Kaiser Permanente

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... Read more

This is a copy of a letter I sent to Kaiser and the office where I received the service. To Whom it may concern. I would like to express how upset I am at my first and last (to date) visit to the clinic in Evergreen, CO. I came in Friday 4-29-2011 with a sore throat. I was seen in a timely manor. Being a new patient the nurse advised me that I needed to set up an appointment and choose a Primary Care Physician. I was informed that they could take care of that right away. I made it abundantly clear that I did not want to do it at that time. I was hesitant to do it at all not seeing the need. While being examined she was insistent on the fact that I needed it done. I conceded that maybe I should but that now was not a good time and I could come back later in the day or set an appointment for next week. As the examination went on she repeated how important it was for me to see a Primary Care Physician. The Primary Care Physician could explain the lab work that was in my file.Work ... Read more

Born in Kaiser and been a part of Kaiser almost the rest of my life. Physicians that I have had are great with the exception of one my wife was treated by one year before her fall. This is where the negative story starts. I am writing this now because we just decided to give up righting the wrongs. My wife fell and was in pain. Made appointment with her physician. Eventually had an xray and a ct scan. The wait caused us to be there after hours to have the results read by a radiologist - fractured pelvis. We got out of there at midnight. Prior to be sent after hours her physician advised us that we would not be charged for admission to ER. Well in a sense she was right...we did not pay going in but they required payment on departure. Denied refund after 5 months of trying to weave through the hazy maze required to report issues. One more thing, a report indicated my wife was sent a letter advising her that her bone density was low and needed to start on medicine right away t... Read more

Kaiser Permanente will not cancel your insurance policy, no matter what. If you choose to join Kaiser, expect to be associated with the organization for life. The customer service department is a joke. They continually make promises to complete simple tasks, but drop the ball on every occasion. I've been in the process of canceling my policy for three months. The major problem is the inept organization continues to bill me. I owe them over five hundred dollars now, which is absurd considering I no longer live in an area where Kaiser offers their services. I've made countless phone calls, written letters that somehow never reach their destination, and sent faxes that are never received. All of this is very convenient considering the company will not accept any of the letters and faxes that I've written as proof of canceling my existing policy. How this company treats its costumers is probably illegal. I'm in the process of writing my congressman and other elected officials regarding K... Read more

1 star I work in retail, so I know what it means to give good customer service to paying customers. Last year I had pulled a muscle in my neck while I was sleeping. Hurt like a b****!! I couldn’t even lift my neck to get out of bed. Luckily I had two days off in a row so I thought that it would go away. But it didn’t . . . I went to urgency care the morning I woke up from pulling it. They decided to give me a shot for the night and a few muscle relaxants. Obviously the shot wore off in the morning, so I decided to call the advice nurse and ask her if I could get some pain killers so that I could go to work the next day. I didn’t want to pay another co-pay so I thought that the advice nurse was the best way to go. I was very very wrong. At first she told me to take ibuprofen with the muscle relaxants and that it would go away in a few days. I told her that I didn’t have a few days and that I had to go to work the next morning. Then she said, and I quote: “Well, ugh, we don’t have a ma... Read more

went to kaiser saturday morning with an ear infection, apparently it was all for nothing... the ear infection hurt like heck... I'm a big dude so i can sustain pain, but this pain was horrible... i wouldnt wish it upon anyone... i went to urgent care and to my surprise my personal doctor was in on a saturday... she treated me and gave my some advil and some anti-biotic ear drops... i asked her for a doctor's note to miss work on Monday, she said it wasn't necessary. i said fine. the next day i wake up with a fever, a head ache, and an even worst pain then the day before... i said to myself to just wait it out.... my girlfriend came over later on and she said that i looked bad, that i had a fever, so we ended up going to the emergency room at 9pm... i didn't want to go because i was going to miss my shows, american dad and family guy... the service was quick... the doctor looked over me and so did the male nurse... i then explained my situation to the male nurse and he was sympathetic a... Read more

Kaiser Permanente is an absolute nightmare. Today, I went in to get some shots and the receptionist was plain right stuck up and had a very bad attitude, she basically told us to f*** off. There was a 1-2 hour wait queue, after waiting 20 minutes, we had to leave. Then we came back AFTER LUNCH, but then we had to wait another 30-60 minutes, its an absolute nightmare. They are understaffed in that department and the same person that was the nurse was the receptionist for about 30 minutes, since the receptionist was late out at lunch. We ended up waiting over 2 hours there to no avail, and never got the shots. Stay away from Kaiser unless you want to be waiting at least 5 hours to get what you need done, and if you want receptionists with a very bad attitude. Do not touch Kaiser with a 10 foot poll. I wouldn't even rate Kaiser one star, I would rather much rate it negative 5 out of 10.

