up in the ER, desperately dehydrated from having a bad case of the flu they pumped me with way too much fluid and gave me Congestive Heart Failure, I began to realize that they were going to kill me if I kept going there. I was too weak and ill for quite a while to do anything about it though. I stayed on, broke my toe badly, my doctor couldn't see it in the X-rays so I suffered for a week before she finally showed the X-rays to a specialist who immediately saw the break.

That's another thing about Kaiser, all the doctors make you wait too long before they will let you go see a specialist. They only give you 15 minutes of their time too, I hate both of those restrictions and I know it has to be Kaiser's policies. It was this last time with what happened that finally convinced me to get out now. My father stopped a year ago, my mother still thinks they walk on water. I was having trouble with my heart, not breathing right, ankles and feet swelling too much and not reducing at all overnight, so I went in for blood tests. I was due anyhow for the full round of tests, I have to do it once a year for my heart. No big deal. I was scheduled for surgery on my right hand a little more than a month away for arthritis so it was a good idea to get everything checked out. All the tests came back looking normal to me, my doctor's nurse called and said my heart was fine, but they hadn't gotten all the results in yet.

Because of my arthritis, which I also have in my back, I have been taking pain pills for years. Kaiser started a new round of policies for anyone who had a prescription for opioids, which to me seem stupid, but I am not an addict. For some reason my body flushes out opioids quickly and she had been testing my usage as one of Kaiser's new policies to make sure I wasn't selling them. They weren't showing up in my system like they should, but she had been aware of this for quite some time. I even brought in my pills each time to prove the amounts taken at the time of the month tests were taken. This time was no different and that was the test they were waiting on, which was strange, it doesn't take any longer than the others.

I finally got a call from my doctor’s nurse of the day and she tells me what to me is the normal reading, no drugs, and that my doctor is very disappointed in me. I was surprised, she knew about that. I was accused of selling my opioids and my surgeon cancelled my surgery. I have to go through drug testing for 3 months and now test, get this, clean each time, before I can have my surgery. I can't have any narcotics for my pain because I broke my contract and my doctor of more than 5 years dropped me. I still can't believe this, it is absolutely ridiculous. Tried and convicted without even being present, no jury, to me no proof.

I told them to lock me in a room and monitor me and they could administer the drugs and test me. I still have half of the prescription left since two months ago. I think what made me the angriest was, whatever happened to doctor patient confidentiality? There is none at Kaiser. Every email I write to my doctor can be read by any doctor who feels like it. Any of my tests can be read by any doctor who wants to check it. I no longer trust a single doctor in the Kaiser system and will be changing plans as soon as open hits next month.

When I finally got out of that Kaiser HELL, my doctors requested records from Kaiser and they sent them stating that I was perfectly healthy, never mentioned the nerve damage, and any pain was in my head. Kaiser harmed me again by refusing to send accurate records to other doctors; thus, I could not get properly treated. I have been in severe pain for 2 years, cannot work, am devastated, and my life is over. Kaiser is a deceitful, corrupt business, erases medical errors, and doesn't care if they hurt, maim, or kill you. It's all about the money.

I urged that it didn't feel like just a spasm. He said he could give me a ** shot. I explained to him I took an anti-inflammatory prior to my arrival so I declined. I asked if it could be due to my scoliosis in which he responded, "having scoliosis doesn't cause pain." I left the ER in tears. Felt uncared for and unheard. Turns out my ribs refractured and that's why I was in immense pain. Also I still have yet to find out why I have an edema. I'm only 28. No tests done to see why. Kaiser needs to pay more attention to their patients instead of a treating us as a herd of cattle.

Due to the nature of the wound they created, and the lack of a sufficiently sterile environment to bring her back to, the unavoidable outcome will be that she will acquire an infection, and due to her age will not be able to sufficiently fight it and will die. Would be great if we could fight this - but our family has no money so we are at the mercy of an uncaring medical company like Kaiser Permanente. I am posting this review as I want everyone to know about the heinous practice of Kaiser Permanente to not take responsibility of their mistakes and not properly care for the elderly.

I go to email my doctor but he is no longer with Kaiser so now I'm dealing with a ** of a doctor who will only do phone appointments and not office visits. This is where I finally had enough of KAISER!! This doctor Dr. ** that works in Stockton doesn't seem to care that I was seen in the ER for severe pain for my Sciatica problems that have now spread and have caused me to walk around like I'm 80 years old and I'm 40! I have an MRI scheduled but this same doctor stated to me over the phone that he will see me in 3 to 4 weeks after the MRI RESULTS come back. I said 3 to 4 weeks!!! So if you do all the things Kaiser tells you to do and you're still left in severe pain they will make it as though you being in pain is nothing to them. I have worked in the medical field almost my whole life and the doctors I've worked for would never expect a patient to wait for 3 to 4 weeks before getting any actual help from a doctor.

It doesn't matter if you have to go to the ER because that's how bad my pain was then and still now. My husband's medical insurances only carry 2 Kaiser and a PPO that is too expensive so of course, we get stuck with Kaiser. I would think by now Kaiser would do more than waiting for a patient to fall apart instead of helping them to have the pain you see control somewhat. 5 years I've been patient with all the things Kaiser tells me to do and I have done them all 3 times over. Why is it that when a patient needs help the most that Kaiser is only interested in saving and protecting their money than to try to help their patients!! I'm not the only one that feels this way. There are so many people that are stuck with Kaiser and do all they are suppose to and then get slapped in the face when you need medical attention the most!!

It's time I look into seeing a lawyer. My husband is over at Kaiser right now in the business office filing a complaint to start this process... So please be careful with Kaiser if you end up costing Kaiser money because they choose to ignore the underlying medical problem and left me to suffer! Kaiser isnt worth all this pain! I wish I would have done the more expensive health insurance. Maybe then I wouldnt have been ignored so severely. And when You do start to take action stay with it because Kaiser has no right to do this to anyone thats their patient!!

Thank God they take a Xray. It take them 1 year and 9 months... into they found a mass in my right dominant arm and shoulder. It's was chondrosarcoma (bone cancer). Because of my insurance, they were able to do the surgery. Aftermath was a different story after 3 months later. The doctor take me off of medication. Which I still have pain in my arm mostly every day. He suggested over counter **. I continue working even though I will never be able to lift my arm ever again and I can't tell my employer that I have a partial disability which the doctor says and I'm not disabled. I had a Oncology Genetic Test Report which states I have BRCA 1 risk of cancer in the future and now Kaiser OB/GYM disagree with Radiology report about ultrasound and wants me to retest again.

Prolonged the issues with ovaries and uterus. I'm in borderline of get cancer again. I was so disappointed today with my primary doctor. She requested several blood work tests. I asked her, she can add 1 more to my blood work. The doctor denied taking my request saying... "She won't know what to do with test if she gets it back." That made think. Doctor could of suggested a second opinion and request another referral to another doctor. She just said simply said "no. I can't help you." I lost faith in Kaiser Doctor. I'm just a paycheck for them. Physically and mentally it does have a big impact in your life. I simply smile and continue every day to live my life normal as I can regardless what's going on with me. Kaiser doesn't care. Good luck!

Also, if you need a referral beware that Kaiser will often make you take a "class" first. Yes, they expect you to take time out of your day to attend an hour long class in order to get your referral (they're banking on you just opting out, saving them more $$$). The worst thing they did that truly made me see them for the crooks they are is when one of the Drs. hit a nerve in my face during an injection (I was getting injections for TMJ/jaw clenching). After the injection I knew something was very wrong. I kept complaining and telling them it affected my speech and my smile. They insisted it would get better, give it time, it may take 10 months to a year to heal back to normal. Well my nerve was completely dead and when I finally paid money out of pocket to go to a private Dr., he said Kaiser really messed up.

By the time I called a lawyer the lawyer told me "You let a year go by, the statute of limitations for suing is 1 year, you missed the window, sorry". So Kaiser knew they messed up, told me to wait a year and it would get better. It doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together and see they just didn't want me to sue, they knew that nerve wasn't coming back. To add insult to injury they won't even treat the problems that my nerve damage is causing, even though THEY caused it! It's been devastating and has affected my entire life.

I was totally screwed over and then treated like dirt afterward. And trying to go after them is a David and Goliath situation, pointless, they hold all the power. Also, their mental health care is famously abysmal. They're always getting sued for not providing adequate care. My sister has severe depression and Kaiser will only do the bare minimum. This place is all about their bottom line, period. I would never ever recommend it and I hope that I've saved someone from the nightmare that I (and my family) have gone through with this place.

