Comments on: Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance Company

By: Jared

Jared — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:12:35 +0000

The staff is generally fast and friendly. The problems I have with Kaiser Permanente are their incessant robo-calls, horrendous automated phone system, and the fact that they won’t actually try to treat anything unless you do huge amounts of you own research and then pressure them to look into it. I am going to cancel and go without coverage like everyone else I know. Kaiser is a perfect example of the failed for-profit health care system. I was diagnosed with acid reflux and received a prescription(!) for something I knew to be a lung issue, which was later confirmed. I have no acid reflux.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:10:49 +0000

I own a business and recently switched to Kaiser for me and my employees’ medical insurance. These are a few of the things that happened in the first one month that had me regret my decision to move to Kaiser:

1. Kaiser did not send any information about how to access account to the members. I, the group admin, had to send multiple emails to get the membership id information. However, when it came to billing, the first month premium was immediately charged to my account. The members were not able to avail any healthcare services for one month because they did not have any clue about how to take an appointment with the doctors.

2. There is no way to contact them outside business hours, not even to make payments! There is just one phone number for customer support and that too has very restrictive hours which makes it hard for someone with a full-time job.

3. I did not get any information about how to set up account for online access. Neither did I get information about how and where to send payments.

4. The notification of the first bill came on two days after the bill was due! How is anyone supposed to know that the bill is already due if the notification comes later than the due date?

5. There is no way to reset password online for group administrators. You can’t even check for email responses without logging in! This is too much restriction in the name of security. This is so ironic because when I called an operator reset my password and told me the password over phone! What kind of security is this when you can’t reset my password online and a live person can just speak out the password over the phone!

6. The website is really very difficult to use. The navigation controls are tedious and non-intuitive. It is very slow and does not provide information about how to pay bills.

I hope this review helps you make decision on choosing the right medical insurance plan.

By: long time insured

long time insured — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 23:04:44 +0000

This is the absolute worst place to go for medical care. I have had Kaiser for over ten years by default (through my wife), and I still have medical problems that have remained almost the entire time that they have failed to care for. They have no urgent care, only your regular doctor, or the emergency room. If you have an urgent medical need, but are not in eminent danger, they discourage you from going to the emergency room, and you have to wait several days to get an appointment with your doctor. Case in point: I had a broken foot, and they wanted to keep me from going to the emergency room, and advised me that I needed to take an appointment from my regular doctor several days later while I laid at home in agonizing pain. This is only one of many examples that I myself have experienced of Kaiser’s neglectful ways. My quality of life has suffered immensely while in the absent care of Kaiser. In the ten years I have been with Kaiser, they have steadily cut more and more services, while continually to increasing rates. If you are considering Kaiser for coverage, run away as fast as you can, unless you want the quality of your life to suffer as well.

By: Michael Boyett

Michael Boyett — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:17:53 +0000

I was at first worried when my employer announced we were going to a Kaiser plan. I have been pleasantly surprised. My wife, kids and I have all found great doctors and receive excellent care. While it is a bit difficult and more expensive to get some medications, like my wife’s migraine medicine, we have been able to get it. I especially like being able to email my doctor to deal with routine issues without needing to make an office visit. This saves time and money. Overall I rate my experience with Kiaser as positive.