As one other reviewer mentioned, Kaiser is great if you just need a physical, annual shots and tests. In those departments they are great. But if you happen to develop any condition that requires on-going healthcare forget it. When my husband moved to a Kaiser plan 10 years ago we really had no conditions that needed much attention. I was diagnosed with type II diabetes earlier this year, much to my surprise and was told I needed to see an endocrinologist. After 3 months of waiting to see her I drove an hour paid for the specialist visit and was told nothing but to continue what I was doing and see her again in another 3 months. I called an complained about the endo and Found out I was only allowed to see her or one other endo that is even farther away. The diabetes education class is a joke another 2 months of waiting to sit in a class that didn't offer me anything that I had not researched online and learned from actual diabetics. They wanted to perscribe medications for conditions ... Read more

I became a Kaiser subscriber in June after losing my job and rolling under my husband's plan. I had to see a PCP last week when I developed ear pain, a swollen gland, fever, and my face swelled after using a hot water bottle. I had to wait 2 hours to see a doctor as I was a late call in . When she finally arrived, I explained that I would be changing plans in Sept. so was not interested in becomining an established patient, she proceeded to ask a list of questions that included everything except the problems I was having. When she finally got to it, she didn';t have a clue and picked up the phone to consult with an ENT. She described my symptoms regarding ear pain and facial swelling, and I heard him say that if the swelling got worse the next day, I would be in real trouble. I was put on IV antibiotics every 8 hours - and had to drive an hour to get to the closest urgent care facility to do this. Each time I see a doc, I get a different theory as to what is wrong with my face-... Read more

kaiser is only good if you have little to no problems. And your problems better be something common. even then...i've heard really bad things. Their system works decently, you're in and out ...but it defenitely doesn't feel personal. I have a bleeding disorder. When i switched to kaiser, the Hematologist had no idea how to treat me. Thank God i did. I had to tell him what medication to prescribe and even then he got the dosage amount incorrect! My emergency medication takes about a week to be delivered. hmmm...so much for emergency medication! I'm pregnant now and i DO NOT trust them with my life. I'm gonna try to get back to memorial because if I stay with kaiser, I might bleed to death at the delivery room. Scary stuff! I've also known of two people who had cancer, and the nurses and doctors were so inpersonal and mean. I'm sure they have decent doctors. Good luck trying to find one that doesn't treat you as cash in and cash out.

Kaiser Insurance: The Health Insurance Provider with a Purpose. With a mission to provide quality care and to help in the well-being of the community, Kaiser Insurance or Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit health organization which aims to give satisfactory service to its members as well as their families and their communities. Kaiser is a health plan provider offering the most affordable package for individual and child health, family, or group insurance. With Kaiser, there is a perfect package for you. More than that, Kaiser is driven to give the best health delivery system with a social obligation to help people from different walks of life. It also assists the poor and the uninsured which makes it more than just an insurance provider in the market. Because of its community service and its goal to reach out to many people in order to help, it is a health organization with a purpose. Its services include individual and group insurance coverage. Its individual plan can be converted in... Read more

They have excellent doctors. I am happy with their doctors and care, but not with the all their plans, deductible department, and premiums. When I signed up for my plan in 2008 and again in 2009 everything was fine. I paid the entire deductible and everything else was then covered. In 2010 Kaiser decided to change my plan, without even notifying me of the changes. 2 weeks prior to having my C-section surgery I found out that I now have to pay my $3000 deductible, plus $400/day for hospitalization. $400/day for bunch of B.S nurses that don't do anything for you? I asked for a cup of water and took 1/2 hour for them to get it for me. They tortured me and my husband and I had to take care of the baby in my room the entire time we were there. It would have been much much cheaper than $400/day to check into a hotel room and hire a private nurse to take care of me and the baby after the surgery. I am so furious at Kaiser for making all these changes to my health plan and not ever no... Read more