My biggest complaint is the wait time for certain appointments, including referrals/specialists. An ortho/neuro specialist... usually 2-3 months out for an appt. Some procedures... several weeks. Mental Health... up to a FOUR month wait! Are you kidding me? I've found if I complain, insist, even cry, I can get one sooner, but I shouldn't have to do that! Calling on a Monday... almost impossible to get through to anyone. Physical Therapy... usually the next week! Or they give you some papers with the exercises on them and tell you to do them at home, which most won't do. I realize I need to take control of my health, but sometimes Kaiser makes that difficult. They say they're into preventative health, yet they don't offer the cutting-edge treatments/procedures that other facilities do, nor do they offer certain medications I was able to take prior to being on Kaiser.

I'm told it usually has to do with costs. I understand they want to streamline healthcare to cut costs, but my plan has gone up 8% for each of the past 2 years. With these increases, I feel that at least the pharmacies should be open on most holidays. I understand Kaiser employees deserve days off, but even now they seem understaffed in many departments... Other companies either rotate employees on holidays or offer time and a half.

On a final note, I do appreciate that most Kaiser employees are kind and caring, and that I don't have to wait more than 15 or so minutes before seeing the doctor. While Kaiser does offer surveys often, the questions are skewed to things they know in which they are competent. Surveys never ask about phone wait times, or getting into specialists in a timely manner.

Of the course the females at the counter looked at me strange and said they cannot make appointments for specialty visits. So I went home, waited until the next day around 2:00 pm and called the orthopedic office to make an appointment. The female I spoke with said that the closest appointment she had available was on September 16, 2017, pretty much a whole month away. So I'm telling her that it takes 4 to 6 weeks for my finger to heal, by that time it would have healed in a downward position. She constantly said that's all they could do and that she checked but there aren't any more appointments available until then. I asked her if she checked another location other than the Southwood location and she said she checked. So she sets the appointment a month out. I immediately call member services and got transferred several times until I was hung up on.

I called back and explained the problem again and gave my member number again just for them to tell me there is nothing else that can be done. I then google the corporate number for Kaiser, calls it, and to my surprise the number is to member services. I then tell the lady that I need the number to corporate. She of course said that she needs my member number, date of birth, and the nature of my complaint. I give my info and explain the situation again. She then transfer me to a male in member services who I tell the story to again and give my info to again. He tells me, “Oh your doctor was supposed to make that appointment for you. She is the only one that can request an urgent appointment”, which I already knew that. So now after being on the phone for 50 minutes, he then tells me that they are going to send a message to my doctor for her to request an immediate orthopedic appointment.

He then told me that it takes about 4 hours for the doctor to get the message and respond back to (me) in reference to that request. I waited and waited for 24 hours, yes the next day. I then called them back after 24 hours and spoke with someone who told me that I could try to contact my doctor myself online. Someone then told me that they sent that message to the wrong doctor so they have to send it again. By this time I have a headache and my eye is twitching. I then get transferred to gastroenterology which is the study of the stomach of course. She of course transfer me finally to orthopedic who then schedule me an appointment for the 28th on a Monday morning at 9:00 am all the way in Glenlake. I explained that I live past Conyers, that drive will be pure hell at 9:00 am. She of course said that's the only thing she have. Now I go to bed early the night before so that I can get up early to try to make the appointment.

I left home at 7:15 am and my GPS said that my drive was one hour and forty seven minutes long. God help me. After battling traffic for an hour and 10 minutes my GPS said that I still had an hour and nine minutes left on my route. I called member services again and spoke to Debrah who was able to check and get me an appointment switched to the Southwood location at the same time. Debrah thank god for you so much. You were the only help I had.

Ok back to the story. So I go to the appointment, didn't wait for too long to be seen, thank god. The doctor came in and took off my Walgreens splint that I bought and had on since the injury and told me that of course I have a tendon tear and that I need to keep my finger straight at all times through the healing process. He tells me that they don't have a better splint than the one I had on so I need to keep what I had on if it was comfortable.

I honestly was expecting them to give me an Oval-8 splint or something more effective than the Walgreens splint I had on. He tells me that I can order the Oval splint on Amazon. Now I really thank him for being honest and I don't think it's his fault that they don't have the proper updated medical tools and gadgets. I couldn't believe that I have to order a proper splint myself on Amazon. I used to think highly of Kaiser, I really did. I thought that Kaiser was one of the best. What am I paying insurance and co-payments for if I have to order my own splint. Where is the money going to, the Thrive commercials?

My husband had some wonky test results recently, and his PCP referred him to a Rheumatologist and a Cardiologist. I find Kaiser to be incredibly efficient with how they run things; as a one-stop-shop type of operation. I never wait once I arrive for an appointment, and I mean never. I'm taken in to see the doctor within 5 minutes max. I get my prescriptions at the same location, without more than a 15 minute wait. The email set up between patient and doctor is amazingly efficient as well. The one thing I do not like to do is call for an appointment on a Monday, since it can be tough to get through by phone. All in all, I think Kaiser runs a pretty tight ship and gives me good value for my premiums. I've had other health insurance, including Rocky Mountain Health & United Healthcare *United H/C was THE Cadillac of healthcare, in my opinion*, but for the buck, Kaiser has a pretty good bang.

Giving me CHF by pumping too much fluid into me when I was severely dehydrated was an early death sentence they gave me, that is decidedly uncool, but they saved my life! What it comes down to is, you pick your doctor, you make a bad pick, throw him back into the sea of other doctors who have openings and pick a new one. I plan on doing that with mine very soon. Depending on how you got your insurance there can be from $0-$50 copay I believe. Most people pay $15-$20 each time they see the doctor. Again, depending on your coverage, as a state worker mine is fairly standard, your copay pays for X-rays and labs, and any other testing your doctor may write up for you. Your prescriptions are vastly reduced, which is very helpful with big pharma trying to charge $500 for a placebo.

Kaiser is usually always understaffed, the doctors are only allowed an allotted amount of time to spend with each patient, because they have to keep their billable hours high, so many times you feel very rushed and like the doctor isn't even putting all their attention on you. If you need to see a specialist and you know you do, often times you have to convince your doctor of that. Without a referral from your General Practitioner, you won't be able to see a specialist. I feel that they often wait longer than they should before they refer you.

I like going there because all the doctors, specialists, labs, etc. are all under one roof, but it also causes problems when you want to see a certain specialist about something and he isn't on the Kaiser roster, it comes out of your pocket. If you are having emotional or mental problems you cannot get in and see your Dr or therapist more than once every 6 weeks because that practice is always tremendously understaffed. So if you are going through a very bad mental time, there is no one to help you work through it that you know, it's whoever is free.

The first incident my husband and I had to go through, was a life-threatening motorcycle accident. We were initially placed at UCLA due to the trauma he experienced as well as his proximity to the UCLA location. For a week, he was in too critical condition to be moved. However, within that week, I received multiple check-ins with doctors, students, nurses, caregivers/social worker, and people who overall were generally looking out for us and trying to help us. Our UCLA social worker would check in on us every day if not twice a day, helped me with all our paperwork and disability, guided me with their parking rules, and even provided me with meal tickets since I spent everyday and night at the hospital by my husband's side.

After a week, we were transported to Kaiser and the level of service drastically decreased. I think we saw a social worker once, maybe twice, and that was after I had to ask for one. Most of the staff were disorganized, nurses tried to double up my husband's doses because they either did not look at the charts or things were not logged, and I truly believe very few people cared about either of us. We were just a 'checklist on their job' to them.

Now my husband has been diagnosed with Leukemia and yet again no one has been there to pick up the pieces or try to help us along the way. The doctor, understandably is busy, but it's already been over a week and no one has sat us down to walk us through the process. I've had millions of questions and am only given a few minutes over the phone with the doctor a couple times in the week, where most our questions are ignored. Of course, whenever I do have a dire question, the doctor is never there and no other oncology doctor will answer it or call us back.

In addition, my husband and I are a young couple looking to eventually have children, but no one discussed the side effects of bearing children with his treatment, they only mentioned that the pill needed to be taken immediately. We weren't even aware it was a type of chemo treatment until the day they told us it needed to be taken. If we had not been proactive in researching, we could've really screwed up our chances of ever having healthy children in the future as he will have to take this pill for the rest of his life.

Now, we are facing the problem where Kaiser is prescribing us a generic version of the chemo drug that has proven articles to show the drug is not as effective as a first line therapy as the brand name, **. Yet once again, no one has talked with us to discuss all our options and now we are freaking out whether it is okay to start the generic drug or not. We have talked to your pharmacists and nurses who say "they aren't doctors" but the active ingredient is the same but when I ask to actually speak to a doctor (any doctor for that matter!) they tell me that is not an option because they are too busy for a 5-10 minute phone call. Kaiser has forced us to put off his treatment twice now because we cannot even be comforted or acknowledged, by a doctor, in knowing that his treatment will not do more harm than benefit because Kaiser is too busy to give two very scared and very lonely people a callback.

