Kaiser Permanente Insurance Reviews

Over the last two years I have requested 5 minor things that are covered by Medicare but Kaiser will not cover even though I am on a Medicare Advantage Program. These were minor things such as hyaluronic acid for knee joints. I had these injections about 10 years ago and they worked great for me but Kaiser would not offer it. Their reply is always the same. "Our experience is that (whatever you ask for) does not work well so we are not dealing with it". When open enrollment comes in October, I am out of there.

Seven months later it's still broken and we can't use a lot of the services we are paying for. I've had lots of blame thrown at Covered California for this one. They were confused at the beginning too, but every time I talk to them they have the correct ONE account with the correct information. They've had that fixed since March. This is beyond ridiculous as I continue to fight this battle, wondering if it will ever end. Will I receive an enormous bill soon? Will it be so big that my credit is ruined? Will I have a big tax problem at the end of the year? Anything's possible with the accounting system at Kaiser. We will be changing our care next year, if we survive that long.

I was also expected to drive 70 miles round trip at night to go to their classes after taking pain meds all day. They didn't care just like they don't care now and never have. Pain management did an MRI of my back which showed more degeneration but it was "not that bad". In December 2014 went to empty my garbage and felt like a knife go into my back that felt 10 inches long. Doctor gave me 7 days off work and nothing for pain. A week later have phone conversation with doctor to tell him how bad the pain was and he laughed at me when I told him generic medications do not work on me.

Long story short, I have been dealing with excruciating pain, can hardly walk, can't sit, only able to lay on the couch on heating pad crying in pain. Had appointment with back surgeon. He MRI waist up, nothing he could do. Complained to member services got the rest of back MRI and now I have 6 bulging discs and a fracture tailbone. Still in excruciating unbearable pain, still no pain meds, and now no answer from doctor about what can be done about this. If you get Kaiser insurance dump them! If you are stuck with no other options have the doctors you see take off their shoes and check for webbed feet cuz they are definitely a bunch of quacks who don't care anything at all about you except taking your money every month and doing absolutely nothing for you!

Now I almost wish I didn't get it checked because the lab fees were ridiculous. A shoddy "physical" and lab work I had to ask for do not make for good health care. I am sure this experience with Kaiser is nothing compared to other people's experiences. I feel discouraged from going back to my doctor due to the cost and the lack of skill she exhibited. I can take care of my own health better than Kaiser can. Furthermore, their system is so convoluted with phone trees, and has an online presence that promotes impersonal care. I definitely will be opting out of Kaiser for 2016.

As a nurse they mistreated both my parents. I caught them using nurses who not speak English in the ICU unit who were on triple and double shifts! Tell me what level of care those critical patients received! As soon as I can I am switching out of Kaiser. Mediocre, style over substance.... and they are so not non profit! Hahaha. They are style over substance. I have had better medical care in Tijuana Mexico!

Second **. I stressed how I was in extreme pain. ** said I sprained my shoulder. I disagreed and requested an MRI. ** said he wasn't going to request. There was no need for one and that he sees this all the time and I am siding with ** and put me on modified duty again. SEVEN months later I left Kaiser and went to see a real ** who requested an MRI. MRI came back with torn rotator cuff, slap tear, a water pocket that shouldn't be there with tendonitis, bursitis, bone spur and torn bicep. I went in for emergency surgery two weeks later at Sutter Gould. But because of Kaiser's neglect I had to have another shoulder surgery a year and a half later. Kaiser should be fined and shut down for neglecting their patients. The only thing they are good at is taking your co pay and giving out ibuprofen!

Then their medication formulary. A medication has to be proven for a decade before Kaiser will consider putting it on their formulary. So if you are blessed having any other healthcare than Kaiser and your doctor puts you on a newer medication and it works for you then your company switched to Kaiser. You are forced to go back to what didn't work for you and go through a series of steps (remember it's all about steps) for them only to find out that your previous doctor did know what they were doing but now you are going to pay an inflated price because the medication isn't on their formulary. I could go on and on but hopefully you get the idea.

Later I had to have a marrow biopsy (which was negative, so I am thinking I NEVER really needed it in the first place). The lab costs to culture the cells and determine if I am to live or die? $1500. Yep. It costs the same amount of money to use all that fancy lab gear and staff and cultivate cancer cells as it does to remove three tiny warts in 5 minutes in the dermatologist's office. That is suspicious.

I researched on the computer and I should have had an MRI in the beginning. I suffered with this for so long, and my Dr. sent me to a orthopedic Dr. (I live alone and have no one do take me places so I had to drive). He was about a 22 mile round trip. I see him and he says: "I think it is the hamstring... go to therapy and lose weight"... huh! I wasn't about to do any kind of therapy until I knew exactly what was causing the pain. I saw my Dr. and again asked for an MRI (it is very obvious they do everything to avoid an expensive test like that). Well, finally after suffering for 8 months, I got the MRI. All this time I had TWO torn meniscus and a baker's cyst! If I had had the MRI at the onset and had simple out-patient surgery, I would not have had 9 months of pain. By this time it had rather healed on it's own... I still have pain when trying to sleep.

I have never been treated so poorly in my life. I joined Kaiser two years ago upon the rating in my Consumer Report magazine. Needless to say, I tried to protest the $150.00 charge for the overdue MRI, but of course it was almost immediately denied. It was like closing the barn door after the horses got out. I tried to send a written complaint to Kaiser... what a joke! It was assigned to some person, who never contacted me, ever after nearly six weeks and three phone messages I left for him. Needless to say I am leaving Kaiser as soon as I possibly can.

My advice to any member, who has a problem with their primary doctor and can't breath, go straight to the E.R. Thanks for taking the time if you have read this review! I should add that to all the people who complain about Kaiser just taking their money... I was in an accident in 2007, taken and treated at a non Kaiser hospital. I was there for ten days. Kaiser paid the whole bill and I didn't have to spend a penny!!! Yes they can be generous!

My new doctor sent me to a heart specialist. I called my doctor to let them know my Ulcerative Colitis flared up and she just told me to take more pills. I told her it wasn't working and I was told to take more. Finally I was sent for a colonoscopy and was admitted in the hospital the same day and spent a week in the hospital. I thought I was getting the best care and I praised Kaiser until I left them and found a new doctor. Also I had to fight tooth and nail for them to complete paperwork for me that they half did or made it seem like my illness was going to go away. One illness I've been having for 37 years and I'm always in and out the hospital. One time my Colitis flared up I went to emergency. I couldn't eat or drink. I felt like I was dying and they sent me home. I went back a week later. I was getting worse. I was sent home. Finally the third time I was admitted and I was told I had C-Diff and I was contagious.

No complaints about my Dr he was the best but he doesn't have a support team to back him up. In general, you wait weeks and months to get any appts or procedures with KP. In the last year, they have gone from the best medical carrier to the bottom of the list. In general, they have taken on so many new members, that they can't begin to get good service and it is not fault of DR's. When you do get it all is great. I had eye appt and they were so busy, none of equipment where you put chin and forehead were not sterilized before or after use neither was other eye equipment. Employee not wearing ID, so hard to tell if she worked there. There was ceiling tile where water or liquid had leaked thru and looked like black mold forming. Good company, too many patients.

Two years later, it seems all the doctors are basically clueless as to what his "balance disorder" is caused by, or how to treat it. He is having to go outside Kaiser in order to receive the right kind of diagnosis and treatment he needs. After being subjected to the "royal runaround"... he is fatigued, depressed and cutting back on every single activity in his life. This is NOT "thriving" as Kaiser claims to allow its members to do... it is the "downward spiral" and reflects patients "falling through the cracks" and not receiving the specialized care he/she needs when Kaiser refutes the needs for specialized diagnoses/treatment.

My own experience was very similar; when I needed ENT treatment for asthma, I was told to discontinue the meds an outside specialist had prescribed because Kaiser didn't trust that someone outside their network could prescribe the right stuff, or else such was too expensive for their drug protocol. No appropriate substitute was given.

Also in the 1990's I had external hemorrhoids, which could easily be surgically removed; Kaiser claimed not to know of any such procedure and told me "I would have to adjust to living with them". As soon as I dropped Kaiser, I was able to go to an outside specialist who immediately did the surgical removal process for hemorrhoids; it was easy to tolerate, painless and totally resolved the problem at hand. My observations reflect upon a corporate culture of "cost-saving" ideology vs. "quality of care" commitment; unfortunately, if you are a patient at this Kaiser, you will likely pay more out of pocket when your needs require seeing outside specialists (not covered by Kaiser)... than if you carried your own PPO plan to begin with.

Updated on 10/24/2015: I recently requested the right to a referral for a "Second Opinion" Consultation outside of Kaiser on behalf of my father. The Denial letter I got back in return was a joke! Their "circular argument" was that I don't need to go outside Kaiser because they have a "qualified specialist" (despite the fact that the Internal Medicine primary care M.D. did not think so) available; and because one has a right to see a "Non-Plan" provider, despite the fact that this will never be granted to the patient, there is no grievance! Go figure! What they're saying is we won't grant you the right to an External opinion; we want to keep you tied up in the loop, so we don't have to pay for a 2nd opinion Exam elsewhere. So keep appealing and we will use the same argument against you each time, regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

From the start they can't get prescriptions correct in dosage etc. The Dr. blames the pharmacy (Kaiser) and the pharmacy says it's the Dr. sending the wrong prescriptions... The online communications will break down as you need important lab results (failure in the IT department) in a timely manner. You will be told to wait 5-7 days to get a new password in the mail. Hello! We have a patient needing to see her Oncologist!

Luckily we need have Blue Shield & Blue Cross and never dropped the policy. Saw her Dr. under them had a CT the same day and the following Sat. a consultation with a Stanford Oncologist! The problem is that Kaiser will not release her medicare. My fault for not understanding the healthcare world. Kaiser is still sending test out via her primary with over sight by a floating Oncologist. Told a neighbor of this problem. She is a career nurse, works for Kaiser and has had cancer herself. She told me the labs at Kaiser are not as good and agreed with me about the lack of Dr's from upper ranked schools and many from far flung parts of the world with very low rankings. It is all on the cheapest cheap. She paid out of pocket for consultation and does continues this as follow ups with a Stanford Oncologist. There's a school you won't see in Kaiser's Oncology!

The Kaiser system as I observed is as my mature nurse neighbor told me is good for colds, flus, child birth and ordinary medical practices. This was my thought. It's like a free clinic on a huge scale and the patient is lost in the "system". They have many employees and "this is the procedure"... the red tape and barrier between getting care and seeing the specialist you need is unfathomable! INFERIOR LAB TESTING! Get her is an added bonus. I can't get her medicare back until 5 months during a change period. I guess I've killed my mother because I put her with KAISER! I'm now working on ways of crossing out of their system and have the referral of the Stanford Oncologist as to a couple Oncologists that are in the Kaiser system. He also recommended tests. One Kaiser will not do. Plus all their tests go to the inferior Kaiser labs... the testing matters... I've known this for years... pap tests vary as to the kit used and the lab. Angry and frustrated.

After my first appointment my GP would not prescribe anything for my pain, stating "we don't do that here". To which I said "so you don't help people?" Maybe a bad start on my behalf but I was floored. It wasn't until they finally figured out they could actually look at my charts from my previous docs that they noticed I had a REALLY MESSED UP BACK! Two herniated discs. And that's when they decided to give me a few pain meds and when I say a few I mean 20 for the entire month. Mind you they took two in a half months to give me anything and what they did give me did not really help manage my pain levels. Still no complaints from me, I made do. Then I finally got my appointment with the spine specialist, I was elated. I'm actually going to see someone who understands, someone who will help me out. NOPE. Just another doctor who was hell bent on telling me meds will not fix me, they will just hurt me long term.

Do they really think a person with 9 months of pt, 5 steroid/cortisone/epidural shots and a surgery thinks the long term fix is drugs! My 4 year old knows that is not the answer to my problems. But what it is, is the humane way to help a 8/10 constant pain level patient to get through the day. What it is, is a form of treatment while finding what other types of treatments to conduct. It is a way to keep a person from totally giving up on life.

I wish I would not need to have something like that to make me feel a little better, to help me get through a 10 hour physical labored occupation shift. I wish I would be able to just "suck it up" like they told to do a few weeks ago. But the truth is the way they have treated me, "sucking it up" is exactly what I have been doing! I could go on for hours about all the horrible things I have been through in my less that half a year stint. But I will save that for another day I need to vent. As I know more horrific malpractice has been done to many more unfortunate patients.

Lastly I would just like to say to whoever might read this, Kaiser has been the center of the worst 6 months of my life. I blame them for my thoughts and feelings I have had and currently have right now. I know I am not alone in this and these type of forums help confirm that to me. I will not let them make me do what I feel. I am stronger than that. I have 4 beautiful children and the best wife so I push through all the bs for them. And I encourage those of you who might be at the end of your rope to reach out to a loved one who cares or do what I'm doing right now and just get it out there. Because although this doesn't fix my problems, it has helped me to temporarily keep them from becoming someone else's problems. I Just hope my formal grievance gets me somewhere.

Yes, and there was also a section explaining to us that smoking is bad - explain the programs available to help her quit smoking. (Smoking? What the heck? She is 3 year old...) So I take this printout as a sign of disrespect to my time, and lack of individual attention to my child. What if my daughter actually has something to pay attention to? Will they also give me the same generic garbage in response?

Today, I call because I have an UTI, very painful. The first appointment is 2 days away in the late afternoon, right in Atlanta traffic. I ask for a morning appointment, I get one, on Monday. So I get to wait 5 days for an appointment because this is not an emergency and they can't accommodate me. I have called to complain but I don't get any helpful feedback. I don't even know the benefit of having insurance with them when they will never see me within a reasonable time. Their customer service is HORRIBLE. People are rude and not sympathetic to my obvious frustrations.

After 5 months he said that he could no longer help me and said that I needed to get another opinion. I was then seen by a Kaiser Orthopedic Doctor, this doctor sent me to Kaiser Orthopedic Doctor now in Los Angeles, this doctor said he could do nothing, then I was sent to Cedar Sinai Orthopedic Doctor, this doctor ordered two test. After 6 phone calls by me and two forms requesting medical records, to both, Cedar Sinai Orthopedic Doctor and Kaiser Orthopedic Doctor, the request was sent to Kaiser. I did have one of the tests, at Kaiser Orthopedic and this doctor wanted to research MRI or CAT scan, he wanted to see which would be better.