I feel soo sad reading all of these negative reviews :( I work for Kaiser Permanente in Fontana,CA. I LOVE kp & I'm not just saying that because I work there. I've always had Kaiser insurance & so has my entire family. I've never had any problems even before my employment there. I work hard every single day. Sometimes 10 hour shifts and I always try my best to have a smile on my face. I truly & sincerely care for each one of our members. I try to make our members feel welcome & make their visit a positive experience. I encourage my co-workers to work passionately everyday. Unfortunately, those of us who love what we do & enjoy caring for others can't change the world. I truly apologize for everyone's bad experiances with Kaiser Permanente employees who are not working to keep the "KP promise". I'm not a doctor but I do work with patients every single day & I try to care for them as best as I can. I wish we all did the same but as much as were trained to care for others, things don't w... Read more

As a long time KP member I read with trepadation all these bad reviews because lately my experience is not good. I've a new PCP-one I didn't pick but was assigned to after my other moved to a new facility. Decided to go ahead and give new one a chance but I have the feeling that I need to follow my old PCP. new one listened and seemed to agree that I needed a specialist,but yet again gave me the same test that 2 recent same tests gave the same results a THIRD time (and almost for months later) and have not heard back from her for follow-up, even more than a week after I sent an e-mail! Kaiser seems to be alright for "routine" stuff but I'm having a hard time getting attention beyond that!

I've been with Kaiser for 10 years now. They pay every procedure and claim on time. I had cancer and they paid all required charges. I had no problem with the Doctors. I have Kaiser HMO in Colorado not the Hospital version like California. Only complaint is that out of the last 4 years they raised the family premiums from $375 to $725. That's why I took 2 stars away.

Recently one of my daughters’, who was already struggling to meet her monthly health insurance premiums, had to have 2 major surgery and was unable to work for several months. With only a disability check she somehow manage to continuing paying the premiums which were increased from $480 to $575 per month. Of course the insurance did not cover all her medical expense leaving her with a $2,500.00 unpaid bill. After arranging to pay off the $2,500.00 in affordable installed payments she struggled to pay the increased premium and her installment payments. Even though she fulfilled her agreed upon obligation, the health insurance company decided after accepting a few payments that they sent her bill to a collection agency. When my daughter became aware that Kaiser Permanente had sent her bill to a collection agency, she contacted Kaiser’s billing department. The billing supervisor stated that Kaiser would only accept $200 a month; otherwise she would have to “deal” with the collection... Read more

I've been with Kaiser for over fifteen years now. Kept paying very high premiums, but never really used their services until now. I find some doctors decent and attentive, but some are simply horrible. Yesterday I had to deal with an OBGYN who refused to do the hormone and thyroid test inspite of the symptoms, saying those tests will not show anything and in the same breath stated I was a good candidate for antidepressants and hormone replacement therapy. On a procedure that routinely requires local anasthesia, refused to give it, again saying it would not work (?!!!) and was butchering me for over 10 minutes where supposedly it was going to take less than a minute. With Kaiser, you really have to be proactive or if you can afford it, run somewhere else.

We have been covered, or should I say not covered for less then a year with Kaiser Ins. This is the worst insurance company I have ever dealt with. They have so many loop holes, they find a way to never have to pay for any medical expenses that are not routine. In the past 10 months, they have made three major mistakes on my prescriptions, blood work and denying payments. If you are considering making Kaiser your health care provider, keep in mind, you will loose your health!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kaiser is terrible!! i have been denied care and treated poorly for years. I thought all insurance was bad until i switched and found that anything else is better than Kaiser... I had abnormal pap's for years until i was finally diagnosed with pre-cancer and they suggested a hysterectomy at the age of 23...i switched insurance and after one biopsy i was cured....no more pre-cancer and i have had normal pap's ever since Dr Steven Richards in El Cajon CA was a nightmare He was very arrogant and rude!! I was a victim of date-rape and when i went to him for help he treated me like i was a slut! after I had a procedure done in his office by another doctor i asked for a doc note to get out of work; he wrote a long explanation regarding the procedure description including private and extremely personal information to my employer and lectured me on how i was taking advantage of my job by calling in sick for 2 days after, even though i was in pain! thank god for plan parenthood! they actu... Read more

Kaiser is by far the worst place I have ever experienced. Every time they disappoint me with bad customer service or over all bad service and I tell someone they are NEVER shocked. The only thing good about them is they are pretty cheap, but I guess you get what you pay for. I go to the ones around the DC/VA area. No one ever knows what they are doing. I would not recommend this place and I just wish someone would have told me what I am telling you all before I started being insured with Kaiser.