Finally, Kaiser tells me that my current doctor is booked for over a month before we can even see him for a sit down to discuss his cancer. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? You haven't even given us a single pamphlet about the disease or let us know commonly asked questions and now you are telling us it will be a month before we can even get our every growing list of questions answered. After some crying and some yelling, the nurse said she would "check-in with the doctor, after the weekend, and see what they can do". I understand that my husband may be last on Kaiser's priority list but he is first on mine and no one in my shoes should ever have to deal with the lack of care or compassion we have experienced.

Kaiser is both the Insurance Company and Hospital and therefore make me believe you only care about the bottom dollar. Kaiser does not have adequate staff to deal with all your patients and those that are facing life altering decisions and questions are unable to get the answers they need in a timely fashion. I feel Kaiser could care less about the patients as a whole and if I were to advise anyone, I would have them avoid ever using Kaiser's insurance. I would gladly pay more elsewhere to get proper care than ever use Kaiser's services again but understand not everyone in the world has this opportunity. Kaiser Permanente probably hopes for people to die just so there is less work for you to do. I know this is a horrible and drastic thing to say but at this point this is how Kaiser has made me feel.

Hard to get timely appointments, not feeling confident in KP's dermatology dept expertise & delivery - (kids, wear sunscreen). You can't get a referral unless you first wait in the long KP line first. KP has no escalation process. KP won't help to expedite a "worrisome" problem that is not an ER visit need. My positive views: Getting a flu shot is easy; as is a blood draw; my primary care physician is responsive to my small needs for a physical or cholesterol monitoring. Hope this helps someone.

In February, I had to go in for an emergency appointment, which cost more and was at a distant clinic. They started a root canal. A few days later, the temporary filling fell out. I had difficulty getting another emergency appointment and ended up with a terrible infection. When I called in, I was told to drive over an hour to their nearest hospital. Finally, I was able to get them to contact a dentist, who was willing to call in a prescription for an antibiotic. The only pharmacy open on the weekend, was at the distant hospital. I requested that it be called in to a local pharmacy, but was cautioned that I'd have to pay full price. The antibiotic caused side effects, which included severe digestive disturbances and a skin rash. Once again, I went through the time consuming phone process to obtain advice.

The only appointment I could obtain to replace the temporary filling, was a second emergency appointment at a distant clinic. While there, they said they'd have the nearer clinic call me with a follow up appointment. I asked if I did not hear back in a timely manner, if I had the option to walk in to make an appointment and I learned that indeed, that is an unspoken option.

This time, I didn't wait. I drove straight to the local clinic and set up an appointment. The receptionist was not exactly welcoming. I learned that the first opening was not until late May, so I had to return to the distant clinic to finish the root canal. I was then informed that I needed to have a check-up, before they could proceed with a crown. Initially, I was told they were booked through the end of August. The dentist told me that he would put in a note to try to get me in earlier and gave me a direct number.

When I didn't hear back, I called and was then called back by a woman who explained that it wasn't fair to other clients to give me an earlier appointment. I agreed with her that it wasn't fair to the other clients and affirmed that it was not fair to me either! That we had all purchased a product and that Kaiser was not providing that product in a timely manner. After a slightly negative comment, she gave me an appointment for the check-up in May. The crown was put in on July 11.

While visiting my father in S California in early July, the rash that began during the antibiotic treatment, intensified. I called an advice nurse at Kaiser in that area and was offered a same day appointment. I also had them look at a skin lesion I'd been concerned about. The practitioner prescribed a medication for the skin rash and offered me an appointment with a dermatologist for the following week. Unfortunately, I had to fly back to Oregon to have the crown put in, so I requested that the referral be transferred to Oregon. Once home, I learned that the first available appointment was not until mid September. I requested to be put on a list for a cancelation, but was told that was against their policy. This waiting game is dangerous, irresponsible, unreasonable and without integrity.

Today the pain is horrific. Lots of pressure and both my arms are going numb. Just like the other 2 doctors said would take place. What's worse I can't even sleep for more than 4 hrs, I can't sleep with a pillow and now my legs are starting to get pins and needles when I'm laying down. I get up and it goes away. I freaking cannot believe how inconsiderate and how incompetent Kaiser's doctors are. They hire the bottom of the barrel and have practitioners treat patients. I'm like "dude my arms are going numb nothing." Even their physical medicine Dept tells me “Yeah we know your neck is bad and the numbing is caused by your neck but we can't do anything for you.” Freaking no EMG nothing. You can't leave nerves pinched nor compressed for a long period of time. That's what leads to permanent nerve damage which is irreversible.

Mind you I've been going back and forth with Kaiser's neurosurgeons for almost a year now. And yes I have Medicare. Then Kaiser can refer me outside of their network and choose not to. I'm getting out of there coming this enrollment in Oct. Kaiser is only good for educating pre medical awareness. When it comes to actually treatment you’re better off going to a car dealership. LOL. They are terrible yet protected by the government that's why they have what's called a arbitration because if they didn't they wouldn't be in business from all the malpractice law suits. Kaiser SUCKS REALLY BAD.

I went upstairs at 3:30 PM and saw the behavioral health department to be closed. I went back downstairs and they said to call their general number for making appointments. I was very dissatisfied with the fact that I went in a circle and was not informed of the department's (early?) closure or that they were not available to make appointments for a specific department when the receptionists are available to make appointments for every other department. I proceeded to e-mail my doctor through the Kaiser Permanente website and she directed me to the same hotline number.

When calling for the second time, the behavior health department was finally open. After waiting on hold for 30+ minutes, I was told I was considered a "new patient" because I had not been to behavioral health department after a year. New patients cannot make appointments after 2:30 or on the weekends. Tell me, as a full-time working adult, why I would schedule an appointment as a "new" patient to miss work because I am restricted to scheduling before 2:30 PM? I am infuriated that the process of setting up an appointment took so long and yet I cannot fit this into my schedule because of its inconvenience to my, and every other working adult's, schedule. My status as a "new" patient inhibits me from getting the healthcare I need when I have visited this doctor before and still have communications with her through e-mail in the Kaiser Permanente app and website.

Other than this instance, I have had multiple bad experiences with Kaiser in waiting on hold for extremely long periods of time (30 minutes to an hour). Also, a con is that they do not let you visit doctors outside of the Kaiser Permanente system, which means I cannot go see a behavioral health professional. I have repeatedly been disappointed with the customer service and care that Kaiser Permanente provides.

2. Under-Educated Medical Personnel: The young women in the ob-gyn office who took my vitals was pleasant, but she was not well trained. When she started to take my blood pressure, I told her (as I had been instructed by the radiation oncology nurse) to please take it on my left side, as I had received radiation treatment on my right side. "What was the radiation for?" She asked. "I had a lumpectomy," I replied. "What's a lumpectomy?"

3. Inexperienced/Unkind Technicians: During my 5th mammogram in two years, I was yelled at three times by the technician because she was having trouble conducting the procedure. I am a breast cancer survivor. I know how a mammogram works. I had the procedure done 4 other times by 3 other technicians. I remained calm and compliant throughout the procedure. This tech was having trouble getting the pictures she needed. She could have asked the other tech for help. Instead, she took her anger out on me. One of her remarks was, "You know this is all your fault don't you?!" If you have other options for medical care, please select those instead.

Jan-Feb 2017 My husband was having his eyelashes fall out and went in to see his DR. She ordered bloodwork then asked if he was gay because she said that syphilis was something that caused that and as per her- it's more common among gay people. Profiling at its worst.

5/8/2017 Pregnant, I was admitted to Vacaville ER with a severe migraine. Despite being listed in my chart as a medication I'm allergic to, the ER Dr fought to give me this medication and to offset the reaction suggested first giving me Benadryl. If my husband hadn't been there to stop him he was going to do this. They also took many vials of blood but no tests were ever run. 6/2017 Despite me asking repetitively about what blood tests I should have had done I am now 6 months pregnant and had my first pregnancy blood panel done 1 week ago, months later than I should have because no one ever ordered it.

I went to visit my primary care doctor because I wasn't sure which specialist I should see. My PC doctor told me I should have gone to the emergency room because they would have done all the tests there in one evening -- instead, it's going to take you possibly months to get those appointments at Kaiser. Ok, it's a damn serious situation that could kill me and that's how they handle it? Good God. This should be enough information to get you not to join Kaiser or to drop them next open season.

I went to my first appointment which was ultra-sound for my neck arteries. The nurse there was great and she also told me that Kaiser has taken on 100,000 new patients this year -- thank you Obama Care -- and is laying off employees. She works 2 + more hours per day, into the night, because of the shortage of nurses. The lady at the blood lab who I've known for years told me the same thing. She mentioned it to me, I did not bring up the subject. They both agreed that Kaiser is opening themselves up for major lawsuits because of the time it takes to schedule appointments -- much longer than it takes me to schedule the same type of appointments at the VA. The phone/appointment system is much worse than any I've even dealt with. Again, much worse than the VA.