This Kaiser Orthopedic said that this was the last visit, he said he could no longer help me, but he was there if I needed him. The other thing I noticed is that it is taking longer to get in to see my primary doctor, use to take 1 to 2 weeks, now it is taking 4 to 6 weeks and the wait time is taking longer. I no longer feel that personal touch at Kaiser, it could be because of all the issues I have had with me knee.

The EMT transported her to Sentara Hospital (formerly Potomac Hospital) in Woodbridge, Va., located just 15 minutes from our home. During the ensuing two-week period, Sentara medical personnel provided excellent recovery treatment and preliminary occupational and physical rehabilitation services, after which we were informed that within days my wife would be discharged, to be brought home for more rehab, presumably under Kaiser's aegis.

During this entire period, however, we were informed that Kaiser had been pressuring Sentara to discharge my wife at once (!) so that Kaiser could transport her to Virginia Hospital Center Arlington (VHCA) for treatment. This seemed to us to be a ploy by Kaiser, possibly to save costs, since Kaiser has a working agreement with VHCA. So, fourteen days after her excellent stay at Sentara, and much to our disappointment, Kaiser ordered and dispatched an EMT contractor to truck my ailing wife to VHCA in North Arlington, Va., which is no less than a white-knuckle, traffic-ridden hour-and-a-half drive from our Woodbridge home. When a VHCA doctor first visited my wife, she asked, "Why did they [Kaiser] bring you here?"

My family and I have subsequently heard from other Kaiser members that Kaiser's first duty and consideration as a for-profit business is to save medical costs incurred by its members, with treatment possibly secondary to cost avoidance. Now, with my wife still at VHCA, to visit her we face long, difficult and dangerous drives from Woodbridge to VHCA, in addition to fees for parking and confusing and time-consuming treks from the parking areas to my wife's room. VHCA, housed in several crazy-quilt, architecturally-substandard buildings, seems to us way behind Sentara in patient satisfaction, not to mention convenience for grieving family members. For my family, this is all "thanks" to Kaiser Permanente.

Apparently, their drug counselor and addiction specialists who saw her for 1/2 hr are more qualified than her family who has lived through her addiction for twenty years to determine what is an emergency... with a history of driving under the influence and ambulance transport to emergency room for seizures, which were life threatening, we are far more qualified to know what constitutes an emergency. If maintenance care is all you will ever need, they are adequate. Should you ever need immediate urgent or critical care, GOOD LUCK... will never happen with their bureaucratic **. They have in house reviews for your appeals. They are great at declining the purpose of their employment. Stay away from Kaiser... they are a maintenance health care facility.

I checked with Medicare and I am covered. I am high risk because my mother had colon cancer and because of my previous polyps. However, my last 3 colonoscopies were completely clear (no polyps). There is no mention in the Kaiser documentation that having prior polyps disqualified me from coverage (Medicare pays anyway). So I cancelled the procedure due to the cost and will find another health insurer during the next open enrollment. Until then I am stuck. I did file a complaint with Medicare.

At the very least I think Kaiser did a bait and switch by promising something in their documentation that they did not provide and I enrolled based on that documentation. This happened to me before when they denied a claim for podiatrist injections for my plantar fasciitis saying it was not an emergency. In that case, the Summary of Benefits also claimed to cover URGENT care. I appealed and won but they did not willing provide what their documentation stated. I clearly cannot trust what is printed in their documentation.

Time ticks by and the young girl cannot see out of her left eye. In my mind, she should have been taken in by ER right away! It is the eye, for gosh sakes. I kept wondering, in urgent care- why are they keeping this girl waiting? Should have been taken in right away even though there were many people in the waiting room. The girl and her mother waiting for a long time in the urgent care waiting room. I saw them wait. They sat next to me. I hope the girl was able to get well, despite the wait.

Here I am 6 weeks, not 6 days injury and initial hospital visit and still have another week to wait before I can have an MRI and another week after that before I receive the results. I'm in pain and on complete disability due to my injury, and all Kaiser can say is: "We begin with the least intrusive interventions first". **! What I don't get is that they hound you for a flu shot and when you're overdue for check ups, yet they are neglectful in treating acute injuries.

It seems that unless my knee was detached from my tibia, they don't give a ** about you as long as they continue to collect their monthly premiums. Oh, and the grievance process... it's a joke as it takes 30 days minimum to hear back from the caseworker who says that it's just Kaiser protocol. Had I gone anywhere else, I'd be a few weeks post surgery with PT by now. I don't even have physical therapy yet.

By June 2005, (when she could hardly breath or stand up) my sister and I took our mother into the Emergency Room at Kaiser and told them we were not going to leave without a proper diagnosis. That is when we learned she had cancer, which besides being in her breasts, had now spread to her colon and more importantly to her lungs. She died three and a half weeks later of lung cancer. I seriously considered trying to sue them, but as it's well known, it's super hard to sue Kaiser. But I did subpoena all of her medical records as well as the CD which contained her three mammograms.

What I found interesting is that for each time she saw her doctor during those 6 months (for other stuff), the doctors notes were removed from the medical file. Because my mother kept incredible notes (on everything) we know exactly which days she visited the doctors and what the outcome of each visit was. There was NO mention of lumps or even of the "technical issues" on her THREE mammograms. Plus, she also always paid her co-pay with her credit card, so I even have proof of the visits with her doctors, which again, her doctor felt the need to have removed from her official medical records from Kaiser.

If the doctor didn't feel like she did anything wrong, then WHY WERE HER NOTES REMOVED from official records??? FYI - I'm about to write another review, as now they are doing something equally horrible to my husband. Advice - the next time your company has open enrollment - switch to non-Kaiser health care. Especially if you are close to retirement age - you might need proper care one day.

1. Misdiagnosis -- said I didn't have any health problems when, in fact, I had prostatitis.

2. Kidney stones. Did no follow through after first attack and stone surgery. After second surgery, a nephrologist said I had stage III kidney disease and couldn't take nsaids, along with many other restrictions. My kidney surgeon disagreed and said high readings were normal immediately after stone surgery. No one addressed my complaint. (How could I take their kidney docs seriously, anyway? The kidney transplant dept had been scandalously shut down by the State not long before.)

3. Related to #2, above -- Examined for leg and back pain. Misdiagnosed the problem as L5-6 related. Completely missed a "red flag" I reported every time I saw the doctor that would have established the problem was need for hip replacement. Eventual hip replacement magically cured my back and leg pain!

4. Related to #s 2 & 3 -- It took 5 years for them to figure out the correct diagnosis. Because they wouldn't let me take nsaids, my only pain relief option was opiates. They put me on all different kinds and I eventually became dependent. It took me more than another year, maybe 2, to fully kick the dope and get it out of my system.

5. Sometime during those 5 years, I must have developed peripheral neuropathy because after I kicked the habit and could walk without my "back" pain, I realized I had no surface feeling on my foot and ankles, and great internal pain from dying nerves and the fasciitis (or so they said). I might have known earlier and in time to treat had I not been on narcotic medications.

6. Podiatrist did not X-ray feet and just assumed Rx of peripheral neuropathy and fasciitis. Second opinion recently found bone cysts, gout and arthritis in both feet. Earlier treatment would have been nice.

7. Dropped off a prescription to be filled at 2 pm. Returned 3 pm to pick it up. 12 people ahead of me in line. It took more than 1 hour to get to a clerk. During that time my feet were in excruciating pain. The pharmacists themselves were beside themselves because pharm management apparently is incompetent!

8. I complained about the incident and got a boilerplate reply from a claim manager's assistant that clearly did not make any attempt to understand my complaint. Claim mgr left message to call her back, on a Saturday when I was out of town. I did and left message. She never called back before determination was made.

9. Now they just terminated my family policy WITHOUT NOTICE, even though we're paid in full and up-to-date. Have to wait 30 days for reinstatement. Meantime, I need labs every 2 weeks for my kidneys and blood sugar, and medications for other things. Nobody there gives a poop.

10. I also complained about a similar incident in Dec. 2014 that they never responded to. They claim they never received it.

You may be thinking I'm the responsible party for staying with them after the first or second gaffe. If so, you're probably right. Fact remains, though, KP doesn't even deserve 1 star.

At about the same time I began having trouble getting or ordering my medications. My page on the website has been unusable since and many calls to the pharmacy itself for meds have had varying results. Repeated attempts with customer services, pharmacy staff and IT staff have resulted in promises to fix things but no results. At one point they said there was a problem with my patient number following the installation of a new system. I asked them to give me a new one to end the issue. They refused.

At a later time, IT swore they would get it straightened out and they have been either too unconcerned or embarrassed to call me back since it didn't get fixed. This latest irritation was over a medication prescribed by a physician on an emergency visit who told me what she was ordering but not to pick it up until after I picked up and completed a sample collection kit. Three days later the kit was completed and when I tried to get the meds the pharmacy could not find an order. I discussed which doctor they should contact and suggested my regular physician since the emergency visit doc had not been able to get me the meds. We also went over having the meds sent and what credit card to use. Sometime after my visit to the pharmacy they left a number to call and when I called it, no one knew who called or why.

It is now 6 days later, I do not have my meds and a 3 transfer call to Kaiser did not yet produce someone who knew what had happened about my meds or the results of the kit I returned. I am at a loss as to how to contact someone who not only hears my complaints but who can and will do something to fix the issues. Kaiser puts these poor, hand-patting, apologizing people to deal with us and the golden group sits in their offices patting themselves on the back about how good Kaiser Healthcare is. Kaiser HealthCARE does not exist. Kaiser insurance does. There is a big difference. I'm tired of being the complaining lady. I want things fixed. My hand can be patted by someone who is not paid to care for my health.

I gave up and relented to this horrible experience and the unfortunate outcome. I called KP and asked to prepare a payment plan to make monthly payment. I received a letter advising me that my payment plan would start on March 15th with a monthly payment of ** amount that must be paid on the 15th of each month. I made my first payment on 3/10/2015 for the stated required.

Today, I called to make my 2nd payment, and I was told that my account was sent to collection. I asked why, they told me that someone at Kaiser processed my 1st payment incorrectly, and caused some delay, and my payment was posted on 3/16 causing my account to go to collection. The Customer service representative advised me that they would recall it and I provided her with my credit card for the 2nd payment. I am just fed up with this incompetence of this healthcare provider. This is a multibillion $ company and it seems that no one takes responsibility for their incompetence. Why such a huge health care provider is so incompetent and inefficient. Why the medical board doesn't hold them accountable for their blatant incompetence and abusive behaviors. I am not a healthcare care insurance expert, and I rely on KP to provide me with accurate information. This doesn't seem to be the case.

On 3/10/2015 (1:21 PM MDT), I followed up with the NP and was told that she could not go over the results with and told me that OBGYN would not go over them either. She referred me to the fertility group (50% out of pocket expense for fertility group care). On 4/8/2015, I made an appointment to see a therapist because of all of the stress I'm dealing with trying to navigate thru KP, and when I showed up to the appointment, I was met by a student therapist who appeared to maybe be 26 years old. What I should have done was got up and walked out but I proceeded to allow KP to waste more of my time and money. I have a appointment with the fertility group on 4/15/15 and I'm certain that the appointment is going to be a complete bust, but I need to try. If your options are KP or anyone else… choose ANYONE ELSE!!!

I was approved by the state for Medicaid in Oct 14 and was told by the state exchange CSR I spoke with that that information had been forwarded to KP. I have spent the last 5 months dealing with KP's refusal to stop billing me. I have called after receiving every bill and documented those conversations. Every conversation ended with some form of, "We are so sorry for the mix up, we'll get it taken care of ASAP" always to be followed a month later by my receiving a bill forwarded from my previous address.

Finally in Feb 2015 I was told by KP that I would have to participate in a 3-way call with KP and the exchange to "prove" that I really was allowed to cancel my KP membership and force them to negate all bills/late fee's since Oct 14. I was then assured by the KP rep that cancellation/address change was confirmed and that a revised bill would be issued immediately. I was given a confirmation #.

Today, 3/27/15 I received a bill (again originally sent to the wrong address) demanding full payment on threat of my membership being canceled and my account being sent to collections. I called KP this morning and was told that no action had ever been taken and no case had ever been opened. I was assured that THIS time they would take action and was given a case #. No doubt in another month I'll be repeating this process, only with a collection agency added to the mix. At this point I "owe" them over $1000 because of this. A big chunk of change, but it would be more expensive to hire a lawyer to deal with it, something I'm sure KP counts on. To anyone considering KP, I know their network is large and may be very convenient, but their billing department seems DESIGNED to screw people.

Secondly, Kaiser relies heavily on nurse practitioners. In fact, I have never seen a licensed doctor at one of their facilities. They are not up-front with this when scheduling appointments. I have had several miscarriages and been struggling through fertility testing. When (finally) referred to the fertility specialists (whom I had to drive 45 minutes to see), it turns out I was scheduled with a nurse practitioner instead of the doctor. Nurse practitioners can be great and are very knowledgeable, but when you are dealing with something as sensitive as your fertility (and paying a fortune out of pocket), you want the most educated person to do the job. I was put through a battery of highly invasive tests (for which I had to travel alone to yet another facility to be examined by strangers). I received an e-mail that all tests came back normal and received absolutely no follow-up, not a phone call or an e-mail, even after reaching out to the clinic.

Now, after suffering another miscarriage and complications, I tried to schedule a follow-up appointment with my regular nurse practitioner, and there were no appointments available through June. I called the hotline only to find out that my NP is moving facilities. Thanks for notifying patients! I now have to go through the whole process again with another provider. Kaiser is fine if you need a quick visit and know what is wrong with you, but don't count on them to diagnose anything. Kaisers employees have been consistently rude and unprofessional throughout all of my visits. It is a cold, unfeeling, corporation that has no business in health care.

When you move, there is no one - or even four or five places to whom you must give your new address. No one tells anyone else so every time one talks to a different face, one must start at the beginning and update all records. OMG! Member Service employees are not informed of the rules governing different areas so they make it up. I cannot tell you how many times member service personnel told me no, it cannot be done. Once I figured out what department I should be talking with- voila, it was done (quickly and easily, I might add). Get this- member service is saying no, it can't be done. If you have a choice and are in California, join California Health Net. Good medical care without the administrative nightmare.

I also went in several times a week for shots That would only subside the pain and then make it worse. I was so furious I seeked help outside of kaiser paying out my own pocket. I told that doctor outside of Kaiser my problem and he said it was related to a tear in my meniscus. So he wrote me a referral. I brought it in and she wouldn't even look at it. I told her "I feel like you don't care about my health and that I feel as though I'm getting pushed around." My injury happen on the first week of Dec, I didn't receive a mri until mid-February. I was told I'd know my results in a week nothing and now it's march 17th. I'm so angry I called 5 times. Still nothing.