I have been with Kaiser most of my life (44 now). I think Kaiser is great! I have never been denied a test...including MRIs. Was diagnosed with a large kidney stone and was scheduled for a Lithotripsy the next day (non kaiser Doctor on Blue Cross suggested that I wait it out as the procedure would cost $10,000). I paid $10 for the procedure at Kaiser. If I don't like my doctor at Kaiser, I change doctors just as with any other insurance. In the last 5 years I have not waited more than 5 minutes past my appointment time to see the doctor. Their website is great for communicating with my doctors and prescription refills are so easy. My mom was treated for cancer that had gotten to her bone marrow at Kaiser. They used an experimental procedure at the time and now 33 years later she is still doing well. In addition she had a triple bypass and valve replacement at Kaiser. My doctors have always taken as much time as necessary to answer my questions. I have never felt that I was... Read more

This place is awful. I went in to get a blister looked at on the bottom of my foot. I had this problem ¨treated¨ by Kaiser before and they had removed surgically a year before. Obviously, they didn´t do a very good job because it came back again. The nurse practitioner comes in, (not a doctor), and pokes at it for a fews minutes, then goes away for 20 minutes and comes back, she tells me its a spider bite. She didn´t look in the computer to see that I had this removed before. She give me some anti bacterial gels and tells me to email her if it gets worse. What a crock of ¨s¨. I still have the blister and it still hurts. Paying a lot of money for crap. Hopefully Kaiser shuts down and get boarded up. I am so scared if I get something serious, I would die under their Nazi like care.

I found the Doctors to be great, including my personal physician, my Oncologist, Opthomologist, my present Vasculal Surgeon. With the exception of my Vascular Surgeon and his nurse who I changed, all had "great bedside manners" and eager to do the best for your health and listened to you. My personal physician referred me to specialists withou my request when He heard my problems or symptoms. I've been with Kaiser about thirty years and have had no reason to change.

my boyfriend is with kaiser and i am here todayy in the emergency hall way. earlier today i was talking to my mom and this rude ass nurse comes out and yells at me saying " this is a hospital blah blah u shouldnt be talking on the phone ur too loud" and i was like oh im so sorry. btw i wasnt loud and there were people talking the same level as i was so after that i told my bfs mom and she talked to the nurse the nurse started to yell at my boyfriends mom saying how rude i was. i was like wtf how was i being rude i said i was sorry so my bfs mom said that she was gonna call membership to complain about this lady being rude and unprofessional she even asked for my name so she can complain to her boss wtf is her boss gonna do to me? spank me? well thar isnt the first time we've been confronted by a rude nurse they even tried to kicky bfs parents out just for something simple..kaiser should teach thwy're nurses to respect people and teach them not to argue with people or else they will get... Read more

I wish I had read these review earlier. Kaiser is big RIP OFF! I had a very similar experience as one of the reviewers here for something as small as changing my contact lens prescription to kaiser! My friend suggested that I should try new Silicone Hydrogel eye lens. The simple task required this - -Make an appointment with Optometry and get a regular eye check up. Get a referral for lens fitting $40 -Go for lens fitting and pay $69 for absolutely nothing except for getting a sample to try on. -Go back to Kaiser Optometrist I first saw to get the final prescription $40. So, its $150 and 3 visits over a month for something that took me only $80 and an hour last time I did it (obviously not from kaiser). What a waste!