This is what happens when a liberal California company takes on a bunch of illegal and/or a bunch of non-paying patients. We actually pay figuratively and literally. Their customer service sucks! We keep getting billed for things we have paid for and have receipts for. We've never left a Kaiser facility without paying our co-pay. I think they do this to prey on older people who may not remember or keep records.

Today, I just got back from the cardiologist -- a much older, frail man who didn't even look at my records on the computer except my medications. The first thing he says is, "Do you want medicine?" I was thinking, "What the hell is wrong with me first." He wasn't sure. He looked up my VA medications on the computer (Kaiser also has the list) and he put them in his smartphone to look them up on the Internet. He told me one of them said that one of my medications COULD be causing the dizzy spells and blacking out. COULD? From the INTERNET? I told him I don't want any damn medicine until he finds out what is wrong. He said, "we could do a heart scan and stress test." COULD? I said, "I want both." So, I have to wait another month and two for appointments. My neurology appointment is 2.5 months away (from the time I made the appointment).

So, you can see why people are suing them. "You may have a serious problem that could kill you, but let's wait months to check it out." However, if you are an illegal alien or non-paying patient, you can go to the emergency room and get the tests right away. Folks, just the fact that I'm comparing them to the VA should be enough for you to drop these people in a heartbeat.

To this day she feels that she owes her life to not only God but to her client for encouraging her to go get a mammogram. In June 2016 I talked to my doctor and got approved for a mammogram. I never knew you had to have a referral from your doctor if you are not 40. I was bothered by that because, my sister was not 40 and she got it. It seemed a little ridiculous but I got a referral from my doctor and I was under the impression that I was ok to go every year now. On Friday the 26th I had lunch with my best friend, seen her was so amazing she didn't want anyone to see her. She has been going through a lot and cancer is doing the best it can to kick her butt. We talked a lot about what she was going through and about how she skipped a mammogram for one year and went she went in two years from her previous mammogram she was diagnosed with stage two cancer.

I went from not personally knowing anyone with breast cancer to the two closest people to me having it. On Sunday the 27th I am taking a shower and you better believe I am really checking, especially since my friend tells me she never felt anything because her lump was deep. I felt a small lump on my right side and thought to myself "It probably nothing". Being that I was a few days away from a year since I had a mammogram I called Kaiser to see if they can reach out to my doctor for an approval for a mammogram. I received a voicemail and an email with an appointment date and time for that same Wednesday the 31st. I arrived at Kaiser South Sacramento checked in filled the paper out. I waited to me called thinking I know it's nothing, but the other voice in my head "you never know."

When the tech called me and walked me in to the room I was nervous and scare not about the discomfort or the fact that my ** are tiny and almost impossible to get in between the two plastics that will squeeze the you know what out of them, but of what will happen if I do have cancer? I am not brave, I have never been seriously sick and who will take care of my daughter? It's hard to explain how your mind goes crazy and you are just in a fog, unless you have been there. The tech confirmed all the information I had filled out, she gave me a gone and a wipe to clean my armpits since I had deodorant. She said she would be back in a few to do my mammogram.

When she got back she informed me that she would not be conducting a mammogram because my doctor had not felt anything in my last doctor’s appointment a few weeks back. That I would have to go to the women's clinic and have an exam that if they felt I need a mammogram that I could come back for it. I was so confused why are you asking me to do that? Didn't my doctor give me a referral? All she said was that it was protocol nothing she can do. I couldn't believe what she was saying. I was undressed for the waist up and sitting in a cold dark room. I usually don't cry easily but I felt it coming. She didn't care that I was going to break down.

I asked her for the paper I filled out when I checked in and for the receipt that prints out at checking. She rolled her eyes and said that is for me to keep. I was in a fog I couldn't believe what was happening I wanted to run and leave but I am not dressed. She just kept going on and on about protocol, I didn't care about protocol. I want to leave I probably yelled I don't remember. On my drive home I had to pull over I was so upset I didn't know what to do. I called my sister and my friend and vented and cried. This might not seem like anything big to some people but it was a big deal to me. I can pay to go to another facility and get a mammogram, I don't have a lot of extra money but could figured it out. What really bothers me is how many women have slipped through the cracks? How many women are made to believe that the doctor knows your body more than you?

I have had Kaiser since I was 16 years old. I gave birth to my daughter at Kaiser. I already put up with 10 to 15 minute doctor visits, but will not put up with this. I know this happens in other hospitals and not just at Kaiser. I know that me being upset is not going to change anything but I want to share what happened to me and encourage others to speak up.

I have filed a complaint with member services, I had not heard back from them as of today. I called to follow up and requested a letter explaining why they refused to conduct a mammogram even though it runs in my family. I also request to be refunded for a weight management program I joined since I really don't want to step into a Kaiser facility unless I have too. The lady at member services that I had the pleasure of speaking with today destroyed any hope I had of rekindling my relationship with Kaiser. She made me feel worst. Open enrollment can't come soon enough. Thank you Kaiser for making me feel like I don't matter.

Short Hand Version. - Limited facilities per town (ex in Colorado 1 in Denver, 1 in Boulder, etc). - Limited hours despite having limited facilities. - No phone number to call your doctors office directly, every time you have to call the corporate number and press numbers and talk to operators before you can talk to your office. - Charged for things I was unaware of (not crazy prices, but please tell me if my insurance isn't covering something). - DISLIKED my physician, seemingly not caring, attentive, patient and yet because of limited times available somehow I'm stuck with her again. - General feelings of somewhat helpless and frustrated because of my limited options so I wait 3-4 weeks at a time in between Testing/appointments because of limited availability.

- My boyfriend's a nurse and has seen patients not transferred to Kaiser facilities so their insurance will cover it. And these people were not necessarily stable either, speaks to our still ** healthcare, and the VERY Flawed kaiser company. I would seriously pay more per month to never ever have to experience this again.

When my son was being born my wife had to go to the hospital on several occasions. Three in a month, and none of it was covered. Instead of being run through both insurances (her Cigna, and my Kaiser) it ended up that Kaiser completely washed their hands of the situation. Every time I call they say that the claim is processing, this was in June 2016 and it's processing until now, June 2017. The hospital bills came directly to me. Only Cigna paid their portion, on each bill that arrives you see Kaiser's portion, and then Kaiser saying they won't pay. Not only did they not pay, but each time we had to call to get approval to be seen, then we had to drive about 45 minutes away to the hospital they had a contract with, and even after all of that, it didn't help.

I left my job about a week ago, and when I did ALL OF THE CLAIMS came back denied, saying I was no longer a Kaiser-covered individual. This is ridiculous and I'm still dealing with it. If you're young and have no problems, Kaiser might be the way to go. If you have a family, or you want peace of mind, definitely don't pick Kaiser.

Once this is whole matter was finally handled, my son-in-law tried to get a hold of Kathy **, the manager of the nurses and when Kathy finally called him back, she did not even really care about the situation, but said to my son-in-law, and this is a quote from him, “Your daughter has her medication now, right?” Like that helped? It was not a good call and my son-in-law felt like nothing would be done or ever change. My son-in-law then also left two messages for Gail **, Kathy’s boss and the administrator of Kaiser, but he never got the call back to this day.

My son-in-law also spoke with a person named Armando at the pharmacy (in Bostonia) and he said he would help (seemed nice), but no one in our family even got a callback. My son-in-law also asked Armando to send a message to Gail ** stating he still wanted to still speak with her... but again, she never called back. For my granddaughter and our whole family, this was an awful experience. I let them know they should switch hospitals as soon as possible. Again, a terrible experience. My granddaughter is still trying to fully recover; this is the least I could do is to report what occurred so others can be aware of how they handle things.

These are the modus operandi of many doctors at Kaiser Permanente, not just the OB GYN's. I could also go on and on about the primary care physician I was assigned to, but I've wasted enough time struggling to get decent care. It's the last straw for me!

It took several calls and much gut wrenching stress before they would even ok the SNF. Every communication with them is an uncertain outcome. They are not for their customers, sometimes actually against them. I never had any stress with Group Health. These people are liars and feel no remorse for lying to you. I was assigned to Manor Care in Spokane. I contracted an infection in the wound while at the SNF due to neglect. This was my third hip replacement and I was taking short walks down the hall to build up my strength and endurance. They told me if I could walk without an aid then I was ok to go home!!!

My wound began to drain in massive amounts, soaking my mattress. The home refused to change the bandage or my bedding regularly and I was forced to lay in the stinking discharge throughout the night and into the day. They always claimed they did not have anyone to change the sheets or bandage, or they ran out of bedding, etc. They forced all of my therapy into one day the day before I was discharged. I had been there two and a half weeks and only had 20 min therapy in the morning. No one would come to walk with me (their rules) so I was so weak. Then the last day before discharge they made me walk the halls and the stairs for 1 1/2 hrs in the morning and the exercises in the afternoon. I have never been so sore and unable to move! The therapist were wonderful, it was the director that forced these weird rules.