Today I even called while in their waiting room. I had to call the actual hospital where it was done at and apparently kaiser workers overheard my phone conversation. They began to discuss how they never experienced anything bad with kaiser and how people shouldn't let one bad experience ruin their thoughts about kaiser. Also overheard that people shouldn't be talking bad about kaiser in front of kaiser patients, seemed like they were trying to justify what I was currently going through. The funny thing is that's not the worse part. So another exam I had back in Dec maybe early January was a pap done by that same doctor.

So when I went in I asked her to check for my iud, apparently the dumb lady didn't. She said everything was fine but I received something in the mail in March 3 months later saying I have inflammation. Well what the stupid doctors didn't realize is that the inflammation was due to my iud missing and it being stuck inside my vaginal walls. So she obviously didn't check if it was in place and just assumed something else was wrong. How did I find out? Discomfort caused me to finally want it removed too. I schedule a appointment, it was a different doctor this time and she told me it was missing. So ultrasound found it and I was scheduled to meet for surgery but in that time I became pregnant. So as you can see I'm really going through it.

I asked to switch doctors and my new doctor is nicer. I hope I get the right help I need because now I am pregnant, still trying to get my damn mri results also hoping no radiation will affect my unborn child. This is just some of the problems I spent so much money on doctor's visits and medication and for what to be back in the office again in a few days later. I strongly hope you don't have to go through anything like this. Maybe just don't go with kaiser and if you end with kaiser or if you already have it make sure you speak up and not take no for an answer. They took so much more from me than just my time and money. Now I'm in state of panic and stressed out more than ever. This is sad that a hard working mom with two jobs is just being pushed to the side!

Then I came back to kaiser due to abnormal periods - I had a period for 14 days combined with abdominal pain. I was told it was due to stress and no exam was performed. After changing insurance in August I went to an OB/GYN for a check up. I told her all my symptoms - bleeding, pain, nausea, constipation. She told me that it was not stress and did an additional ultrasound and found several tumors. I have been sick and suffering for 3 years as kaiser refused to accept there was anything wrong with me, sent me for psychiatric care and from Doctors' responses to me labeled me as med/treatment seeking. Now I'm waiting for the biopsy to come back and hoping the surgery will finally fix all of this. If Kaiser had acted then they could have prevented this from getting as bad as it did, and they could have alleviated 3 years of pain and suffering.

My appointment was at 2:14, after arguing about my copay I was given Membership Services phone to number to call about this $45.00 I had to pay for someone else. When I looked up to see what time it was the clock on the wall showed 2:55 pm. And when I came for my appointment in February this clock was not on the wall. I looked at my receipt & it wasn't even my receipt it was another member's receipt-- his copay was $20.00.

Here it is 2:55 pm, I'm the only one in the office waiting room, did not get to see the doctor, paid two different copays, get another members "Reprinted Receipt" with his medical information. And when I told the receptionist I wanted MY RECEIPT I get a "Reprinted Receipt". Kaiser could not give me the Original, they have no idea who got it. I kept all the paperwork along with the white copy attached on the front of the "Reprinted Receipt". I told her next time you might want to pay attention to the member about what their copay is & is not. I filed a complaint with The OCR & The DMHC they just slapped Kaiser on the hand apparently they had done nothing wrong deliberately. My complaint & my appeals went NOWHERE & these were closed.

I called up this year 2015 in February & I also emailed my doctor in "Orthopedics" that I needed my records from the 19th of January & February of 2012. He emailed me & told me to call his office. When I called his office the receptionist stated that there were two (2) scheduled appointments on January 2012 for two (2) different doctors Dr. ** Orthopedics & a Dr. ** in the "Critical Care Department & both had been canceled & both were in Fremont. She did have February's visit on 2012 but not January of 2012. This was where I sat around waiting to see a doctor who wasn't there along with all these different copays. She also told me there was no explanation of why these two appointments both in Fremont Kaiser California had been canceled.

So where did this all start? I have NO IDEA when the Hippa Violations happened or where they started from. I have sent emails to membership services complaints department asking where are the two emails of 2012 for January & February are that I filed about the Hippa Violation's. I have never deleted any emails since I signed up in January of 2012.

There will be several documents uploaded to this attached post. These are actual letters from Kaiser & The OCR & The DMHC. You can thank them for this "Kaos" which continues to this day. The latest answer I received from Kaiser about these appointments being canceled you will not believe what they wrote. Here you can look at all the documents & make up your own mind "FYI".

The letter that membership services sent to me about these appointments states That on January 19, 2012 I had two appointments one in Fremont Kaiser with Dr. ** & the other in Hayward Orthopedics Dr. **. This Chief at Kaiser also could not tell me why these two appointments were canceled but she also told me I had one in Fremont on the same day. I have "NEVER" seen either of these two doctors not Dr. ** in the Critical Care Department Fremont nor this Dr. ** in Orthopedics in Hayward California.

Please read these you will not be disappointed about just how "CORRUPTED KAISER" is & has become. Just read the answers, it's a total "RIOT". And at the rate Kaiser lies & continues to lie we will all suffocate to death because there will be no trees left at the rate Kaiser lies. I like to refer these two government agencies as The OCR which is "Off Customers Rights" the name I have given to The DMHC is "The Demented Mangled Hell Care".

They are severely understaffed when it comes to pediatricians and psychiatric doctors. You have to be "assigned" a doctor and if your assigned doctor isn't available when you're sick, you can't schedule an appointment. You just have to call the next day and see if they can squeeze you in. This happened to me with my 11 year old a couple weeks ago. He was sick and they wouldn't give me an appointment. Crazy. I pay them $1700 month and I can't get an appointment for my 11 year old. I would cancel them now but because of the healthcare "reform" laws, I can't do anything until October/November enrollment period allows me to change plans. Who does this benefit? It benefits Kaiser and any other Insurance Agency that can get away with crappy service and not lose customers because those customers are captive. Obama Care was absolutely great for Insurance Agencies and I'm pretty sure that's who benefits most.

I then contacted Kaiser to inform them of the information I received. The Kaiser representative was very helpful and assured me that the bill will be paid. The Kaiser representative went on to tell me how to access the claims forms which I need to submit with the bills once I receive them, so Kaiser can pay it. I submitted the completed claim forms along with supporting documents back in January.

Yesterday, I received a call from Canada Interior Health stating the bill is still outstanding and it is scheduled to be forwarded for collection. I contacted Kaiser this morning and was unfortunate to be assisted by a non-sympathetic ** who told me that I was supposed to pay the bill first, then file a claim for reimbursement. She also went on to say that she assume I read the claim form since I signed it. I told her yes, I read the form and on the top of page one bulleted item #4 stated that most payments are remitted to the provider unless a proof of payment from the patients or the provider is attached.

She stated that it does not apply to foreign claims and referred me to page two of the claim form regarding required items for foreign claims, she emphasized that the required items included the proof of payment. I told her that there is no proof of payment since the bill has not been paid yet. I told her that the required list of items are require if it applies.

At this point, ** has become agitated with my frustration and her demeanor changed to a condescending tone. Since I told her that I have no way of paying a bill that over a thousand, I request that they paid the Provider directly. She then proceeded to tell me to consider using a credit card or ask family members or friends to charge the bill on their credit card. She also condescendingly stated that it is tax season and I should use my income tax refund to pay for the bill or ask family members to see if they would loan me money from their income tax refund.

At this point, I almost forgot I was talking to a Kaiser Representative. ** sounded more like a bill collector instead of being a helpful Kaiser Permanente Employee. I have since filed a grievance requesting Kaiser to pay my submitted claims to the health care provider for the services I received and I also filed a separate complaint against ** for her unacceptable and unprofessional demeanor. I am not sure if Kaiser will do anything about it anyway.

In addition, after speaking with a representative from the Department of Health in Canada; apparently Kaiser Permanente is blacklisted in Canada as one of the Top Worst Insurance Companies to receive payment from. That is a sad story, given that I have been with Kaiser for more than 25 yrs and has never had this happened to me before. When one of my family member was injured in a car accident more than ten yrs ago and was treated at a non Kaiser Facility, the bill we received were forwarded to Kaiser and was paid by Kaiser without any problem.

I’m glad to know even after paying thousands of dollars over the years to this organization to insure i will be taken care of in case of need. But no, since i moved out of area code I'm not looked out for or cared for. This is why we have so many drug addicts and suffering veterans, because no matter the need or desire for help, if you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars no one cares. Someday maybe this country will care about its veterans and humanity as a whole. And maybe we can, as a whole raise awareness against rich bureaucrats who care about nothing except lining their pockets with poor peoples’ money.

I felt worse so again began repeatedly asking for MRI. Told no degenerative disc disease/arthritis shown on x-rays. Finally a new doc gets the MRI. I am called immediately to schedule surgery as disc fragments broke loose and area resting on spinal cord. Told to be very careful with movement until surgery. So had surgery - threat was gone however need more surgery. Only approved for the urgently removal of disc fragments unless something major found at same time. That was in late 2010.

Now I am left with chronic pain. The government has changed rules. Patients' conditions have not. I was working on a plan with my last doctor to reduce morphine. I was finally down to 1 30-mg morphine per day and 6 Norco. When my next appt came up I learned this doc had left so I saw a new doc who heard nothing I said reduced my Norco to 5 pills after I clearly told her no. I dropped a 30 mg morphine. I am working at reducing the other to keep Norco. Her reason is too much Tylenol. However 4,000 is federal limit - 6 Norco equal 1,950 tylenol. No matter how much I explained I have seriously low iron, need to take pills, cannot handle the constipation and basically the spastic colon I get from morphine. I didn't like it but was going to try after all I was down on morphine. However when I picked up my next refill she reduced to 4 per day without consulting me in anyway.

I have filed grievance - ask for her help to restore to 5-6 Norco per day and 1 morphine as member services advised me to do. Naturally she refuses - states no one can do this with out seeing me (however she just did it twice without seeing me). No appointments are available until 13 days after. I will run out of meds. As you can see I can go on & on - no way to write how many ways this is wrong on so many levels. Each person/department you speak to directs you to another person as each can only offer so much help. Every single one states they are sorry cannot help me they this... they are the only ones who can help me. This whole Kaiser set up is a mess - some of the "departments" make no sense.

I tried to call the number from Southern California, some 500 miles south, but they had me on hold for 45 min. and never answered. The BBB told me that the zip code they provided was invalid. Their "address" was the word "FILE." I emailed my dr., and all she said was she had no idea about prices, and maybe I had the wrong insurance. (Kaiser insurance is the wrong insurance for Kaiser??) I tried to respond to my dr's email, and got a no reply response. Xfinity/Comcast would be proud. If you ask me, no company deserves a 60 Minutes investigation more than Kaiser health insurance.

1) 07/10/2014 - Checkcard Kaiser Dues -201.81... 2) 07/11/2014 - Checkcard Kaiser Dues -415.00.... 3) 09/02/2014 Checkcard Kaiser Dues -403.62.... Now let's jump ahead to an issue more recently. 1) 12/01/2014 Checkcard Kaiser Dues -201.81.... 2) 01/02/2015 Checkcard Kaiser Dues -398.19.... 3) 03/01/2015 Checkcard 03/01 Kaiser Dues -392.76.... So as you can see, the payments are doubling. I am looking into another provider today.

In mid-February I suffered a laceration to my hand which I could plainly see required stitches. Prior to seeking treatment I called Kaiser and explained that I was injured, and needed them to provide my membership ID# so that I could get treatment. Kaiser had me play phone-tag (as I actively bled) through multiple representatives (each asking anew for me to spell out my name, address, etc.), before the final representative said 'I checked our database, and you are not a supported member. Kaiser cannot do anything for you. Do you know it is 8pm? Call back another day.' Needless to say, I paid out of pocket at a local urgent care facility to have my injury treated. The next day I contacted my employers HR department, who confirmed that registration information and insurance premiums were sent to Kaiser Permanente.

Now, today at the end of February, I called Kaiser today and the representative acknowledged that I am listed in their database. However, the representative claimed I was mistaken and had been a member since January. When I asked about filing a claim for the treatment at the urgent care facility, the Kaiser representative said that Kaiser was not responsible since I did not obtain an authorized referral from Kaiser prior to receiving treatment. Kaiser still, however, has not provided me with an insurance card or a membership ID#. I will be filing a formal complaint against Kaiser Permanente, and escalating the issue as necessary for their unethical business practices.

Conclusion: With Kaiser, it is best to calmly persist and insist on proper care in a timely fashion. Invest an hour or two. Apparently, if you don't cave in, Kaiser will eventually deliver proper care in a timely fashion. If you cave in, they will delay and delay and give inadequate care.

I was a Kaiser patient from 2011 until 2014. For the most part I thought Kaiser was the best. The bad came at the end of 2013. At that time Drs ** and ** strongly recommended and in fact bullied me saying that I would end up in the ICU if I didn't do it quickly that I have my sternum removed to treat a staph infection in the bone. Their recommended treatment was extremely aggressive, dangerous for me, and, as it turns out, wrong. That should go in their record. I include a brief summary of my medical history since 2012 Kaiser has detailed records until 2014 and I will give you access to my records since then if you want them. 07/12 coronary bypass operation, ** is the surgeon. 09/12 staph infection ** takes charge and does debridement (good for him I think).

** becomes the infectious disease doctor. Nafcillin treatment for 8 weeks. My C reactive protein (CRP) which seemed to be her only measure drops from 8 or 9 to 1 after four weeks. And stays at 1 for the next four weeks. I feel awful for the entire time, but attribute it to the infection (it turns out I'm allergic to Nafcillin). ** says the CRP must be below 0.5. I respond in an email that Nafcillin isn't working and demand a change. ** responds with, "What would you suggest?" She changes to an oral antibiotic and my CRP almost immediately drops to 0.01 and stays there. 01/13 I stop antibiotics and ** and I assume the infection is cured.

Skip forward until 12/12/13 you have the records. I still have a small infection that won't heal. ** removes the wires from the coronary bypass because they can hide bugs. He stitches me up and by 12/24/13 I have a raging infection in my chest. 12/25/13 Christmas Day ** comes to the hospital and declares that it is osteomyelitis which it was. And she declares with no supporting evidence (CT-scan and chest Xrays show nothing). The treatment is to remove my sternum. Kaiser starts me on IV antibiotics.