Folks...... you get what you pay for with this insurance, I should say foundation for the benefit of them..... I have nothing good to say about this monopolistic entity pertaining to "affordable" healthcare.... please check out my blog on my HORRIFIC experiences.. I am sure there are much worse out there... I am sooooooooooo glad to have gotten out before it got much worse.... Pleae check out my blog at http://shareyourkaiserexperience.blogspot.com/ by the way... I have blue cross blue shield now.. .yeah its more work than Kaiser, but at least if I don't like a doctor or whatever.. I can dictate my healthcare.... http://shareyourkaiserexperience.blogspot.com/

I love Kaiser Permanente. I am an employe but putting that aside it is my primary insurance and as a member I can tell you it is a great insurance/healthcare to have. I've read some of the comments and concerns and can touch on a few of them as an employee. -Costs: Issues with costs such as copays and/or benefits are not chosen by KP. Your employer chooses the plans and copays. Also, your employer determines the amount in which they will contribute to your portion of benefits, again not decided by KP. Another factor to consider is your fellow co-worker's health conditions can play a major role in the cost of coverage for your employer which falls down to the employees. This is the same through any health insurance carrier. -Access: This can sometimes be an issue depending on the department/reason for the visit. I know KP attempts to have the best availability they can. For example, we allow approx 20min for visits which is the typical amount of time needed. If we lower the appt time t... Read more

Kaiser is the very worst health care provider I could imagine. I need an injection in my spine for severe pain in my left arm. I have had this done three times in the past but here is what I have to go through to get the procedure done. 1. Make an appointment with my primary care physician ant tell him what I need done and get a referral. [$50] [four days] 2. Go to the referral office and get them to make an appointment with the Pain Clinic and have then evaluate the referral. [$50] 3. [2 weeks later] Go to the Pain Clinic and have the Tech ask me if I am in pain [$50] 4. Go back to Kaiser and try to get approval for the injection [2 weeks] 5. Make appointment with Pain clinic for the injection [2 weeks] 6. Finally get the injection to ease my pain. The entire process took almost six weeks!! All Kaiser would do is say this is "standard" procedure. Shut the car door on your hand and wait six weeks to get the door open and you would know what I went through!!!

I agree with the 0 stars opinion. Kaiser reminds me of kind of a "healthcare McDonalds." When I go in I feel as if I am just a number and am being herded through the system along with everyone else. I recently requested a specialist (Osteopath) for my problems because my family doctor would only prescribe me medicines and not find out why I was having the health problems I am. I requested to spend some time with the osteopath to get down to the root of my problem and I said specifically I DO NOT WANT MORE DRUGS or different brands of the kinds I already have. I got 5 minutes with the osteopath.. and more drugs. She told me to take two different brands of muscle relaxers every day and all these pain killers. I will not do it. All I ask is quality care with a doctor who will spend a little more time with me to help me determine the causes of my problem, instead of drugs to mask it up. That was too hard for them. I also do not like the fact that their specialists suck. and if I... Read more

OK. Kaiser should be prosecuted, in my opinion. I have never heard of a positive scenario involving any kaiser branch anywhere. case #1: 10 years ago my grandmother passed away. she was in decent health. No cancers, no previous heart problems. She died in her sleep. kaiser had her on 10 different meds a day. and then refused to pay for an autopsy to determine cause of death. Wasn't covered in her insurance and that seemed fishy to me. excellent way to cover up any wrong doing. So i started doing some research and talking to people about their exp. with Kaiser. Case #2: An acquaintance of mine was being prescribed pain meds for a bad back. He started to worry that he was becoming addicted to the meds so he went to his Kaiser doctor to discuss other options or maybe a treatment program that was theoretically covered by his insurance. Their answer was to change his prescriptions from oxycodon and vicadin to oxyconton. How is this even legal? These are just 2 of the horror stories i have ... Read more

We applied for insurance in Sep 2008 but received a letter stating that we need to get a pregnancy test before we are approved. The letter clearly stated the Kaiser Permanente facility to visit and that the test would be at no cost to us. Few months after the test (which was requested by Kaiser and not by us) we received a bill for the test. On informing Kaiser they realized that the bill was sent in error and asked us to ignore the bill. Few weeks later we again received the bill. Even when we filled an official grievance with Kaiser our request was denied. We still have the letter that clearly states that the test would be at no cost to us and yet Kaiser won't stop from harassing us with bill *** we don't owe *** . We left countless message to the representative that processed our grievance with no response. In short, if you are buying insurance with Kaiser be prepared for harassment.