All of this to say each time I called Kaiser they said they had nothing to do with my discharge, it was the SNF. The SNF insisted it was Kaiser refusing to pay. Even with the wound in an area I was unable to reach they insisted I could do it at home myself!!! They gave my surgeon the runaround, "Have him submit the paperwork", etc. Then they would say, "No your primary care is who has to fill out the paperwork." Meanwhile, they refused to pay so I had to go home. Now I am scheduled for surgery to open the wound, clean it and staple it up again. Kaiser actually has stood in the way of my rehabbing from the surgery to lead a productive life.

I am writing a letter to the Congress and the Insurance Commissioner. Kaiser Permanente are the very worst people to do business with. This is our health and well being and they are playing God!!! How scary is that?! I plan to be a crusade against the likes of Kaiser Permanente, in the legislature, in the public voicing of my story and what we all have to look forward to as we become weaker and more vulnerable and have to place the outcome of our health in their hands.

Most recently in the last 7 months I have developed a varicocele vein in my private area. It's a large vein that goes to your testicles and the penis. The vein becomes damaged and it leaks blood into that area. The leaked blood then pools and collects in that area and becomes toxic. That toxic blood can become infected and maybe cause problems in other areas of your body. Now I have terrible burning, stinging and pain in that area and I can hardly sleep due to this.

So I went to the ER about it last December 2016. That's when they referred me to Urology dept at Panorama City. I saw first this Dr ** where I was treated rudely and he and I argued for a while then apologized then he only said take 500mg ** (which gave me a liver problem, made me feel sick) and take warm sitz baths which did not help at all.

Time goes on now and this thing is really bothering me. So I go back weeks later and see another urologist named Dr **. And right from the start he had an attitude for me, very unfriendly. He starts off by saying, "And what are we here for today?" Then he says in a sarcastic manner, "Oh yeah, you are here for a second opinion." He talks to me a while then he leave the room for like almost 10 minutes and I just sit there.

He finally comes back and seems to be even unfriendlier than before. He then was talking to me in an unfriendly, condescending manner. I think he went to talk to Dr ** about me and also to pull up my file on the computer. He then started saying to me, "Oh I see you been to the ER a lot in the past year and a half and most of those visits were pain related." Why is this guy pulling up my file, that has nothing to do with this varicocele vein that they found when they did the sonogram on that area.

He then started to talk to me like a lecture and say, "Well I would not get any surgeries. Most surgeries fail and make things worse than before." He also said "And I don't advise you get any surgery on that hernia you have either." He then proceeds to tell me in a rude manner, he says, "Oh and another reason I won't authorize any surgery on this because if it goes bad you will sue us for malpractice and we can't have that!" What kind of rude, disrespectful doctors does Kaiser employ that they are allowed to talk to sick patients in an abusive manner such as this?!?

They tried to get me to go out to Woodland Hills now to go see that Urology Dept about this. To be honest I don't want to go to Kaiser Urology anymore. They are all rude in that dept. So I found out the UCLA Medical Center has dept that specializes in vein surgeries and they have a good record of success so I want to have it done there but after many dealings with Kaiser Member Services they flat out refuse to refer me to have this done. It is all about money with Kaiser. If I go out of network poor Kaiser will lose some of its all precious money. To heck with my health, that seems to not matter at all to them!

Meanwhile the clock is ticking on this varicocele vein problem I have. The pain and suffering I am going through with this is tremendous. I am almost certain there is infection now in there. Infection left inside a person's body can end up killing them. I don't want to die just because Kaiser will not refer me to UCLA for this surgery that is needed. Do the right thing Kaiser before it is too late and give me the referral that I am asking for.

Poor work ethics of the doctors who work at this facility. They never care for their patients. I wonder if they make more by rescheduling you for ridiculous unnecessary things and making you visit them often. They like to try all the different types of medications in their pharmacy. They might get commission there as well. In the last three years with them, I already tried 4 different doctors, none seem to care for me at all. Often times, it does not worth going to them. You spend so much time scheduling an appointment and waiting for them to see you in the empty room etc. but they would come in and out in a minute or less. You feel like you are at the super check out in a fast food restaurant or a store.

Once, at my annual physical (I am not sure if it means anything for the doctors there), doctor came in and out in less than 3 minutes. I had a few questions to ask from him but he never came back. I went to his office to see if I could ask my questions. He was staring at his computer and playing some card game. I said, "Can I ask a question?" He stared at me and said, "Why didn't you ask while I was in the office? Make another appointment with the nurse". I said, "I didn't know you'd spend less than 3 minutes for an annual physical check up. I thought you forgot something and coming back in." I already frustrated by the service I got and the attitude of that doctor, so I decided to leave instead. At that point he wouldn't answer my health questions with care anyway.

They never value your time. Do they understand what does appointment mean!!! Answer is No! You might call or sign up online and make an appointment, then you show up 15 minutes before your scheduled time. After check in and pay, you most likely wait about 30-90 minutes. Then, you get called by a nurse and she puts you in a room and check your temperature and blood pressure etc. Then, she tells you the doctor is on his way. You wonder if the doctor is coming from another state or from another planet. Seriously? Yes, seriously! I bet you wait minimum 30 minutes there as well (if you are lucky). This could be easily be an hour long wait.

Then, that supermarket check out machine (your doctor) comes in and out in less than 5 minutes even you have big issues. You probably been in the place 2-3 hours total to see that robot doc for 3 minutes. I want to say to all of the doctors there and their bosses, CEOs or whomever. When you make appointment just SHOW UP ON TIME! If your doctors' time is valuable, so does the patients', especially when they are in pain and need help. Patients need doctor's help. Does not mean the doctors can abuse their patients' time and rights. Remember doctors, you do get compensated for your services just like any other professionals do (actually you are compensated much better than other professionals).

Slow and unresponsive. I recently had a request for my doctor to fill out a simple form from my work. It took about a day to respond for his office but he said the Information Release Department will be faxing it. I waited but that didn't happen for a week. I called many times, no one answered instead it said agents are busy helping other patients, really?! **. Finally, I emailed them and shared my frustration. They responded to my email and sent me my form after 3 days. Hello!!! How long does take to fax a piece of paper? Do anyone work here?

Getting referred to an outside specialist is a nightmare. I was frustrated after going back to my doctor a few times for the same issue. I was tired of being his experiment project or money machine. Every time I go he would say, "Let's try this medicine or that medicine". Whatever, I am not your high school project Sir. I finally told him to refer me to a specialist. Well, he did and took about a week to get me referred to some specialist. Gosh! After another week.

I got a phone call from the Specialist Office for a consultation after one month. What? Yes, one month. I have been dealing with my pain and trying to see the specialist doctor but it has been taking me too long. I have already been trying to get a referral for about two weeks. Now, wait another month for the consultation. And if I need any treatment will they ask me to come back in the next life. Seriously?! It is because another Kaiser Permanente affiliate? Yes, because they would find the cheapest and worst places as your referral.

Gosh, I can not stop complaining about KP. I hope some government body will do something about them or some other business get them out of business. I hate to think about them. I wish I had money to build a hospital and provide 5-star service to every patient. I think health care organizations should seriously study their business - they provide services!!! And get compensated very well as well!!! But has the worst customer service.

His name is Dr. Kevin **. He was rude and nasty and made me feel like a child and would not listen to me. He just kept shaking his head and say no. Would talk over me and angry telling me that if I went with him I would have to sign a contract that I would not take more than 1/2 to 1 pill a day and if I did they would take them away from me and would not see me anymore like he is god and would not listen to me. I also have a bulging disk in my neck that hurts and a bad back but I guess since its not them in pain why should they care. I thought part of being a doctor was caring and sympathy but as for these doctors could not care less. If you are thinking about getting this insurance I would suggest you don't unless you like to be treated like you are a bother. Whatever you do avoid these doctors and this insurance. DON'T DO IT. YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!

In the meantime Connect for health sent me notice of a payment adjustment from 300.00 per month down to 132.65. Kaiser also sent me notice that they had rec'd the adjustment. It has taken Kaiser 4 months to add my son to my account. I have OVERPAID on my premiums and I just recently called because I got a bill for 530.00 (because they have not credited my account for 132.65 a month) when I called I was told that I owed over 1000.00. I referred them to their own statement that said my premium is 132.65 a month and that so far for 4 months I have paid in 377.00 in January and 233.00 in Feb and another 132.65 in April. I did the math for them and showed that I had overpaid by roughly 215.00.

They agreed and said I would not owe again until June. However when I called to see if my son had finally been added to my policy (he had) I was told my bill for my premium was sitting at 1000.00 plus. I have been dealing with this every day off I have had since the end of February and it is now the end of April. The time I have been forced to invest in this is asinine. They people in the billing dept will tell you anything to get off of the phone with you and then tell you to call back next week to make sure the changes have happened and the changes are NEVER made.