12/31/13 I met ** in his office where he opened the wound (which btw he stitched up on 12/13/13 with the infection inside) to let it drain. He says The treatment is to remove my sternum. I asked for second opinions from UCSF. He agrees and says, "Let me know who you want." (** wanted me to get second opinions within Kaiser.) 01/24/14 I meet with Drs Richard ** (infectious disease) and Scott ** (cardiac surgery) for a second opinion. Both are famous in the medical community. Scott ** is listed as one of the top cardiac surgeons in San Francisco Magazine January 2015. Nominated by peers and selected by Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd. They thought probably osteomyelitis but said wait to see if the antibiotic kills it. If not maybe a partial debridement (nothing like a sternum removal).

01/30/14 I meet with ** and ** and they tell me again The treatment is to remove my sternum. And they try to bully me by saying if I delay very long I'll end up in the ICU. The UCSF docs, ** and **, saw no urgency. ** and ** either didn't look at the second opinions--sloppy--or ignored them--arrogant. 01/31/14 I switched to Blue Shield and the UCSF docs. 07/28/14 Merrick does a partial debridement and removes an infected bone the size of a fingernail. 01/29/15 Today the wound healed in October and there is no sign of infection. Bottom line: ** and **'s treatment opinion was extremely aggressive, dangerous for me, and turned out to be totally WRONG. This should go in their permanent file.

Addendum: I sent ** and ** a letter requesting a meeting on 12/24/14. If they had responded I wouldn't be sending this to you. Paraphrasing George Santayana "Those that don't learn from their mistakes (or worse fail to recognize their mistakes) are bound to repeat them."

After the endoscopy test was normal and gave me a note (I was still sleeping) "we suggest no cirrhosis of the liver." Ok 3 months later, I had another blood test. My alt went up to 140. Double of 3 months ago alt 70 and I called to him again, "why did my alt so high. Do I have cirrhosis of the liver?" He said "I believe you have very early cirrhosis of the liver." I said "why did you say I don't have cirrhosis in 3 months ago?" He said, "I have never said that you don't have cirrhosis of the liver."

What kind of the GI specialist is that??? Ok fine, I ask him what should I do next. He said "there is only treatment for you, to take the Entecavir 0.5 which you have already taken." Ok fine but the pharmacy gave me Entecavir 1 mg so I have to called back to the GI specialist to ask why. I asked what if I cut the pill to 60% 40%, or 55% 45% for daily. But when I cut it, the pill is broken so much. All were his answered is that is not a big deal. WTF.

Second I have to leave this stupid hospital and I terminated it Jan 22nd. For some reasons I have to get the termination number to clear the record or I cannot see another doctor. I almost call every day (45mins to 1 hour wait on the phone) to get the termination number. How hard to get the termination number??? Today is already February 23rd, the lady told me "the department is close cuz the weather! Call back again tomorrow." Thanks for time to read this. Don't recommend this kaiser permanente to anyone you love. Good luck.

I recently sent in a refill request for my meds and the request was denied saying I had to come in for "lab tests" and an evaluation to determine "if I actually had the condition and or if it still existed." WTF??? NO! I'm not stupid and know Arthritis and TMJ do not resolve. They are permanent conditions and "lab tests" etc. are NOT necessary for these conditions. They only want me to come in and pay the MUCH higher than before co-pays to run tests that are not necessary and are worthless as far as my conditions. They kept me going through tons of red tape and hearings I didn't request only to keep denying me my meds. NO more Kaiser for us. We are leaving and going to a new health plan. Kaiser is no longer the good company it once was. Now it's corporate greed.

Further, he was scheduled for tests (not having to do with his operation) that KP told him were unnecessary, but that he really should have at his age - EKG and colonoscopy, namely. I'm so angry at Kaiser! They made me feel like a hypochondriac every time I went in, which was not very often. Since we switched, I've been talking to a lot of people in my area who have had similar, negative experiences. Shame on you, Kaiser Permanente!

I remember the day her doctor told her she was terminal. Saying she had 6 months to maybe two years! My dad told the doctor she was in major pain, and asked that he prescribe morphine so she wasn't suffering so much. She had lung cancer, but along with that was emphysema, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis. The doctor didn't even blink and told my parents "No," and my dad confronted him and asked "why, you just told us shes terminal!" The doctor looked at them and said "I'm not going to turn her into a drug addict!"

I for one wanted to drag this doctor outside, but dad told him... "we want a second opinion." The other doctor sided with mom and dad, she got the meds, and passed on seven years later. When dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's three years later. They took almost five years to say he did have Parkinson's, and rotated his meds-- it just made it worse. When he finally got meds that seemed to work for him, they were switched with something different just so the doctors could study him, not caring for his quality of life at all.

When I requested hospice for him, a nurse came out, looked at dad for not five minutes and said "no." Told me to find a hospital bed in the nickle ads! My father was a custodian for the Portland schools for thirty years. My parents I'm told, had the best insurance kaiser offered, but no was the answer we got! Luckily I was friends with someone who worked in the insurance office at kaiser. I called and told him of dad's situation, he knew both my parents also. The next morning they brought a hospital bed, a commode, and a wheelchair and walker too. My friend told me that my parents had been paying into kaiser insurance since march of 1951. Mom passed in 1986, and dad in 1996.

I'm sure he had paid enough into it to buy a whole wing of hospital beds, and if it was not for the luck of knowing someone on the inside, we would have gotten nothing! I might consider letting them set a broken arm, etc, but for anything else, I would get better care at a bus stop! My parents names were Grace and Gilbert **. My name is Clifford **.

I would like to say Thank you to Paris ** for all his help and support! God bless you Paris. If not for your help, I don't know what we would have done! I won't go into how I almost lost my leg when only Sixteen months old, from getting an injection of penicillin that was put into a nerve instead of tissue! My leg turned black for months, but eventually got better, though I still have little to no feeling in it! And we did not sue as my parents were afraid to do so.

So, only half of those 12 weeks are covered, meaning while you're at home for 12 weeks trying to adjust to an addition to your family and heal properly, if you have a vaginal birth you're only given 6 weeks then, your STD will stop. This may seem trivial, but I'd only seen my dr that is to deliver to my child once prior to her telling me I couldn't go on maternity leave because I wasn't high risk. I've worked with the same company for 7 yrs and this is the 2nd child I've had while working for this company and I never experienced anything like this when I lived in Tn.

Bottom line, if you want an insurance company (with drs) that cares about you, where you aren't just another number, where they will take the time to get to know and understand your personal/medical needs, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT get coverage with Kaiser.

The following explanation I provided them in the form: Asking for a refund because I got overcharged for my ** 75 MG medication. According to Vickie from North Lancaster Pharmacy I should it had paid $45 instead of paying $177.25. Benefits not loaded in that day since I was a new member on 5/1/14 through Cover Oregon.

30 days later I got a denied for my refund request. They denied my request due to a duplicated charge, in other words, they told me that they denied refund request because I was asking a refund for both medication. I told them I had been very cleared on my explanation I provided in the form I sent them. That I had provided them with the name of the medication and the dose for the medication that I was asking a refund for.

I appealed the denied on that same day they told me about the denied of my refund, this was around 12/8/14. Once again, I provided them over the phone the same information I had written in the form I sent to them. In other words, an agent type in the information I was providing and they were going to sent that appeal to the correct department so they work on my appeal.

Today, 2/22/15 my appealed got denied. This time they told me the appealed got denied because according to their system, I only paid $80 for the two medication. I asked them how can this be possible? If I have the receipt where it reflects that I paid $203.15 dollars for the two medication. I even told them, I have the empty medication containers with the Rx # which match with the information on the receipt that I have and which I sent to them. Now, they are asking me to resend my receipt again and to wait another 30 days. I have already waited 90 days. This company is negligent. Hopefully there is something that can be done.

I was told by one person in the Membership Division that she could have just called them up easily to verify my wife's coverage. She became very upset. I called up the 1-800 number for Kaiser Membership. The 1st person I spoke to said her coverage will be effective on Feb. 1st. After going back and forth with her, I decided I wanted to cancel my wife's membership. She said I cannot do it myself and that my wife should be on the phone. My wife arrived home still upset. Meanwhile, the 3rd appointment for that day called trying to find out why my wife did not come. I told her that we were told that she is not covered. This person told us that my wife is indeed covered effective January 1st, not February 1st as everybody had been telling us! This prompted me to call Kaiser Membership Division again.

This time, a guy confirmed to me that my wife is indeed covered since January 1st and wondered himself why they did not see it in their system. So I decided to file a complaint. I was told that someone who handles complaints will call me in a couple of days. As of today, no one has called. I tried to enroll her with another healthcare provider but we were told we cannot enroll her on 2 different healthcare insurance which means we have to wait for the cancellation of Kaiser before we can proceed to enroll her with a different healthcare provider.

We called membership today, February 1st, 2015 and checked if she is now covered. We were told that she has been covered since January 1st, not February 1st. So this means we have paid for the whole month of January without availing of any service, having been turned down twice on January 13th. We feel that Kaiser Permanente is giving us a run-around on this case and membership is telling us that the amount of over $600.00 was gone and wasted. This is absolutely one way a member could be ripped off. Also, I personally feel that Kaiser Permanente could be ripping off its members in setting up a schedule of more than 12 days at times because of the unavailability of doctors. This means hundreds of thousands of members' days of coverage are wasted because of Kaiser's failure to provide enough doctors.

I am very happy with the medical services I have received from Kaiser, but their administrative services are beyond "awful". Hopefully, messages of this nature will encourage Kaiser to further investigate such matters and implement some type of corrective action.

Each month, I'd call back and they'd say it make take a billing cycle to take effect. But this went on until June when finally it started working right. I would get transferred to a phone number that they said would be able to help me, and it just took me back to the same place I'd been talking to in the first place. Then last December, the credit card linked to my auto-pay expired. I called to find out how to change my card information and was told it can only be done on the website and told me where to look, under Premium Bills. But that section of the website didn't work. I couldn't get into it. It would just give me an error saying something like that module is not available.

I kept trying to call, getting transferred all over the place, and eventually got a phone number that got me to someone in the exchange billing place in California. The woman there said there is indeed no way to update credit card information except through the website and the only thing she could do was to cancel my auto-payment. So she did that and gave me a confirmation number. A couple of days later, I received a letter in the mail from Kaiser saying that I could give the updated credit card information by letter, and if I wanted to cancel auto-pay, it had to be done in writing 4 weeks in advance. So I wrote back and gave the updated card information and said I did not want to cancel auto-pay. I was told to send in checks for December and January premiums which I did.

However, when I called and talked to a woman in CA about sending in my premium checks, she told me the address Kaiser had sent me in the mail that I was supposed to mail premiums to was incorrect and I should mail it to a different address. So I mailed the checks to the address the woman in CA told me to, and sent an additional letter to the address it said to in the mailing I received along with a copy of my checks. Now it is the end of January and I wanted to find out if I needed to send in a check for the February premium or if it would be paid through auto-pay. When I called, no one could tell me if I was enrolled or not. The people I get on the phone when I call the number for Member Services don't know anything about how things are done for exchange people and aren't even aware that there is separate billing done for those people.

So probably I'm now in the same situation I was in last year where it took 6 months to get the auto-pay straightened out. Furthermore, Kaiser wants to push people to use their website to do everything, but almost every time I try to do something on the website, I get an error that that part of the website is not available. I just don't understand how a large corporation who has been doing insurance for years can't do something as simple as update an expired credit card and sign people up for auto-pay.

I am on my 5th new primary care doctor as Kaiser seems to go through primary care providers every 40 days. I do plan to switch back to Blue Cross and Blue Shield if I can last through this year. Sadly, if this were a veterinary clinic they would lose their license. I don't understand how any company can make this many mistakes and continue to survive. I do plan to make a small documentary out of my experience and post it on Youtube. If you want to be treated like a number, if you want to double-check everything that is prescribed, if you want the cheapest of generic drugs and some of the worst business practices in America then Kaiser is for you. If you value yourself and your health, then please go elsewhere.

Maybe someone can also answer this question? Why was my and my wife's premium’s $590.00 per month, but when the new care system came, the premium went up to $1091.00 for inferior coverage and the Gov’t is subsidizing $574.00 per month. Is this price gouging? I just got off the phone as they stated I owed them 1401.86 by Feb 1st or my account would be terminated. When I called, I was told that I have a $385.00 credit as I always pay slightly over what is owed. Who is running this place? Services are terrible. I have to wait more than 2 months for some appts now. I'm ready to go.

New doctor saw a few times. First time he was going in to meet her he took off bolted anxiety level high. She never called to check on him. Never heard until we went for another appointment. She seemed interested to help. Next visit she said she can't treat him. She's cutting down her hours. She is still listed as taking new patients. Next appointment took a month or two to get in Vallejo. Lot of help with Kaiser. You can tell they care about their patients. I know treating mental problems is very hard but we are not rude or people that nitpick but come on. If they don't hire doctors who know how to do their job and want to do their job or give them the time and support why claim to have a psychiatry department. If others are treated the way we have been that is sad. I have belonged to Kaiser almost my whole life and I have always been satisfied with the care until I had to use this department.

I called my human resources line to find out I cannot add my newborn child to my account due to me being out of my 30 day mark which I was never told of! Ever!! That I had to wait until open enrollment in OCT so now my child has no health care coverage. Sad part is that even though I'm an employee there they wouldn't help me out. What makes anyone else think they are willing to help them? Now I'm stuck looking to purchase health insurance elsewhere.

I applied for kaiser membership on December 01/2014 on the phone to expedite the process. After 45 minutes of passing on the information, the agent gave me confirmation number, rate and phone numbers telling me that I should hear from them by the end of the year at the most. So far everything was promising. I waited three weeks and followed up. They told me it is too early. I called every week since to see when I get my membership card or any news from them.

Today Jan 14/2015 I have called twice, talked to several people, connecting me to different departments and nobody has any answer as what happened to my application. You cannot believe how many times I have repeated my name, date of birth and Social Security number to so many agent and how many merry go around I have been subjected to. No results! It is as my application was flushed in the toilet even with a confirmation number!

Finally I asked for a supervisor. First she came strong, but after I matched up to her she started to apologizing for this mess, but with no results. After minutes of waiting for her to come back from talking to member services, she said she does not know what happened and I should talk to another lady. I asked her for another supervisor. She said to hold on. And guess? She never came back.