i dont even want to give them a star it is by far the worst experience possible. i took my boyfriend to the Baldwin Park Kaiser in California because he was having massive abdominal pain. Mind you, he has been to 3 tours in iraq gotten 3 purple hearts has been shot multiple times, blown up so he definately can handle pain, anyway when he arrived the parking was horrible so i had to drop him off even though he really couldnt walk on his own, when he reached the ER they submitted him and while he was being escorted to his room he collapsed on the floor and began to throw up, the nurse turned around, and just looked at him waiting to see when he was finished, did not offer to help in fact they didnt clean up the throw up. we got there at 930 in the am and he was in severe pain and they ran all test possible, blood, urine, cats scan and they basically told him that there was nothing wrong with him so they were trying to get him discharged, i was outraged andhad i not been there my boyfrien... Read more

I was with keiser on and off for 5 years. For 2 years I kept going in complaining of heartburn, bloated feeling and pressure in the abdoman. They kept insisting it was heartburn, gas, indigestion and insisted I needed more fiber and OTC Prilocec. Last visit, I told them, I have a terrible pain in my lower abdomen, they diagnosed a cyst and said wait a few months and it should resolve itself. 2 months later in January we switched to HealthNet. Went in, told the doc my symptoms, he ordered a CT Scan which showed a large pelvic mass, a week later I was in surgery and diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. 6 months later when the new doc got my medical records he said flat out "you were grossly misdiagnosed" Never ever would I recommend Kaiser to anyone. At least not if I valued their life.

I've never had any problems being seen by my doctor, nor have my chldren by their pediatrician. EVERYTHING always runs smooth, no long waits, they spend enough quality time with us, and extremely kind.

Worst. I been calling to get the name of a Primary care physician for the last 4 days and I never been able to get the information online because the website does not acccept the Medical Record Number I got on mail. I been given the run around from Member support to Website support untill I got tired and hung of the phone. Also their WebSite support person were rude and very unhelpful. They had an attitude of that we don't care....

o stars. They are terrible by making you wait over 45 minutes to be seen after your apptmnt time. The doctors always misdiagnose me, it takes me getting seen 5 or more times to get any relief or the rigth diagnosis.It is like pulling teeth to be reffered to a specialist, then you have to wait a month or more to be seen. The coverage is too expensive for the horrible service. urgent care is a joke. emergency room, forget about it you will wait at least three hours for nothing. oh and every time i go to be seen they try to tell me I am depressed lol....I think they try to push pills way to much instead of trying to figure out the underlying conditions first.

Allow me to vent for a moment. I absolutely despise Kaiser!! The doctors have no idea what they are doing!!! I have gone to see the doctors 5 times for a sinus infection and they all tell me the same thing. The nasal sprays don't work!!! I don't know how to get this across their heads!! The antibiotics they prescribe are not strong enough!! I have told them this time and time again. I still have this infection!! One doctor even told me that the headaches I have been getting are tension headaches caused by sitting at a computer all day. What a moron! Anyway, I have been trying to switch insurances for a while now, but no luck. I guess I am going to have to put up with them for just a while longer...

I am not pleased at all with Kaiser because they gave my 6 month old daughter some vaccines i specifically asked them not to give her. I am also very not pleased with their phone service because my daughter got a blood infection and i waited on hold for almost 2 hours in the middle of the night to get an ok to come into their urgent care.

I have been very impressed with the care I've gotten at Kaiser Permanente. Doctors call me with results, return my calls within a few hours, I'm able to order meds online and have them delivered right to my door, they do not skimp on expensive tests. Kaiser has had its problems, like any other hospital but overall I truly feel that I am getting excellent healthcare by a company that is well run and highly organized. One example: When you have a blood or urine test, they scan your membership card and bar coded labels automatically printout and are pasted on the sample -- no chance of a mistaken identity.

I had Kaiser Permanente insurance (Oregon) years ago and hated it. I re-entered their system a year ago and now am a believer. I have a great doctor, and have tken advantage of the on-line system...i.e. I can email my doctor(s) directly (bypassing staying on-hold and just leaving a message with office personnel, requiring a wait for another call-back) usually receiving a direct response from my doctor within a day, order prescriptions refills, etc. They have made a concerted effort to upgrade their patient services. They are, however, mindful of their pharmaceutical offerings.