I will probably lose my coverage again because they have not credited my payments to my account. I just got a confirmation today from Kaiser that my payments from Jan. should be 132.65 a month again. I called. I was told that my premium owed was over 1000.00 I explained the overpayment yet again, then I was told I owed for last year. (I do not and have the confirmation numbers and bank statements to prove it) so they backed down on the "You owe from last year". Again they told me my bill for my premiums were 1060.00. Again I explained that according to their own letter my premiums are 132.65 and that I have actually have overpaid. And again I was told to call next week to see if the changes had been made. Again I gave them the ID number from the last time (last week) that I was told that the changes would be made by this week.

The gal looked up the conversation ID # and still told me to call back. It is impossible to talk to anyone who can actually DO anything. Their people are not empowered to help the consumer. I have repeatedly filed complaints with BOTH Kaiser and Connect for Health and have barely moved forward in almost 60 days time.

I feel that if someone has a baby they should be given at least 1 week of pain medicine and aid. In addition, my job approved me for 8 weeks of paid disability but I was told by Kaiser that they would only approve me for 6 weeks because that's all they will sign off on to my job. Needless to say when enrollment time comes I will leave. I will not pay $300 plus a month to be told that they can't do anything in my time of need. It is hard enough going through childbirth without the extra complications.

When I switched to another health insurance company, I found the physicians that were in that company's network to be more capable (and actively willing) in resolving my medical issues. My premiums and costs under my new insurance are, however, significantly higher.

In December 2016, I went to the doctor complaining of knee pain and instability. An x-ray was ordered but I was advised to lose weight because the x-ray revealed that I had arthritis. Less than a month after the x-ray, I was getting out of my car and my knee buckled - the same knee that had been unstable and in pain the month before. I had an MRI in January and I have a tear in my ACL. I think this injury existed in December when I first sought treatment. It's April and I've been referred for physical therapy but therapy won't repair the torn ligament, so I'm not sure what the point is. I won't have another MRI until May before surgery is considered. In the meantime, I'm in pain and miserable.

So I change drs. This one sends me to physical therapy and says I need a psyc. Well physical therapy said "I don't know why she sent you here because you can't even move." So I ask for a referral. Meanwhile years go by and I'm emailing everyday. The referral for second opinion was denied because Kaiser don't do that. Well member services gave me a ok this once. Well to say my condition is so bad now I barely move I refuse to pick up cholesterol meds, blood pressure meds and I suffer daily because I got my records and went to see another dr but the first thing you see in big letters is DO NOT REFILL **... PLEASE HELP ME.

If you can't as an organization get my online account set up in FOUR YEARS, please, tell me how I can have any confidence that you hire competent doctors and surgeons??? I STRONGLY recommend you don't sign up for Kaiser to meet your health needs. It is as close to medicine by bureaucracy as it gets today in the USA.

I joined on January 1st. I was told after I received the threatening letter that ALL premiums increase in the beginning of the year. How can my premium increase already if I had just joined? What kind of BS is this? I said I wasn't made aware of the changes and it didn't make sense to increase a premium that just started with the company and no one was able to help me. I had a Doctor's appoint, which I should be entitled to because I have already paid almost $1000 towards this BS system, just to find out the morning of my appointment that Kaiser had terminated my plan.

Not only is the customer service not helpful, Kaiser's communication with their clients is AWFUL. Also, the person in charge of the mail outs should be fired. No one needs three copies of your ID card or two of your Welcome packets. If anything, send the correct information (I.E. Like if you're gonna increase my premium, I'd like a letter!). This whole health insurance BS is already terrible but my experience with Kaiser was so terrible it is not even deserving of 1 star.

Appointments are so scattered that you are not getting the help you really need. Therapy appointments should not be bi-monthly. Then today the nurse I spoke to was very judgemental and had a stuck up tone. I did not call for judgment, I called for an appointment. Just make my appointment so that I can go on about my day. It is bothersome that the doctors and nurses play down a patient's health concerns. So yes, I agree with many of the other complaints here, Kaiser has terrible customer service. I look forward to going back to my PPO insurance where I was able to choose a doctor anywhere I wanted, one that could offer me personalized care and not make me feel like cattle. In the meantime I have requested a new PCP and OB-GYN so we'll see how this goes until open season returns. Oh... the only good thing I like is that everything is in one place (i.e. the pharmacy, the lab and doctors) but that's about all the positivity I have for Kaiser.

On the Kaiser website, estimated cost for all locations that listed basic-mid level leg MRI's was between $250-$1900. What a surprise that there were no listed costs in the East Bay for MRI's through Kaiser. We have called numerous times and no one can provide us with any explanation whatsoever as to why the cost for one straightforward test came to over $5500. We are disgusted with both the outrageous fees this supposed "non-profit" charges as well as the lack of any reasonable explanation for the cost. Unfortunately, since the services and insurance are all bundled at Kaiser individuals have no negotiating power. We would have paid cash if it was possible b/c cash prices for healthcare are typically 75+% less than when run through insurance. But again, not an option with Kaiser. Can't wait to go back to a more reasonable insurance carrier. This is why people are going bankrupt.

They created phone appointments to fill the gap when a patient is in crisis which is good, but no patient should have to tell a psychiatrist or psychotherapist that a patient suffering from mental illness isn't the best judge of whether they're in crisis or not and the need for regular appointments is detrimental to our lives. I am bi-polar and live within 10 miles of three Kaiser offices but have to drive 20+ miles away in order to see a therapist more than once every 60 days.

So in late December I receive a bill for my husband's old policy for January 2017. I call Kaiser, go through their whole "system", spending at least 45 minutes on the phone. I am assured that his policy will be cancelled - not to worry about it. Something else came in the mail that led me to not feel to trusting about the policy really being cancelled, so I called them again, spent another 30 to 45 minutes on the phone and was again told it would be cancelled and that I didn't need to worry.

January 3, 2017, my credit card was billed for not only the new policy that we are all on as a family, but it was also billed $872.01 for my husband's old policy. Now I don't know about you, but to me that is a lot of money and it seems like their system should be able to see that he is being billed for two policies, but no. I called and talked to JoAnna **. I was livid and demanded that they refund that amount to my credit card. I was on the phone with her for 48 minutes and the issue wasn't resolved. She asked me if she could call me back. It took several hours before she called me back and she said they would refund my credit card as I had requested. She said it would take a week.

On January 17th, I called, because I had not seen the credit on my credit card. I was told it takes 5 business days and I should see the refund by January 24th. On January 26th, I had not seen the credit on my credit card yet, so I called and spoke with Candice. She told me that it takes two weeks, so I should see the credit by February 2nd. On February 6th I had not see the credit yet, so I called and spoke to Lolita, who couldn't help me and transferred me to Karen. Karen put me on hold a long time. Came back on and then put me back on hold a long time again. Came back and put me on hold a third time. She told me she saw the request for a refund was put in and would be going back to the credit card. She saw that it was requested on 1/17/17 and she said it shows it is being processed.

At this point I was really frustrated. The dates kept getting pushed out of when I should see it by and I never saw it when I was told I was. I was on this particular call for 1 hour and 6 minutes. On 2/15/17, I still had not seen the credit on my credit card, so I called the credit card company and disputed the charge. On March 1, 2107, I received the email bill I get each month to let me know that Kaiser was taking their money from my credit card and the amount was not what it should be - it was a lot lower. In fact it was lower by the amount they were supposed to credit my credit card for. So I called them.

Would you believe this? They credited my account, not my credit card, on 1/23/17. I called several times after that date and NO ONE told me that. It is not how I wanted it done. I wanted it credited to my credit card. But I called several times after 1/23/17 and no one could see that was done? The person who told me this told me that their system is really messed up. It is pretty bad when the employees tell you the system is messed up. He actually told me that the least messy way to fix all of this was for me to leave the credit on my account and call my credit card company and cancel the dispute. If I continued with the dispute, there would be no telling in what ways my Kaiser account might be screwed up.

I am amazed that a company as big as Kaiser can operate like this. You know, if we didn't pay our premium, we would get cancelled. We have to pay it on a certain date. Yet, they can keep money they owe to us as long as they want and they don't have to accurately account for it. Kaiser billing system is an absolute disaster! I am amazed. If I had a choice, I wouldn't be with Kaiser.

On Friday I went to Florida, my other home in pain. I made an appointment and was seen immediately by my ob-gyn that I went to prior to Kaiser on my dime. He said the ultrasound was useless, it did not show the location of the fibroids, interior, exterior or in the wall. Bleeding would only be caused if they were on the interior typically. He then did a urine. It came back positive for bacteria and blood. He put me on ** and ** for the pain. I was scheduled this Thursday for a uterine biopsy.