Finally, after minutes of holding and much frustrations, I gave up. Thank God that Kaiser saved me with the first act. Imagine if I became a member of such an insufficient organization that cannot even manage an application and nobody really cares either. I really hope an authority at kaiser reads these comments and do something about it. But for me, I am done with even thinking about kaiser any more. By the way, They do not have any system of customer service for grievances on their website. Why am I surprised?

It has been easy for me to get an appointment with a specialist or get treated in an emergency. The telephone staff, especially the nursing staff have been helpful and supportive in times of "crisis." Every hospital has "issues" at one time or another. Patients tend to "complain" when these happen, of course. But few praise when the care is good. I have had more good experience with Kaiser than any other health-care system. And did I mention cost???

Finally got one and guess what, no ulcer. I kept going to the ER and primary. I switched Dr's several times once I realized they were all the same and weren't going to help. They kept telling me it was all "anxiety". Sent me to psychiatry force fed me anti depressants. The entire time I'm still suffering with daily non stop chest pain for months now. I kept begging them for more testing saying my chest hurts and I'm spitting up yellow phlegm.

Finally after months and months of appointments and complaints I was sent to the lung specialist. I brought him a sample of my yellow sputum, he didn't seem to care and prescribed me prednisone. I told him I feel like I have a lung infection, I need antibiotics I think. He refused me. I went to a walk in clinic where I was immediately given antibiotics and was ‘til I have pneumonia. I told kaiser and they gave me sputum sample bottles to spit up in and return. It's so hard to get any sputum up but I got a little out and took it to the lab. My results showed staphylococcus aureus and aspergillus fumigatus in my sputum. So for nearly 8 months I was told my chest pains were stomach and anxiety related but I really had a staph and fungal infection. My heart and chest hurt all the time so I'm sure it's in my heart now.

Had kaiser been more accurate from the start and actually cared about me and my health, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I just did a round of antibiotics with no relief at all. They wouldn't even tell me if I need an anti fungal or not. I had to constantly email them and call for any help or results. In September when I begged the Dr for more help because I was wheezing in my left lung and spitting up more yellow, she told me it was "anxiety".

Thank God today is the last day with that horrible hospital and now I'm headed to UC Davis for real care. It's probably too late now because I feel the bacteria and fungus in my heart and my spleen hurts so bad and I have no appetite, I'm just praying UC Davis will really help me. I just want to feel healthy again and want my life back. The last 8 months of my life with kaiser have been hell. Whatever you do DO NOT GET KAISER! They will kill you.

After six more months the drops did not work. I was told there was an operation that could stabilize my eye pressure but I could only have it as a last resort. When I finally went blind in that eye, another few months, with still uncontrollable Glaucoma, I requested to switch doctors. The new doctor also would not give me the operation until he saw the eye drops had no effect. At this point I am blind so the additional delay meant nothing.

Finally after two years has gone by I am given the operation in July of 2012. My eye stabilizes. After six more months of stable eye pressure, I ask the doctor if I had been given the operation when I first ask for it, would I still have my sight? His answer was YES. At that point I could not hold him to blame because I was blind before I started seeing him. As he went over my chart with me, he commented that he had NO IDEA WHY there was no follow-up exam six months after the lens replacement surgery. That initial six month delay caused the most damage. He said not giving me the operation when I first requested it, and still had 100 percent of my sight was standard policy.

When I first contacted a lawyer about this matter, I was told that too much time had gone by. I could talk to as many lawyers as I wanted and that would probably be the same outcome. My position was and still is, that I had no idea anyone had done something wrong to me until almost three years after this issue started. Why should I not be able to go after Kaiser for something I just found out about? I'm no doctor, I don't know what is proper or not. As far as I am concerned, Kaiser kept me in the dark until the statue of limitations ran out and then revealed to me the wrong doing. Kaiser cost me my sight in one eye and there is nothing I can do about it.

One month ago, today, I went to Urgent Care complaining of pain shooting down my neck, shoulder and arm. After x-rays were taken, it took a week to get the results and I was told I have a pinched nerve. I was referred to Physical Medicine(PM) and to be given a Spinal Epidural Cortical Steroid shot. I was told they would call ME to schedule the appointment. After three weeks passed with no call, I call scheduling, only to be told I had to contact PM myself. Once I contacted them, I was told the soonest appointment was in two weeks. I have had a trip scheduled and paid for, for almost a year, that I must cancel in order to keep that appointment. Not going to happen. On top of that I was informed I would only be examined in their department and if a shot was necessary, I would be referred to yet another department for that shot. All my efforts to be seen before my trip have been fruitless.

Referrals made in Riverside County are not transferable to other counties, like Orange or LA county. The referring doctor must resubmit the referral to the other counties, however the Urgent Care doctor who saw me is on holiday vacation for the next two weeks and cannot be reached. In the mean time the complaint department has informed me that my case is not dire enough to warrant expediting my appointment before I leave town. My pain is not severe enough. Who knows how much further nerve damage will be done before an appointment opens up. By the time I am seen over a month and a half will have passed.

Kaiser says they are about preventative medicine but when someone goes to them early in an illness, that effort is wasted. I mention this new situation only because it parallels my eye episode above. I went to them early on, as soon as I noticed something wrong with my eye sight. My problem wasn't bad enough for them to give me the treatment I needed so they let me go blind before taking me seriously. I have a pinched nerve at this point. How much further damage are they going to let accrue before taking action to stop the damage as well as the pain.

I got a letter from Kaiser's Division of Research telling me I have Diabetes, solely because my provider wrote that my pain was neuropathic [which was a wrong diagnosis]. In 20 years, my blood sugar has never even been pre-diabetic. Casts a lot of doubt on the quality of Kaiser's research. You want fries [flu shot, mammogram, stool test kit for colon CA] with that? No problem. But no onion rings [the test or treatment you need for the symptoms you have]. If you file a grievance with Member Services regarding the treatment you are not getting, or the fact that Kaiser's diagnosis was inaccurate or inadequate, the similarities to fast-food become even more apparent. Grievances are always resolved with a "Commercial Grievance Denial [CGD]" letter. The same reason is always given for a denial of services = "not medically necessary." Even if you were receiving the same or comparable treatment at the same Kaiser location in the past, when it used to be medically necessary.

If Kaiser policy changes, your treatment may suddenly no longer be medically necessary [like the seasonal McRib]. If it isn't on the Kaiser menu, it cannot be ordered for you. If you look into the background of Kaiser's "Senior Case Managers," who resolve your grievances, you will find their immediate previous jobs were selling gym memberships, greeting customers at Tesla Motors, or night manager at a pizza palace, to name a few. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, but they don't strike me as adequate experience for the job of "senior case manager" at an HMO which is responsible for your health care. [That probably explains why the medication or condition you are asking about is Always mis-spelled. Repeatedly. Even after you correct them.] Kaiser Senior Case Managers are NEVER trained health care professionals [no doctors or nurses or NPs or PAs].

Just about every time you file a grievance, your CGD is signed by a different SCM. Over the years, I have gathered more than 60 CGDs, signed by 35 different SCMs each with a different phone number. They all seem to be young, turnover is high, and pay probably isn't. Call the same number a few months later and someone different will answer. There has not been any continuity in "case management" at Kaiser in the past decade.

The CGD will usually say that the SCM discussed your case with some assistant chief of the department of family medicine, who is never named in the CGD. Forget that KPNC's official policy on Member Rights & Responsibilities says members are entitled to the names and professional status of every person who provides you with a service. You will get a response from MCRC saying the name and professional status of the persons deciding your medical treatment "cannot be disclosed to you for privacy reasons." Never mind that it is Member privacy Kaiser is supposed to protect. It is a basic principle in medicine that the doctor-patient relationship is supposed to be a direct one, not an indirect corporate one.

No patient can credibly complain to a Medical Board about quality of care of a particular provider, if that provider's care is constantly clouded by decisions made by unnamed superiors and policy changes which make the Kaiser standard of care a moving target. Plainly put, Kaiser primary care doctors are not allowed to think for themselves, thus they cannot advocate for their patients. They must advocate for the corporation which employs them. Physicians who say they joined Kaiser so they could "practice medicine without worrying about the business end of medicine," did not realize they would be sacrificing something far more precious = their independent clinical judgement. All Kaiser PCPs are told by TPMG administrators what to think and about whom to think it. I believe that is why changing PCPs has done nothing to increase my access to care I need, or used to receive.

Most frustrating is that, even though I am almost age 60, my entire health history now begins in 2007, because that is when Kaiser implemented its HealthConnect electronic medical record. Trying to get my providers to take note of earlier medical problems that still need management, earned me the comment "patient perseverates about the past" in my chart.

The only "personalized care" I have seen members receive from Kaiser is Restraining Orders taken out by Kaiser against them in retaliation for filing too many grievances! [attorneys please take note] It is good that this unpaid Consumer Affairs evaluation site exists. Kaiser actually invites certain members to participate in "surveys, focus groups, and usability studies" which are "influential" in impacting KP. If you participate, "your voice will be heard." And you will be paid off in KP Points; 10 KP Points = $10 Amazon Gift Code, according to this website: https://www.mykpvoice.org/Portal/faq.aspx [I have never been so invited; found out by accident].

If Obama hadn't made medical insurance mandatory, I would have dropped mine entirely 4 years ago, and taken my chances. As I was writing this, I looked up the list of various products McDonald's offers. I feel that I may have been unfair to McDonald's. At least McDonald's gives you real food in exchange for your money.

Well, hopefully it will all work out. But I definitely do not recommend them as a provider. I'll have a new provider come January and I hope they aren't as terrible as Kaiser is!!

I think this is a ripoff. They should have said to sign up in January 1 2015, not December because I already had insurance and I was just enrolling for January, not December. I will complain again if they bill me again. I live on a very small SS checks and I am handicapped, and it's hard to live on little income......

Hrr assigned hospitalist came by in am and insisted that the kidney failure was due to dye used when they did a CAT scan vs inadequate fluids. Additionally vigorously dropped her BP from 150 systolic to 100 systolic. Either way no interventions were done for UOP & elevated creatinine until Sunday regardless if problem was dye or I&O imbalance/severe dehydration. Mind you her labs were normal and she was a vigorous elder with colitis when she entered the hospital on Thanksgiving. Doctor on Sunday ordered a bicarb drip and by this time her creatinine was 4.5. Her level of consciousness continued to diminish through the day. I requested interventions & ICU transfer for close monitoring to deal with her declining status and renal failure. MD refused though he never even came in to see my mother & just spoke with the nurse on the phone. He had the nurse inform me that they could handle her care on the floor that she was on. I told the nurse that if my mother "crashes and burns" that I will be very upset. 30 min - an hour later my mother had a grand mal seizure and was unconscious postically. CAT Scan showed no abnormality.

Her encephalopathy and subsequent seizure and low platelets were the result of the acute renal failure not managed during the Thanksgiving weekend. Please know that the combined years of RN experience over the weekend was probably 10 year. All the rookies were working and it is clear that the on-call MDs and her primary Hospitalist just didn't want to be bothered. My family had to beg & insist for care in the ICU. Again my mother was a vigorous and independent elder who came in with colitis. MDs & intensivist finally agreed to treat my mother and although she had the seizure at ~ 1800, nothing was done until 0200 the next morning. Working diagnosis was HUS TTP though not all labs indicated this diagnosis. Personally, in retrospect, I believe that diagnosis is a cop-out so that they didn't have to admit that they caused the renal failure, associated low platelets and uremic encephalopathy and subsequent death. She was in and out of consciousness the remainder of her hospitalization, had 2 more seizures and gradually became completely paralyzed (Todd's paralysis?). We withdrew interventions on Thursday and my mother was dead by Friday, 12/5/14. Instead of planning for my sister's 50th birthday on Friday, 19th and the holidays, we picked up her ashes today, 10 days after her death. Kaiser Hawaii killed my mother.

My regular doctor isn't any better. She's fresh out of medical school and lacks any sort of confidence, which makes me feel very uneasy about any diagnosis she gives me because she doesn't seem too sure herself. She is also content to diagnose things without actually inspecting them. I had broke my nose before I had insurance and it messed up my sinuses to the point I couldn't breathe from my nose any longer. About a year after the incident I got insurance and I was finally able to get an appointment. I told her the story and she said that she thinks my nose was just like that when I was born and it wasn't worth her time to fix (this was several years ago, I still can't breathe through my nose). Another time I had went in after discovering a large lump on the back of my skull. Without looking at it or even touching it she said it was probably a cyst and had nothing to worry about. It more than likely is just a cyst, but I would have felt better if she had at least checked it to be sure.

The worst thing that she's done, though, is completely ignore my previously diagnosed conditions (I have hypothyroidism and asthma). I'll try to discuss them with her (specifically that I don't feel the medication I'm on works for me), but she always seems uninterested and switches to another topic, like getting a flu shot. It's concerning because if my hypothyroidism goes unchecked I can slip into a coma, but I guess not having the flu is more important. Overall, I feel like Kaiser is the McDonald's of healthcare. It's cheap (compared to other health insurance options). They're rather abundant, but don't expect good quality or service. That being said, having Kaiser is better than having no insurance at all, even if it's only by a small margin.

With most, if not all insurers requiring arbitration these days, and 45,000 Americans dropping dead every year due to lack of insurance, what kind of choice is that? This is despicable, especially when human lives are at stake. Forced mandatory binding arbitration has made it entirely too easy for Kaiser Permanente to escape accountability when gross negligence and malpractice occurs. It has allowed Kaiser to increasingly lower the standard of medical care, all because it's corporate lawyers and bean counters have determined that it is more cost effective to arbitrate when something goes wrong (because they know they will usually win), rather than to provide its members with a high standard of medical care to begin with.

This creates a very dangerous set of circumstances for all Kaiser members, present and future. With the loss of my daughter, I experienced every imaginable obstacle to achieving any kind of justice. The first obstacle was the vanishing and tampering of medical records. The second obstacle was California's grossly outdated MICRA law, which caps non-economic damages at $250,000, as this makes it extremely difficult to find a lawyer to take a malpractice case. And the third and final obstacle was Kaiser's mandatory binding arbitration. I found myself lucky enough to get past the first two obstacles, only to be faced with Kaiser's witnesses, who provided false testimony under oath before the arbitration judge.

Kaiser almost always prevails in arbitration, because they control all of the evidence, and the arbitrators -- who are hired and paid by Kaiser -- know they will not be used again if they rule in favor of the patient. To add insult to injury, the arbitrator in my case had been arrested in the past for drunk driving and soliciting a prostitute, and had been forced to resign his judgeship, yet this disgraced ex-judge was put in charge of judging wrongdoing of the HMO that signs his paychecks. Although our evidence strongly demonstrated gross negligence, and our expert testified and is adamant that Kaiser breached the standard of care -- not just on one occasion, but on three separate occasions -- I lost my case. I feel that it was decided before it ever began, and as I have become all too aware, this is the result in most Kaiser cases that make it to arbitration.

Kaiser Permanente's mandatory binding arbitration is an unconscionable violation of patient and human rights. I, and many others, would like to see this stopped immediately. If you would like to speak with me I can be reached anytime by phone or email.

The moral of my story is that Kaiser did not help me and so many others who are truly ill. Please do not recommend them. They are only bottom line oriented. My co-pay for one medication was $1560.11 per month and this med is approved by medicare! Kaiser is evil. I have written my State Senator about them as well. Kaiser is good for general medicine but nothing else. I am switching to Anthem and hopefully can go to the MS Clinic at UCSF.

The day of my appointment I asked the front desk lady about it and again she wasn't sure what I was referring to and had to go ask either the doctor or another person. That should have been my third sign. When I went in to see the doctor she went over the procedure and told me that I had two options. I picked the one done in the office because I didn't want to be put under for something that takes 15 mins. I could tell on her face that she was not looking forward to it. They had me watched a 20 mins video about the procedure, then when I went to the front desk to check out and schedule my appointment, the front desk lady told me that they have to call me back to schedule it.

I got a call the next day, after stating that she was calling to schedule my appointment the woman on the phone spent the next couple of minutes to basically tell me how inconvenient it was for them that I chose to do it in their office and started telling how they haven't done it since 2012 and that they need to block this room and have this many people in there and just kept going on and on! I got so frustrated and told her “Never mind, I will change insurance as soon as enrollment starts again in a month.” I've heard of bad experiences with Kaiser from different people, but now I know from first hand experience that unless you're healthy and just go in for regular routines you're better off getting a different insurance.

Fast forward. I was assigned to a staff cardiologist. She met with me and put me on the beta blocker (good) but then gave me no information, and didn't note anything about the nature of the problem, or what to expect in the future even though I asked her to. I continued to complain over the next many months of recurring, chronic chest pain. Each time I complained, she denied that it could have anything to do with my heart. I had also been through a procedure to use an endoscope to check my esophagus, which turned up negative. Tests for musculo-skeletal causes turned up negative.

This first cardiologist ordered another CT for me a year later due to the fact I was continuing to have chest pains, but not before telling me outright in her phone call that I would "get cancer", but she'd go ahead with it if I really wanted - wait, isn't that the doctor's decision to make and not left up to the patient to decide? She never mentioned an MRI as a possible alternative to another high-rad dose procedure even when I asked her if an MRI could be done, she stuck with the CT scan. I know now that an MRI was always an alternative.

She called me at home after I'd had the CT scan to give me the results. The good news, she said, was I had no visible blockage. Then she stated, clearly "However, (she paused for a few seconds here) your heart is enlarged". So, I paused for a moment to reflect on it, as it was delivered as one hands out bad news, and asked "ok, so what are we going to do about that?" Her response: "Nothing".

I come to find out after requesting all documentation related to my heart condition and receive it on 3 CDs that she didn't log that particular finding, nor did she log the dr-patient phone call as is their protocol. So now none of the doctors believe me when I bring this up, as there's no evidence, and they cover each other's backs, and won't believe she even said that.

I informed her of this at which point she told me to talk to my PCP. I did so, and the excuses started on how I just must be stressed out and needed to speak with mental health, as all my pain must be a result of stress. That too, turned up negative, but they would not let go of the stress thing, and more recently returned back to my esophagus, ignoring the fact that the previous tests on other areas in my chest for pain causes were a negative, and the only organ in my chest cavity with any positive signs of problems is my heart.

Yet they continue to deny any possible linkage, and keep putting me off, and won't conduct any further testing to dig in for any rare causes even though it's clear I have a rare condition with the pulmonary aneurysm, and have more than a couple things going on with my heart. They won't entertain the possibilities of prinzmetal's angina though I have been given an open prescription for nitrostat (and I go through a lot of it on a monthly basis as the chest pain is recurrent and cyclic), and I'm sure they can track how much nitro I've used. I'm also on 60mg of Imdur to mitigate the chest pain. I've gone around and around and around with Kaiser, and they continue to deny that my chest pains are even present, they ignore my emails with specific questions about prinzmetals or microvascular disease.

The normally accepted schedule to keep check on my aneurysms is, at the longest, yearly. I had an angiogram via MRI early this year, at which point my cardiologist noted that yearly exams were prescribed. I continued to complain of chest pain to him as the issues were not damping down, and then without any further testing to back up his decision (no echo, no nothing), just changed the frequency to biennial (every 2 years) because he thought my aneurysms were "stable". This has put me at greater risk of not making it to my next examination, more than a year from now. My regular cardiologist (who's my 2nd cardiologist after leaving the first one).

In my opinion Kaiser is willing to gamble with lives, and withhold care if you really need it. They don't appear to like sick people much, and if you get sick, they put you on an ignore list, hoping that you die before you need treatment and wind up costing them money, even though over the years the premiums paid by me and my employers have totaled into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They don't care that the chronic chest pain is damaging my quality of life, affecting my husband's quality of life and worrying the hell out of both of us, as well as my close friends who know of my condition. By ignoring me and giving us the runaround, they have effectively denied me the service I and my employer pay good money for. Strangely, they'd rather I go to the ER, some of the most expensive medical treatment available, than spend less money on digging in and finding the root cause of my chest pain.

I realize that open heart surgery, which is required to fix my aneurysms, is quite costly, over $100K for the whole thing. I'm sure that cost is the reason they have put me in the ignore list. Money is more important to them than is human life. Stay away from Kaiser Permanente - the cost of their insurance policy may well be your life.

Very typical of the IT squad at KP. They just activated auto sign-in a month ago. And this incompetence carries over to all interaction with KP personnel, which of course is orchestrated on every level by software. Their doctors have been reduced to data janitors, replacing medical observation and inquiry with algorithms that triage lab test results. It's gotten to the point with KP where I'm reluctant to even try and interact with them as it always is so difficult and time consuming. They really need to hire better techies and start listening to their clients. If they are 5 stars, I shudder to think what dealing with the 2 star HMO's must be like.

I called the insurance agent to find me a good insurance. The agent required me to get a termination letter from my former insurance provider so I would be able to apply for new insurance company so I called customer service 3 to 5 time so they finally had faxed me the letter and indicated me my insurance has been terminated by end of August!!!!! So after I called customer service, the lady over the phone told me "in order to reinstate you have to wait at least till Dec" so I looked for another insurance provider since I hate to stay without insurance to protect my health. However I received a payment of describes exactly as below:

_____________________________

I called customer service, she explained this is my dues and I have to pay this amount whether you have used it or not! What the hell! How I have three unpaid payments and my account is still active but normally KP will terminate plans after not receiving one single payment. I feel they were trying to rip me off as much as they could! So I mentioned, “I have the fax you have sent me regarding termination of my policy, why do I get charge again since my account was terminated and I wasn't able to go see the doctors due to not receiving payment!” The lady at customer service when I spoke to her over the phone on Nov the 3th she hung up on me. I assume she had no answer regarding these multiple charges. Seriously, if I cannot use their service how they allow themselves to charge me and send me bill. I just do not understand this. These crooks love money and do any dirty and dishonest work in order to earn my hard earning money!

I will continue to fight with them regarding these charges. I will spread the word and leave KP a review on google as well as BBB and Ripoffreport regarding this fraud and I will want everyone know about it and recommend everyone to stay away from these people! Their customer service is rude and totally unprofessional and there is no way you can get in touch and meet up with someone in person! I warn you again to STAY FAR AWAY!!!!

I call in Thursday and wanted to speak with the supervisor. Reps HAVE TO GET THE SUPERVISOR but not this rep. She told me it would take forever for the supervisor to come on. I said fine. I'll wait. She came back and told me the supervisor wouldn't come to the phone. The supervisor was well aware of who I was and my problem and there was nothing she could do. POS.

I have file complaints with the Colorado State insurance commissioner. I have filed complaints with Kaiser. I need my insurance and my prescriptions. Thank god it is only November and I can now switch companies. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH KAISER. Don't do it if you want care, accurate billing and deal with people who really care. This company is the greediest most incompetent corporation I have associated with.

When I inquired about this I was told that I was suppose to write them a letter telling them that I wanted to keep my policy. Complete reversal from the previous 13 years. I had no idea this was necessary. And the burden of proof was placed on me. After hours on the phone, with at times 3 different departments at the same time, I was told here is what Kaiser was offering, I could take the lesser policy or go with a different company. They were not allowing any appeals, nor was there any refund for the difference in premium, which would have been just under 1000.00 dollars. Very matter of fact. I wrote letters and e-mails to the CEO, member services and my state insurance commissioner. I did get a response in May. Basically, they admitted there was a "policy" change regarding keeping old policies and if I wanted I could register a complaint. I thought I was doing that when I sent the letters. Bottom line again, I was free to go someplace else. Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out the path my complaint was going to take. This was the first attempt to throw me under the bus.

The first week of this month (Nov) I get a letter telling me that after 14 years I am "out of range" and my policy will be canceled unless (I'm guessing) I move. Again, calls were made. I was not given any explanation as to why I was suddenly out of range or given any options. There was no assistance with this whatsoever. I was not even told what the "range" was. And believe me I asked. These questions were met with repeated statements or silence. I can only surmise why this all happened this year. I will be turning 55. The brink of medical conditions for most. Unfortunately, Kaiser is not a group that can be counted on. Given the opportunity (even made up) they will throw you under the bus to save a buck.

Now back is in a continual rotation. Meaning it is happened Several times with in the month. Oct. 13, 2014, Oct. 21, 2014, Nov. 4, 2014, Nov. 7, 2014. I need help with a motorized wheelchair and Disability benefits. Also need in home healthcare and proper back brace. I would like a layer for these and other issues regarding my onset injuries from lack of correct care from Kaiser which is Severely Lacking. They have Terrible Service at the Kaiser Harbor MacArthur.

Today, I was 15 minutes late for an appointment at Kaiser in Woodland Hills. Yes. It was my fault. I was 15 entire minutes late. So, I was turned away. They couldn't fit me in for many hours if at all. The soonest this diagnostic for a traumatic injury could be scheduled was two weeks after the injury. I should feel lucky that this diagnostic could be scheduled at all. After all, I'm stuck with Kaiser. I should feel blessed. So, I took the day off work, and was 15 minutes late, losing an entire day's pay and a quarter tank of gas. But the fault is mine. The fault is mine for choosing Kaiser.

That afternoon, I wrote about it on the Internet on a couple comment lines for news releases about Kaiser. THE VERY NEXT DAY a Kaiser Executive calls me on my cell phone. I can't call and talk to a Kaiser Executive with a Writ from POTUS! The exec says he's really sorry for them turning me away. He says he's willing to make amends and let me get to Oxnard to get the Diagnostic. Then he says, "Oh, and I read your blog" and hung up. What motivates Kaiser? The Arbitration Process or Press?

The very next day another Kaiser Executive calls me. Apologies, Empathy, and rescheduling because of my frustration with Woodland Hills Kaiser were the points of his call. Two weeks later, a Department Supervisor from Woodland Hills Kaiser calls me and says, "Mr. ** I don't know what you've been told, but we cannot send you to Oxnard for [Diagnostic]. You have to come back here. That's our policy. That's just how it is. I'm ready to schedule you an appointment." Wow. I was just starting to think Kaiser wasn't that bureaucratic and out-of-touch. I told her that I'd just wait until Health Benefits Open Season and find other insurance.

How did she respond? "Sir, if there's an Emergency, you'll have to come to Woodland Hills Kaiser anyway. Have a nice day." And hung up. Oh My God. Was that a threat? She sounded like an angry teenage girl in a shopping mall who found a position of power. TWO HOURS AFTER THAT another call from Kaiser. A woman said that her supervisor just called me and was incorrect in what she had said. This woman was extremely apologetic. She said I can schedule the Diagnostic and any further treatment in Thousand Oaks and Oxnard as I wish. Something tells me her supervisor didn't get the memo.

True story. So, now what do I do? After all the Kaiser Executives and Doctors have fumbled the ball in their quest for glory and know it. After they realized I do write and often. After a threat from Kaiser from a huffy power-mad supervisor, What do I do? How can anyone expect me to go back to them and sit on a table while they hold a knife, a needle, and an attitude for revenge?

Do I blindly walk into Kaiser and some accident happens to me that kills me or cripples me for life? It has happened before: right there at Kaiser. I have lost my Trust for Kaiser. I'm stuck with them for two more months and my injury is not only not healing, but worsening. Then, today, I read about how the Kaiser Nurses have to go to the extreme of going on strike to get Kaiser to have Ebola Protections and Procedures in Place. Why doesn't Kaiser listen to customers and employees before things get out of hand? I've been with Kaiser for over 15 years. I loved Kaiser. Good treatment, little to no lines. Good Doctors and fine staff. I could call my doctor directly. In the past 5 years, things have quietly changed. Slowly and surely, service cuts have slithered into place. Lets look at the examples of Kaiser's History and the truth:

You can no longer talk to your doctor on the phone. The Customer Services Center gets all direct calls rerouted to them and they become uneducated non-medical-personnel intermediaries for any phone conversations. You cannot manage or view any of your own child's medical records online. We used to have Kaiser services here in Simi Valley where I live. First, the Urgent Care Services hours were reduced, then a year later, they were eliminated all together. Now, those of us in Simi must drive over 20 miles to get services at heinously overcrowded centers in Woodland Hills or Thousand Oaks. You know, where traffic is at a standstill. Parking? Park on the street and walk a block or loop your way to the roof.

Preferential treatment for Kidney Transplants that allowed patients to die. Kaiser has stalled union contract agreements where the Nurses and other workers simply wanted efficient staffing, quicker care for patients, while they themselves sacrificed their own medical benefits and pensions.

The CEO of Kaiser Permanente makes over 10 million dollars a year before bonuses in this Non-Profit Healthcare Organization. Kaiser appointment scheduling is packed. Due to their internal staff cutbacks you could bleed out for an Emergency Visit before getting medical help. You would be lucky to get seen by your own Kaiser physician on appointment before the ailment you suffer from has either taken you, or passed.

Kaiser Permanente is a Non-Profit that makes a profit of BILLIONS. How is this? The profit is split between the physicians themselves and the executives. When considering the tax exempt status of Kaiser Permanente, one can realize the Billions that are being made by these two parties.