The Gynecologist in Georgia said if there were fibroids she'd remove them. I should have had a hysteroscope which could have detected cancer and the location of the fibroids. I received a bill from Kaiser for over $300 for the worthless ultrasound. The blood work came back. I am anemic and my white count is high. I am still bleeding and still in limbo and do not feel comfortable with this gynecologist. I emailed Kaiser and asked to be seen asap by another gynecologist. The auto response was that they'd get back to me within 14 days.

Last year, my insurance changed to a high deductible plan where I ended up paying 100% of my medical costs, she listened and understood when I wanted to hold off on some tests and treatment due to the high out of pocket cost. Over the years, I have emailed her and received an out of office that she was on vacation and would not be able to respond for a couple weeks, and then received a response later that day from her while she was on vacation! I have always felt like I am in control, but she is there to advise, counsel, and make recommendations. She actually listens to her patients!

In 2000, I had a new job that did not offer Kaiser, so I ended up on a PPO plan. I had an accident and hurt my shoulder, I thought it was broken. My doctor thought I had frozen shoulder and referred me to physical therapy. The physical therapist did not agree and was finally able to talk my doctor into referring me to a specialist for an MRI.

I went to the specialist and because I could not reach behind my back, he said it was Frozen Shoulder and would not give me the MRI. It wasn't frozen shoulder, it was torn ligaments like my physical therapist thought, and now I will have a messed up shoulder for the rest of my life because they were too cheap to give me the MRI. I could have had a simple surgery that would have made my torn ligaments heal correctly, but instead I will have pain in my shoulder for the rest of my life. This never would have happened at Kaiser.

When searching for a new job, my number one criteria is that they offer Kaiser. The last company I worked for with the amazing plan that paid for everything took our Kaiser away. I found a new job that offered Kaiser within a year so I could have my wonderful doctor of 15 years again. My only complaint is that on the high deductible plan, their billing is untimely, confusing, and often inaccurate. It's not much fun having to call member services. They are nice, however the wait times are ridiculous (up to an hour) and depending on who you are speaking with, you may end up getting inaccurate and/or conflicting information.

I feel it's still worth it because their doctors are amazing and they truly have my best interests at heart. It is so easy and convenient having a one stop shop for all of my medical needs. Once I have seen a specialist, they are added to my list and I can contact them on my own. I only need my PCP for the initial km referral. My advice to anyone not happy with Kaiser is to find a new primary care physician, keep trying until you find one that is a good fit for you. Once you do this, I believe you will be happy, and like me, will never want to leave Kaiser.

The Kaiser staff was rude to say the least--so many examples. The first ER doctor we saw—close to 8 p.m.—said that there it was possible vagal nerve fainting. Mike never fainted—the doctor wasn’t listening—he couldn’t control his arms and legs and he couldn’t speak when 911 was called. Doctors for the next several days told him that a 30+ bpm heart rate was just fine and referred numerous times to the high altitude vagal nerve fainting as a cause.

After a two-day nightmare, Mike was released. He was asked to walk to the medical building from the hospital to get a heart monitor. We walked there, got the monitor, and on the way to the car, Mike almost fell. I had him sit in a wheelchair that was nearby, and I went to get the car. Today, his blood pressure and heart rate seem normal, but we don’t know whether or not to anticipate another episode like the one he just experienced.

I strongly feel that Kaiser did absolutely nothing except add stress to an already scary and stressful situation. The doctors were absolutely uncaring and judgmental. I do not have one nice comment to make about the experience. It was a nightmare. There was no outcome. His symptoms and discomfort were dismissed. It was a waste of time to go to Kaiser. I plan to change health care providers as soon as possible.

Cut to January 2017 and I am still being billed with the bill being compiled to include January. I called Kaiser and gave them the reference number with the billing department telling me that it was never canceled and that it will now be canceled along with the charges for December and January. It is now February and I just received a payment notice for the months of December, January, and February. Why?! I can't tell if it is basic incompetence or negligence on the part of Kaiser. Either way, they need to fix their billing department.

Over the next year and a half, I had multiple episodes of "kidney stone pain" diagnosed by x-ray and saw the urologist. I have been through childbirth, and this pain was much worse with severe spasms. I finally demanded to see a nephrologist. Looking at my previous x-rays, the nephrologist reported I never had a stone, that the x-rays clearly showed a congenital defect on my right ureter that had now caused right kidney nephrosis. I was scheduled for stent insertion to decompress the kidney.

On the day of stent insertion, after waiting six hours on a gurney for the procedure to start, I was told the doctor had a family emergency, had left the hospital, and the next soonest date the procedure could be done was 6 weeks away. I could not take the pain for another six weeks and arranged to see a nephrologist at Kaiser Santa Teresa.

Over the next two years, my right kidney function continued to decline, despite multiple stents, and when it reached only 15%, I agreed to an elective right kidney removal to eliminate the pain. I also had a child cousin who died at Kaiser Santa Clara after being given an adult dose of medication, so I got rid of Kaiser.

Now, at age 63, I broke my leg on 12/4/16 and was placed on disability until 3/4/16. My employer sponsored insurance expired on 12/31/16. I had to get insurance through Covered California, and could only afford Kaiser. My insurance was to start 01/01/17 and I had appt to see new PCP in first week of January. I could not get an appt to see the orthopedist, without first seeing the PCP. On 12/19/16, I received bill from Kaiser for January, with payment due by the 26th. I sent in the check. The day before my appointment, when I called to confirm because I had not been called, I was told the coverage had been terminated on 12/21/16, for non-payment, with no reason given. I had to re-apply through Covered California for coverage to start 02/01/17.

In the middle of February, I received a letter from Kaiser that my check was denied because the handwritten line gave the cents as 93, and the other line looked like 98. I have had several people look at the returned check, and they all say they both look like 98 (the correct amount). I have never had payment denied for a supposed five cent discrepancy. Also, if Kaiser denied the check on 12/21/16, and payment was due 12/26/16, they could have called me and I could have immediately made a payment over the phone. Why did it take six weeks before I found out why the check was denied?

When I called to schedule my PCP appt at Kaiser Modesto, I specifically explained I was establishing as new patient yearly preventive exam, which is supposed to be no co-pay. The new PCP was very kind and called me before the appt to discuss my need for immediate referral to the orthopedist. At my appt, my history was obtained, the doctor arranged for the referral and ordered labs and x-rays. My heart and lungs were not listened to and I was told the appointment had not been scheduled as my yearly preventive exam, but as appointment for referral, and I was charged a co-pay. I now have to make another appointment for the yearly physical.

When I saw the podiatrist (Kaiser uses podiatrist for lower leg fractures, not orthopedist), I explained I was currently on disability, with return to work date of 03/04/17. He verbally approved for my return to work on that date. On a Monday, when I brought in my return to work approval form to the forms department to be filled out, I was told there was no notation in my chart that I am on disability and they refused the form. I went to the podiatry department, was told the doctor was at lunch, that when he returned a note would be placed in my chart that I am on disability, that I would then be called later that afternoon to return with the forms. I received no call. The next day, I was told that the doctor would place the note in my chart on Thursday, that I would be called when it was done, and that I could turn in my forms on Friday (today).

After again receiving no call, I called and was told the doctor would not agree to fill out the forms, which are due on 2/20/17, and that the forms must be filled out by the doctor who filled out the original disability forms in December. I now have to cash pay (I no longer have insurance with that doctor) full price for an office visit to see that doctor, with them not being able to tell me how much an office visit is. It could be as much as $900.00. I applied for an extension for the paperwork with my employer, and have now been told that if the forms are not received by 2/28/17, I am fired. The Kaiser podiatrist said he is willing to fill out the paperwork, after I have another appointment with him, with soonest available appointment on 03/07/17. I have explained multiple times that if I do not return to work on 03/04/17, I am fired, and that work will not let me return without the return to work papers turned in by 02/28/17.

I will cancel any future appointments with this podiatrist, who lied to me when I spoke to him in person at the visit. I understand there is no legal requirement for doctors to fill out papers for your work, so there is nothing I can do, but when I can change insurance next January, I will again get rid of Kaiser and absolutely will never use it again! I will somehow come up with the money for the higher priced insurance.

Last year when I was scheduled for gall bladder removal, no one foresaw that I because I have a pacemaker, I needed to have surgery in the hospital, not at the clinic, so they sent me home the morning of surgery. Second time, no one had scheduled a pacemaker tech to be with me, as required, but they went forward with the surgery after the tech said they would check in on me after surgery.

In addition to that, I have had ongoing problems over the past year with getting prescriptions forwarded when we are traveling in the winter months. I find out today that the Mail Order Pharmacy puts very little postage (lightweight parcel select which is less than Junk Mail) on the packages and they cannot be forwarded. The computerized records and online capability (second star) is excellent and I will miss that, but on Jan. 1, we dropped Kaiser and went with United Healthcare.