So, if you can find a way to leave Kaiser, do so, in all haste, as there are further plans for more Creeping Service Cuts which will leave you dying in the streets. I'm leaving. Our open season is this month. I want a doctor within a quarter tank of gas from my home. One that will answer the phone. One that will actually care about the health of my children and myself.

On 10/14 my application was canceled. On 10/15 I applied again. On 10/16 I mailed via certified mail and faxed again my triggering event. Consisting of my short-term health insurance policy information start date and end date. When I called to confirm receipt they admitted they received it but they need a letter from my previous health coverage with start and end date. On 10/24 I faxed and e-mailed the letter. I called on 10/27 to confirm all was received and when my health care will be activated and when I will get my group ID and information. I was then told all was approved, activation on 11/1/2014 and I will receive information via mail. On 11/6/14 I received an e-mail stating my application was declined.

Needless to say I was stumped. On 11/7/14 I spoke to two different member service representatives to find out the status. One told me they never got the information. Then she said yes they got it but it was not complete, and then she said I passed the timeline to submit. The second person said yes they have the letter but still not accepted, but she did not know why. Every time I call I get a different calling center, a different person and no one appears to have a complete and accurate record, and they definitely appear inept at resolving problems. All they can say is “I don't know what to do” and “Thank you for calling Kaiser.” You got to be kidding me. When I got a supervisor's name, from the CO center, David **, I e-mail him and it went unanswered and the next time I called no one appeared to know who he was or how to reach him.

I am still unemployed and now without Health Insurance, which is required by law! I am a senior media sales and marketing professional and believe great companies consist of integrity, trust, value and superior customer service. My experience clearly shows me Kaiser is far from a great company. I will also do everything in my power (social media, word of mouth, etc) to tell my story and discourage anyone from signing up. I honestly thought Kaiser cared and wanted consumers to "Thrive" but now I know they are just another oversized company focused on the bottom line and not their clients or consumers. PS: God help me if I get hurt or sick before open enrollment. Thanks Kaiser for your horrific customer service.

I had an appointment and I was disappointed like I was with my past appointments. They didn't do anything, they could see that I was clearly spaced out, not able to say anything, having difficulties talking. I asked the "doctor" if I could see a neurologist and she denied that I see one because it's "unnecessary". She recommended that I see a psychiatrist. Yeah it would be the best option for me to see a psychiatrist when I'm about to pass out and I'm spacing out not knowing what's going on. They also require me to pay $20 for each appointment. Yeah $20 just to have a talk? Anyway she was asking me questions like how's your family life? How's school and your grades? Do you feel like hurting yourself or others?

Did I have time and energy to answer that ** in the condition and state that I was in? She then actually brought in a therapist to talk to me. Yes that helps a lot. Talking will help me regain my consciousness back. These ** don't care about me and once I had to go to the emergency room just to get evaluated the right way. I remember one time I had an "emergency appointment", for the same reason and I brought in a list of symptoms that might relate to my fatigue. The doctor refused to read it and reassured me that this was just an emergency appointment. These ** doctors need to run tests and do every type of evaluation there is because I'm still feeling terrible and who knows if I'll die tomorrow or who knows if I have a brain tumor or something? I'm going to sue them.

Three weeks previous her DVTs subsided but she developed breathing difficulties shortly after. Mary was never examined nor given any imaging. She was in severe pain and was only given an oxygen tube. My family were with her for her last hour while she heaved and gasped struggling for breath clearly suffering and in great pain. They could not get a nurse to attend to her. There was no doctor in attendance. A nurse came into the room once and said she would go get help but never returned. My brother went to the nursing station several times.

My family requested that she be given pain relief and put on a drip but were told by the nurse that Doctor ** of Kaiser Permanente had not ordered a drip nor any drugs or treatment for her. While in their care she developed severe bedsores, was drugged to the point of being immobilized, did not receive the physio- therapy that had been ordered, was not moved or changed more than twice a day. She was not given equipment to do breathing exercises and not given adequate access to water to drink. Her phone was always placed out of reach so we could not contact her. She had had recurrent urinary tract infections before being admitted to St. Francis. On two occasions we pointed out blood in her urine but she was denied antibiotics. My brother and mother visited her everyday and arranged for her to be in St Francis as it was near to where they live. As far as my family can ascertain Mary was never examined by Dr. **. Dr. ** was rarely at St. Francis Pavilion and difficult to contact.

My Brother and mother complained several times about Mary's bedsores and lack of care. Dr. ** met with my family and said that she was dying and not eligible for treatment. On Monday Oct 20, my family asked about hospice but only received a sales pitch from Generations Healthcare (they manage St. Francis Pavilion) regarding their own hospices which were miles away. Neither the Kaiser Palliative team nor the Kaiser Hospice team were brought in. Dr. Judy ** refused to make any arrangements.

It's now six days on and we still do not have a death certificate. On Wednesday, Oct 22 my brother complained again saying this time he wanted to take Mary home. He also made complaints to Kaiser Customer Care Team who had not responded, as of 28/10/14. The social worker phoned Dr. ** of Kaiser who refused to speak to them and said she had already dealt with this matter. My brother asked the St. Francis lead nurse in attendance if he could take her home but was told she was too sick to be moved. He disagreed with the decision so St. Francis Pavilion staff threatened to have my brother arrested and charged with criminal neglect if he attempted to take my sister home.

Tragically Mary died two days later in a condition of extreme neglect, in excruciating pain while denied access to basic palliative and routine health care. When my brother and mother arrived Friday morning at around 10:30, Mary was in extreme pain and distress. She had been calm when they left her at 8:00 the night before. We do not know how many hours she had been left in this state of agony being completely ignored by staff. After staying for an hour and failing to get help from staff, my brother left for a brief time to drop off my mother who was extremely upset and to pick up medications that had been left when she was being cared for at home. When he arrived home he received a phone call telling him that Mary had died. We know now that Mary should have had emergency treatment but staff refused to inform us of this or make arrangements.

My sister was a medical records administrator and worked for Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco for many years. She inherited Kaiser Permanente as her health care provider from her workplace medical and dental plan. She devoted her working life to securing funding from the state of California for long term medical care for those in need yet at the end of her life her human rights were violated and she was shamefully neglected and negligently treated.

Kaiser Permanente, Generations Healthcare and Global Health Inc. were all responsible for her care but refused to fulfill their legal obligations to her, refused to allow her family to care for her and left her alone and abandoned, dying in agony.

The second doctor I met with today told me I was depressed and needed anti depressants. He also told me I should be on birth control even after I advised my husband and me were trying to have a baby. He advised he couldn't approve or request an FMLA because I didn't have a history of migraines or visits with Kaiser. Well duh, I've only been a member since 7/2014. I offered to bring in all my medical history from my old provider showing my history with my neurologist and primary doctor. He stated I would need to make routine visits every time I had a migraine (like once a week at 40.00 a visit), in order to submit FMLA paperwork for my job. I have never been so disgusted with doctors in my life. I can't wait to be rid of Kaiser and their pathetic excuses for health care professionals. The only thing they are good at is prescribing useless medication their patients do not need.

I got gout, and I send an email to my Dr. asking for his advise, he "of course" prescribes colchicine for gout. I asked for a shot to reduced the swollen of my big toe, my Dr. said "we don't do vaccines." I went to an outside Podiatrist and he asked for my Xrays, I said, "I don't have Xrays with me," he said, "Oh Kaiser, they just don't like to spend money on their patients." And he continued to tell me horror stories about Kaiser and its services. He said "Kaiser has good Drs. However, they are overwhelmed with patients and they don't take care of their patients until they are dying." I did not want to hear this of course. If the system in Kaiser is so bad, why are they still around treating patients like stock options? Why no one can do anything about their awful system?

I even paid to see my own chiropractor to try and get some relief, since Kaiser doesn't provide coverage for it. Still, I hurt, and sometimes I am in tears from the pain, and nothing from Kaiser, no response to requests from their website about a request for a second opinion. Their online pharmacy has not worked. In the beginning I was harassed 3 times a week about getting a mammogram. I have since changed my phone number because all the complaints I filed, I was still getting harassed. This has been the most miserable experience of my life, both in the physical pain I experience and the continuous problems I keep encountering.

Finally they did it after a month and I had another bill showing for $48.18 that I also paid as soon as I got it, a month ago. Well, that last bill is still showing as pending and yesterday after a failed-never-ending transferring call, I wrote a complaint on their webpage, www.kaiserpermanente.org. They replied saying that they couldn’t help me and provided a number for me to call (303.339.3800).

I called this morning and the gentleman who got the call told me literally that he couldn't help me, and he also said that I had an outstanding balance of $280 (that I can't see because it's not showing on my online account due to the other pending bill). He also said he could transfer me to the Web Department but they wouldn't be able to help me either(!) Finally I was transferred, and after being transferred again for a couple of times back and forward between the Web and the Billing department, I got on the line with a lady from the Web support. She basically told me that the only thing she could do was refreshing my account and after try it and see that everything was the same on my end. I asked politely, (and I even told her that it was not her fault), that I wanted to speak with a supervisor because I wanted to find a solution to my problem. She said she would do it and put me on hold for literally 20 minutes and transferred me directly with a Direct Pay Department in California without saying a word.

The lady who spoke with me from that department was absolutely nice and tried to help me transferring me to the Billing Department in Colorado who, again, said he couldn't help me and it was the Web Department the ones who should solve the problem. I am extremely frustrated. I want to pay my bills but apparently it is a really difficult process of posting them on my account and nobody in Kaiser Permanente is willing to help.

They claimed the service area did not match the billing area; however we have been clearly getting mail and services in the same area for over 3 years. For example: the last bill, a month ago, came to my current billing in Fremont, the letters from her doctors have been coming to the current address. Her meds have been going directly from Kaiser to her Fremont assisted living. I checked with my brother, the other identified POA for medical and he got no notifications of pending or actual cancels either.

4. It also came out that the monthly payment has been for a different county for over 3 years (it is about 20% more). 5. One member services person said they'd mailed the letters to my mom at assisted living. Who would send a bill, financial statement or let someone with dementia? If something were given to her, it could easily be left on a table, thrown out or hidden somewhere. And yet we gave Kaiser advance health directives, power of attorney documentation for over 3 years - from the transferring county, the new Fremont facility, and at least once to try and get me access so I could use kp.org (which never did happen). 6. One member services person said our advance directive was invalid and that's why they didn't send the warning letter to me or my brother, however in the last 3-5 years from when Mom and the family repeatedly turned in the directive no one earmarked it as invalid. Here, the lack of communication is very clear. For example: they did the surgery for this last fall without any verbal verification from my brother or I (there was a phone message that they would pin the leg).

When I went in the next day, mom had been given a legal document regarding 'appeal' that they'd had her sign, on her stomach, and when I talked to the attending Dr., she didn't know my mom had Alzheimer's, about her other falls, etc. One of the member services persons says she does not know where they mailed this warning letter to, the other said they mailed it to the assisted living address. In any case neither my brother or I has seen it, missed it, or has even got a notice, email, or call that it would be or was cancelled. I'm told it could take 30 days to find out why. I'm told it will cost us the big bucks. I'm told it's our fault. I'm told medicare cannot be retroactive.

It is unacceptable for a doctor to not show up to a scheduled appt and then 'conveniently' NO ONE in the entire dept has any appts until months later. I can't help but feel that this is undoubtedly retaliation on the new Dr's part for me not showing up to my June appt. It is my belief that he feels his time is more important than the paying customer and I did not hold his time in the regard he wished I had and like a child is now retaliating by canceling appts and not releasing appt dates. Especially since I was told repeatedly by my dr's nurse that I would not be in such a bind had I showed up for my June appt and the doctor not showing up in October was irrelevant. As if the Drs time is more important than my own.

Regardless of what license they may hold or how they see themselves professionally I am still a paying customer and I say customer because I am PAYING to be provided a service. Within a timely fashion, Not months later. I believe I am being treated unfairly and I feel the Dr may not have a full grasp of my disorder and/or hold preconceived prejudice or judgements on this particular disorder.

I told her I wasn't there for medication but to see Pain Management and she really gave me a hard time over it. I explained my problem and how I found the only way to really help was with Pain Management. She was very rude and hostile as she wrote out a reference for me. I told Kaiser about her and they seemed surprised saying her husband who had a specialty was also one of their doctors. Oh well, she has a nasty attitude and I didn't appreciate her just assuming I was there for drugs and never showed me any respect. I was given another doctor who I found to be just as rude and uncaring. Left Kaiser for good.

Oh, by the way, the doctor also wrote one of my prescriptions wrong - incorrect dosage. I caught it and called to have it corrected. To his credit, he corrected it within minutes. The "physical" consisted of my weight, height, blood pressure, and heart rate being recorded by a nurse. The doctor had me remove shoes, socks, and shirt. He check mobility in my legs and arms. Looked into my ears and mouth. Listened to me take about 6 deep breaths. He then probed around my abdominal area WITHOUT gloves and WITHOUT washing his hands first. End of exam. I will probably tell my company to cancel my insurance at the end of the year. I can get sick and die for free.

It's now 10/2/14 and I have yet to receive this paperwork. I am about to make another appointment with my pediatrician whom I switched to after never hearing back from the original doctor he was assigned to. And see if I explain to her the problems I've been having with both the doctors office and the Health information department getting me my paperwork in less than a month when they said 10 business days at the most. I don't know who at Kaiser can I talk to about just a phone call returned. Instead I got nothing but a one page fax and not the completed physical paperwork necessary for his daycare to continue caring for him.

She insisted she would have some more information and she would call me in 24 hours to let me know what they were going to put her on. The appointment was Sept 9, 2014 and today is Sept. 30, 2014 still no call... I only have 30 mis for lunch and they say the recording when you call the wait time will be more than 30 mins or 47 mins.. It's impossible for me to reach them and then they are closed when I get off of work most nights... This place is a joke... and now my daughter is getting in trouble in school with her $300.00 prescription.

Finally found a good doctor that I see, however, I am NEVER allowed to talk to her. My emails go to incompetent nurses who do NOTHING to help. I got a call from the nursing department and missed the call. So, I called them back at the number the provided and they had no idea why I was calling and did not know what I was talking about. REALLY?? If I email my doctor, it is a MINIMUM of 5 business days before I get a response. I write very specific information and get very vague answers. The best one I got was today. I was told by one of their genius nurses to "eat crackers and ice chips". Unbelievable. I can not possibly write the entire story here, but trust me, they suck and if I had any other options I would drop Kaiser in a heartbeat. If you have a choice who to use, DON'T USE KAISER.