It would be comical if it wasn't my health you are putting at risk. It's like dealing with a company who doesn't know how computers work!!! It absolutely hurts my head. You would not believe how many phone calls I have made and still no appointment. Just a short while ago, I was told that the service person would stay on the phone with me until Radiology picked up the phone. The call was dropped and she never called back. This was after she ask my number in case we were disconnected. What has happened to Kaiser??? A TRULY DISAPPOINTED CUSTOMER IN PAIN!!!

Then I seen 3 family doctors to check my thyroid because I got so fatigued and 1st one ignored me, said lay off the salt. On previous checkups I was being told I had extra white blood cells but they didn't know why. I asked for further testing on that. They said "No. Only if you feel sick and pain." Anyways so here we are a year later and I'm fatigued with weight gain and constipation, swollen legs and ankles... Doctors not checking my thyroid saying stop eating junk and salt. So the 3rd doctor finally listens to my demands and fully checked my thyroid with the 2 antibodies and sure enough I have hypothyroidism/ hashimoto's! No wonder I was fatigued and bleeding so bad. At this point I was on iud and a pill a day turning into a real witch at home... and severe brain fog. My Christian sisters told me that cream will help you balance your hormones.

So I got the iud removed, started the cream a couple days prior to removal and a week later all my bleeding went away on its own. No more toxic birth control. 4 days ago I told my doctor from Kaiser, that all my bleeding was all gone from the natural cream the best on the shelf... $33.00 took it all away. She said I should not try to fix things by myself and should of stuck with what the ob-gyn said, the birth control! Wth??? Holistic care seems to be so much better than these band-aid fixes these doctors are giving us that can make us more sick. Just do your research. I had to take matters into my own hands or I'd of had a hysterectomy by now. Why don't they really help us??

My doctor then recommended a physical therapist. The therapist told me that she felt that it was my back and not my hip. By this time, I could no longer place any weight on my leg. I walked with a limp and my hip joint clicked and made grinding noises when I tried to dress. The therapist recommended that I tried a stationary bike. I told her that the pain of getting my foot into the pedal was too much. I went back to my GP who sent me back to the orthopedic doctor. He told me that he agreed with the therapist that it was my back and I was sent to a back specialist and an MRI was performed. (I did look at the orthopedic "specialist" sideways when he said that he agreed with the therapist. He's the doctor for goodness sakes.)

I went to the back specialist and on two separate occasions, I was given shots into my back area and told that 80 percent of people who have what I have are not in pain. The last time I saw the back specialist he explained that he was only giving me the shot so that the orthopedic doctor would not send me back to him. January 2016 came around and I had just turned 61 and by now I could barely walk from my car into a grocery store. (I used to hike 10 miles at a time and went to the gym 3 times a week..) I had been laid off from my job but couldn't work and so I asked for temp disability and my doctor allowed this while reiterating that 80 percent of people with my issue have no pain.

I changed insurance companies. In March, I found an orthopedic surgeon out of Stanford who had an x-ray machine in his office. Inside of 30 minutes, I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia that he said, I had all of my life, severe arthritis and bone spurs and was given a date for surgery a month later. After a total hip replacement, I now feel so much better and I am so glad that I changed my insurance. The problem is, I had spent so many months compensating for that pain, I now have chronic back pain and arthritis in my other hip.

I am trying to figure out how Kaiser missed symptoms of severe arthritis and hip dysplasia. I can't help but think that they want people like myself to go away. Orthopedic surgery is costly and I am sure that there is a message trickling down from the top to keep those costs down. In other areas of Kaiser, I have received very good care but that was a low point and I could never trust their orthopedic department again.

I spent 3 years living in a developing country with no serious medical issues (saw a doctor 1 time the entire time) and was surprised with how poor the healthcare was with this particular organization. I think our healthcare system is headed in the right direction but it's a shame encountering organizations like this one. From a financial point of view I believe it will be much more advantageous to pay a little more for better quality healthcare to avoid some of the fees that you will encounter with routine medical problems with Kaiser.

I sat down with the doctor. He wanted blood tests and to put me on an iv fluids drop because he said I was dehydrated that was causing the elevated pulse as I pulled out two bottles of water and said I had to pee twice while waiting in your waiting room. He wanted to send me for chest X-rays etc. I told him my pulse and BP is high because of the fever. He told me, "No." The nurse wrote down my temperature was 98.7 that I'm not running a fever. I told him, "I checked my temperature before I left my house it was 101, I can feel when I'm running a fever." We argued about if I had a fever or not, rather than him re-checking my temp, or checking my BP the nurse took with my sleeve rolled down 4 times. I told him I don't want to be admitted overnight, I just want something to help me get some sleep. He said he can't give me anything, and he told me to go out to see the nurse she will give me my discharge paperwork.

I went out this time to a different nice nurse. I requested if she could check my temp, BP and pulse again. She said, "Gladly," and looked at my charts while checking my BP with my sleeve rolled up. My BP was 128/71 pulse of 100... I agree my pulse was high but my BP was great, my temp the second time was 101.3. She spotted Zyrtec on my chart, and asked me if I'm taking the Zyrtec D. I said, "Yes." She asked me when I last took it. I said, "A couple hours ago." She said, "Well a fever with Zyrtec D is going to elevate your numbers." It took one nice nurse to help this disastrous derailment of a doctor's visit. What a concept looking at a patient's records. Anyways, she went in to talk to the doctor and the doctor recommended Motrin and crap I could buy at Walgreens. Nothing to improve my sleep.

This is how it has been for the last 4 years. You have to fight them to get any care and they treat you for this once a year visit like you are a drug addict or trying to shake them down for prescriptions. The only pill I take is Zyrtec and when my allergies are bad I take a Zyrtec D to unplug my nose. So if you check my charts you'll see I don't have any prescriptions. I have one recommendation of Zyrtec. I pay almost $4,000/yr to see a doctor once a year for about 10 minutes to hopefully get a bottle of cough medicine or something to help me sleep when I get a cold and I don't even leave there with the bottle of cough syrup. Where is my money going. Anyways, thank you Obama for ruining the healthcare system. Kaiser is so bad I'm willing to opt for a high deductible PPO plan to just get away from this disaster. Stay clear of Kaiser.

After spending 55.00, Dr. ** promptly told him just to "Keep an eye on it", that it could also be a "cyst", and sent him on his way. A cyst? How does that occur so quickly after a rock climb Dr. **? No follow up appointment was scheduled. This is just another in a developing line of poorly diagnosed afflictions our family endures with Kaiser Permanente. Save your hard-earned money and go with anyone other than these clowns.

My primary doctor told me that everyone who has chronic pain will be taken off their medication due to some CDC guidelines and that not true. My family is doing the research on the Kaiser Permanente and is just their policy not the law. And before I leave this crooked hospital they're are not taking me off nothing. And how dare that dr. Eric ** giving me the ** and I told him I'm going to find out what this medication is use for he told me it for pain. He lie old b. My primary doctor told me different. She said they give that to people who is coming off of ** because they will have the shakes. I got mad and I'm reporting all if pain management doctors who just want to expert on me. Like putting in scs battery in me there are quacks and putting cells in pancreas now ing I will died on table.

Kaiser Permanente is going to sue big time for letting chronic disease patients suffer. Dr. ** tell me he is losing his patients because he stop their pain medication because of unknown cause of pain but yours is known and it is a fact. Please my mri show my pancreas is completely damage and it giving time I will die. They did to me and now they wanted me suffer with this. We will see about it. They are treating people like there are selling and addictive. You do know me.

My primary doctor I had for years she know me and if have to follow what Kaiser policy and stop prescribing my medication so I can somewhat be relief of my serious conditions we will see about that too. Something going on with Kaiser Permanente going broke because other hospital is not doing this. And I'm leaving Kaiser Permanente for I'm fighting for my life and I'm fighter with my type 2 diabetes on ** too. And thank you Kaiser for turning me to be diabetic. I sue you once and I will sue you again. One days doctors you will be sick too and in pain and you going to suffer too.

I am having pain and tenderness near my cervix where the tumor is as I type this review. They're also mismanaging my thyroid disease so I'm paying out of pocket to go to my old doctor. Since having someone else help with my thyroid I am feeling much better in that department - NO THANKS TO KAISER! If you have a choice do not go with this insurance company. You would be better off with some voodoo witch doctor!!! Most of the physicians I have seen over the last few years are pompous jerks and I can't think of one scenario where they've actually helped with something important. AVOID.

The plan is overpriced, and the co-pay is increasing by $10 for 2017. I don't like having to travel long distances in order to be seen by one of their providers or to be seen at an urgent care or emergency room. Their support staff is rude, and not well-informed. There are too many telephone numbers and email addresses that have nothing to do with the area that I live in, and I've often been referred to these telephone numbers. The mail order pharmacy is not able to answer questions about how the local KP Pharmacy orders their medications. It's a JOKE!