Back in March, I submitted a request for a health plan to start May 1st. I mailed the check in early April, and Kaiser Permanente cashed it on the 8th. I never received an enrollment package, so I called at the end of April, wondering where it was. Despite taking my money, I had apparently never been entered into the computer at all. They referred me to Connect for Health Colorado, who claimed I had never sent an enrollment request. Connect for Health kindly backdated a request for me, since Kaiser Permanente had obviously already taken my money. However, I didn't receive an enrollment package until the middle of June, and to this day, Kaiser Permanente claims my coverage started June 1st.

Here's where it gets good: by June, I had moved out-of-state and already had a health plan in my new location. Kaiser Permanente sent me a letter at my new address acknowledging that I had moved outside the coverage area. Ok, great, everything was taken care of. However, they were apparently still sending invoices to my old address (which of course took forever to reach me).

When I finally received the invoices, I called Kaiser Permanente right away. Not only did Kaiser Permanente deny knowing that I had moved and wanted my plan canceled, they claimed that they COULD NOT cancel the plan, and that I would have to call Connect for Health Colorado. Connect for Health in turn claimed that they never received my request to cancel the plan in June, and that Kaiser Permanente would have to approve the cancellation. So now I'm still receiving invoices on a plan that everyone claims cannot be cancelled.

I have never made a single claim on this insurance, but they continue to want me to pay for coverage that I didn't want, and they couldn't provide. The whole thing feels like fraud to me.

Months later I call to make a appt to have a cactus sticker removed from the back of the middle finger of my left hand. The doctor comes into the room & says she's gonna send me to get an x-ray & asks how I FRACTURED MY HAND! How did the stupid appt setter get FRACTURE from STICKER?! 2 weeks ago I call to make an appt to get my back x-rayed. An incompetent Dr. ** something or other ordered me to. The idiot appt person decided to send me to a GP, without telling me. I tell the doctor that I just need x-rays for my back & he's irked & says he's just a GP & wants to know why I made an appt to see him! I tell him the idiot did, not me! He orders x-rays & returns my money! I go to x-rays & the clerk says he'll also have them X-RAY MY FRACTURED HAND! The idiots never expunged the error when I went to get the sticker removed! It's exactly like this EVERY TIME I GO TO KAISER. I got a Rx for an antibiotic & got shorted 1 pill! All of this happened since 01/01/14, within 7 months!

He has been taking Ibuprofen to manage his pain but the pain is unbearable. He has gone for some 78 blood tests and several other body scans (CT scan, bone scan, bone marrow biopsy etc). This has been going on for about 2 months now and the Kaiser doctors are still not able to figure out the root cause. What makes me even more frustrated that they won't even refer us to experts outside the network. Clearly, they have exhausted all possible tricks in their hat to see what is the cause of my husband's condition but they have got nothing.

It is very frustrating for the patient and the patient's family to pass each day not knowing what is the cause of these fevers or aches/pains. Some of the Kaiser doctors whom we met as part of referral within the network are so busy that they don't even read the patient history or test results before the appointment. This whole situation is impacting our social and family life. We feel that Kaiser doesn't care about its customers and are least bothered about their customers well being.

So I went to my Kaiser doctor with a detailed report from my Pain Management Doctor who's been treating me these past 8 years. This report was written to my attorney for worker's comp. that explained in detail what my problems are, the medications I've been on and why I need them. I had just gotten Kaiser coverage about 5 months earlier, so this was the very first experience I had with any doctor at Kaiser for care regarding my chronic pain condition. I knew at some point that I would need this type of coverage because I've been told by several different doctors that this is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

Because it was my first time seeing a Kaiser doctor, I brought this 8-page report from my Pain Management Doctor so that my new doctor would know what my problems had been over the past 8 years, what medications I'd been given to treat my condition, why I needed each medication, and outlining that worker's comp. had started denying me all of my medications. I also thought it important that my new doctor have this type of information and proof in front of him so that he would know that I was not someone just going to the doctor for "drugs", since I'm aware that this is a problem in today's society, but that I have a legitimate and ongoing problem with chronic pain due to injuries in my neck that I will need to deal with for the rest of my life.

This doctor displayed the most horrifying attitude and lack of concern and care towards me that I had EVER experienced with ANY doctor in my entire life. I went to see him for help because I couldn't afford to buy the medications I'd been being prescribed, so I needed my doctor at Kaiser to prescribe my medications for me. I explained to him that my only prescription coverage was through Kaiser and because worker's comp. had just started denying all my medications, I needed to be able to have them filled because I simply couldn't afford to pay for them myself. I also explained that I had just obtained insurance through Kaiser because I knew that eventually, my chronic pain management problems would need to be handled through them. I then told him that all I currently needed to have filled were the prescriptions for **, which is for nerve pain; and my pain medication which is the only thing that allows me to function at all on a daily basis.

This doctor didn't examine me at all, unless you consider poking me in my arm and asking me if that hurt an exam. He didn't ask me any questions about my condition, unless you consider the question, "Well, is your neck BROKEN?" a question about my condition; and, he barely looked at the 8-page report I'd brought to him at all. Instead, he treated me as if I were some druggy in there just looking for drugs, treated me as if I were a liar and basically someone who didn't need his help at all. This man then proceeded to tell me he wouldn't prescribe me ANY of my medications and that NO doctor at Kaiser would. At this point I was in total shock as I've been through a literal BATTERY of doctors over the past 8 years, NONE of which EVER treated me like this or didn't understand that I had legitimate pain problems due to the injuries in my neck. This includes doctors who would have, I'm sure, preferred that I NOT be hurt as badly as I am such as the worker's comp doctors or the disability doctors, who actually saw and examined me themselves.

Quite the opposite, THIS particular doctor actually sat there and told me that he would do NOTHING to help me and that I would go through severe withdrawals. I asked him what I was supposed to do about the pain and he gave me a medication that he told me would take at least a MONTH to even see if it worked, but he'd give me that much. In the meantime, he FULLY EXPECTED me to go through severe pain levels and severe withdrawal symptoms on top of all that and wasn't willing to offer me ANYTHING to help with ANY OF IT. I got the VERY DISTINCT impression that this man WANTED ME TO SUFFER as MUCH as humanly possible! His entire treatment towards me was nothing short of SADISTIC. I felt as if he were actually taking PLEASURE from seeing my distress.

Needless to say, I left his office crying knowing the pure hell I was about to go through and for the life of me, I just couldn't figure out WHY "ANYONE", let alone a supposed doctor, would purposely MAKE a patient of his suffer like this doctor apparently wanted me to suffer; even KNOWING that I'd been treated for these problems for the past 8 years. It wasn't like I didn't bring him PROOF from another doctor that I had legitimate problems and suffered pain daily even with medication. I can only believe, that this man was himself, a very sadistic person.

After getting over the pure shock of what this man was going to make me go through, I filed a complaint with Kaiser letting them know what this doctor did to me and how badly he treated me. I let them know that not only did I bring him a detailed 8-page report detailing my injuries and treatments over the past 8 years, but that this doctor didn't even bother to examine me himself or ask me any questions other than, "Well, is your neck broken?" As if because it wasn't actually BROKEN, I didn't need any help at all. Someone from Kaiser ended up calling me and I reiterated what had happened to me and how sadistically this man treated me and she said she was very sorry that happened to me and that she would submit my complaint for further review. I haven't heard anything other than that, so I can only pray that this particular doctor gets fired so that he'll NEVER be able to treat another person like that or purposely cause anymore of his patients the needless suffering he so willingly caused me.

My solution to this whole experience? I fired Kaiser and am obtaining different prescription coverage through Medicare now. I've had several friends who've been through nightmare experiences like this with Kaiser doctors in the past; but I thought that this was something that Kaiser had actively changed due to their past terrible reputation mixed with what I read on their website. Their website alone seemed great with all of the information they have available for their patients, so I assumed that they would also provide a high standard of care too. I was VERY WRONG. I will NEVER trust my own care to those doctors ever again just based on how sadistically this one doctor treated me and how SURE "HE" WAS that NO OTHER DOCTOR AT KAISER would help me either.

I've been very lucky in the fact that the doctors who have been treating me over the past 8 years actually CARE about their patients AND care also about their patient's quality of life. I'm changing my insurance to MAKE SURE I can KEEP the good doctors I currently have in the future because after experiencing that, I NEVER want to lose the great doctors I have now. I feel absolutely terrible for anyone who has no other choice than to deal with those doctors at Kaiser. They seem to be very unknowledgeable, uncaring, and in this doctor's care, just plain sadistic.

I am noticing a total lack of care in that office since me first going there in 1997. It is frightening as my main issue of insomnia probably cannot be addressed in any other office at Kaiser so I am forced to be there. To top it all off, I feel since it is the Psychiatry office where I'm having the problems I feel if I pose any opposition, I am the crazy and they are above criticism. I have read nothing but negative comments about this Kaiser office on the internet. Even this post will do no good for me. I hope it helps someone else. Stay away from this office if you expect any real care. Worst experience of my life.

It was another 7 months before I got to a neurologist and nearly 2 years to get my first nerve block. My arm will never be the same. My skin gets mottled, sometimes the arm is freezing cold and gray, sometimes it turns red and hot. I have swelling, stiffness and chronic pain. My career path was ruined and have had to change plans. I filed a demand for arbitration and their lawyers allege no wrong doing on their part. They say their hand surgeon and their neurologist who performed the nerve studies and the pain specialist currently treating me are all wrong and don't know what they're talking about. They throw they're own Drs. under the bus so long as it serves their interests. The phlebotomist is still doing blood draws and nothing has been done to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else. This is just my story--there are far worse ones out there. This company and it's CEO are pure evil. The good Drs. they do have are trapped in a system that values profits over people, profits over ethics, profits over life itself all in spite of their non profit status.

Be very wary! And, if you ever feel radiating pain in conjunction with insertion of a medical needle, the nurse or phlebotomist is supposed to remove the needle immediately - do not let them poke or dig around or you might end up like me. Keep your records handy--if you're ever in a situation like this, don't be surprised if your records get rewritten or previous diagnosis retracted. They are scam.

To sum it up, when my mother lay there dying at home I had Kaiser hospice. They came twice a week, never called and didn't put a catheter in my mother so her bladder almost burst open. I could tell she was in pain, called hospice screaming to convince them she's in pain. The nice nurse came quickly and noticed her belly was very extended and put a catheter in which filled up the plastic belly of pee. Just horrible. My mother died a couple of days later with me and her, Kaiser hospice had been there the day she died and said she was stable. When I called them to tell them she passed, they were shocked. 5 years later, I still blame myself for being so stupid. I have since spoken with others that had a great hospice experience, loving and kind. Just ask a lot of questions and don't take no for an answer. Change doctors if need be. Godbless.

We got a letter in the mail several weeks later stating we now owe $3500! I've fought back and forth, email, calls, faxed statements and contacted "Managed Healthcare", California Attorney General, DCA and of course Kaiser Permanente over 5 "grievance" complaints submitted, two "case managers" assigned and 3 or 4 "denial" letters with the final one stating because we applied as our daughter being added on as our "triggering event" and this was requested on my wife's employee healthcare plan in March 25, 2014, they are now charging us for 3 months of service which was never rendered on our "pay plan". So, Kaiser Permanente has effectively been given the okay by our United States Government to extort/steal $3500 from us for 3 months of service we never received.

We were notified our "pay plan" was approved June 2, 2014 and received all cards and welcome documentation at that time. We were unable to use healthcare services for our daughter the months prior (which we did need and were unable to do so as she wasn't covered by our plan yet, as the plan wasn't approved), yet, Kaiser Permanente still sent out 2 letters stating if we didn't pay the $3500 we would be canceled/terminated healthcare for our entire family effective approximately 5 days later. Nonprofit apparently = EXTORTION.

I have gotten all my info by email which I wrote was my least favorite way to get results, messages, etc. At the exam they did the bare minimum -- weight, height, BP, pap. The MD never went over my health history. I handed him the form and he asked no questions. Blood tests were not run for certain levels because I couldn't speak up to state what results had been higher in years past and might need attention. He might have known had he read the health history. I requested a mammo and colonoscopy because I was overdue. Your "free" covered service does not include the radiologist reading your mammo or pathology from polyps removed. What good is the procedure without these followups? I have had pain since my colonoscopy and don't want to repeat the procedure to see if he left damage.

I was told my X-ray and labs are normal and at this time there is nothing further they can do. I begged for a second opinion, additional tests, an orthopedic referral, and something to relieve the pain - even daily injections - I don't care. I was told none of my requests were appropriate at this time. The nurse told me that she has had to live with pain too at times. I called back on July 3, July 7, July 14, July 18, and July 21 asking for reconsideration. Each time I was told the doctor on call reviewed my request and concurred that it was inappropriate, but I was offered physical therapy "if you are determined to have something" which I tried for two weeks with incredible pain. I also sent daily emails and made complaints (which is a JOKE).

On July 21, I finally in a fit of rage got approval to go outside of Kaiser. On July 22, the real doctor I saw immediately read from the Kaiser radiology report dated June 24 that I have a broken bone, gave me a prescription for pain management, and referred me to an orthopedist. Kaiser is now fighting with me about paying for the treatment I need, causing further delay in my treatment. I have a completely atrophied arm from the loss of use. I have one normal arm, and one hanging bone with jiggly skin and fat swinging from it in addition to the continued pain and struggles of living like this.

At least 4 doctors, 2 administrators, and countless member services reps made decisions about my care and what was "inappropriate" without even reading their own report. There is no grievance process. Just a lot of insincere hot wind from people who are paid to not care. My only recourse is to continue fighting for now, change providers at open enrollment, complain to the state medical board about the specific doctors, warn others, and likely sue them when this is all over. In the meantime, my arm continues to die here due to their negligence and incompetence.

The Kaiser doctor wanted to double the dose based on one single reading after scrambled to find the facility (always in a bad neighborhood) and stressed about the factory feel to their facility. I call this incompetence. It took me much energy and time to convince her that I was ok and that in general my readings are fine, and that she should focus and use more time for patients who need her, not me. They want to over medicate healthy patients and over test healthy patients even if you don't fall in the category of fat and unfit people, which is the majority of their patients and also staff! I total hated the experience. Nurses talked to me as if I were totally unaware of what I should do to take care of myself. This is big business, not health care. I now believe that if these doctors were any good, they would not work there.