Rated NO STAR ___ Kaiser pharmacy will charge $9.50 for ONE 10mg valium - A TOTAL Rip-off.

I would NOT receommend Kaiser (Kaiser Northern California i where i went). They have too much attitude.. They make you wait longer and after all that wait, the Doctor doesn't even have patience to listen to you.. They only try to give 5-10 mins to talk to you and if you keep asking questions, may be 15 mins.. and then the doctor stood up after my 15 mins discussion indicating that she wants to leave.. that sucks.. they made me wait 45 mins and she barely spent ~15 mins with me. And they don't care what you are going through and talk so irresponsible.. hate it.. can't wait for Dec 31st when i am switchin my insurance

I visited a Kaiser center today and was extremely displeased with the level of service I received. I explicitly stated from the beginning that I did not wish to be treated for anything other than what I'd come for, but the PA was adamant, disrespectful and aggressive in her demeanor towards my personal beliefs, ordering multiple tests that I feel are personally offensive, invasive and excessive. I expressed my beliefs several times, but in the end, I was ignored in favor of what she chose to believe. I would like to express how emotionally devastating it was to be treated as though my beliefs were unimportant to this person, who seemed intent on selecting what she felt was the proper way to treat someone she assumed had backward beliefs regarding their health care. I am shocked and genuinely offended by my experience with Kaiser. Patients ultimately have control over their own bodies, if this runs contrary to what Kaiser believes, Id like to know now.

I grew up in the northern VA (DC/MD) area. My experiences have been overall quite similar to all the other 1-starred reviews on this page. 5-8 hours of endless waiting to be seen; being told to "wait it out" for flaring symptoms; being prescribed unhelpful medication; being prescribed medication I was allergic to; in general a waste of time. I have been on this plan for the majority of my lifespan, and for the most part all I can remember are being prescribed tylenol and waiting for 4+ hours in waiting rooms. I believe one can receive very lucky breaks times with Kaiser, as I have a handful of met caring and intelligible doctors, although even they had admitted that they weren't allowed to do as much as they would like to in order to preserve my health. If new to the VA area, I would suggest you to only attend the Burke Kaiser; it is the only one which you may find yourself in the waiting room for less than 2 hours, and the pharmacists actually are on the job and will get your medicati... Read more

good to have in an emergency, but overall nothing to brag about. i've been a member at kaiser for roughly half my life span, initially in the s.f. bay area and now here in portland, oregon. during that time, i've only had one doctor who impressed me (a gynecologist) and she eventually was promoted upwards into a position where she didn't see patients anymore. when i was 16, i mentioned during an exam that there was a lump in my armpit area which sometimes felt a bit swollen and painful. because it was literally the size of a pea and the doctor couldn't really locate it herself, she said that it was due to the monthly cycle and probably nothing to worry about. early this year, i had a routine physical and told the doctor that this same lump had grown, now to the size of a walnut. he felt it and said "well, if it concerns you then you should mention it to your gynecologist when you see her." he was, in essence, totally disinterested in helping me with any stated problems, gave... Read more

Wow! I just read a lot of people complaining about Kaiser, when I have only had amazing experiences. We live in Colorado, near Boulder. I recently had a baby and the prenatal care was free and very thorough. Birth was a great experience, at a great hospital, with great nurses and an amazing kaiser doctor. Three days after I went home with the baby, a lactation consultant from Kaiser came to do a home visit. She rapidly figured out my breastfeeding problems and did a checkup of me and the baby. The pediatrician is great, the nurses always available, I can contact all our doctors by email and they answer right away. Last night my baby was vomiting. I didn't know what to do, I figure it was going to be a long night. I called the doctor around 8:00 pm to ask for advice. They called me back around 8:30 from the Children's Hospital in Denver. A nurse from the hospital asked me some questions. She had my son's file on her computer and could see all his information right away. She gave me som... Read more

I had my baby at Kaiser (Redwood City) about 4 months ago and I had a great experience. I picked Redwood City and switched over to them from my other Kaiser area because they were the same distance from my house but they have a midwifery program. Not to say that I am totally anti-painkillers, cuz I am not, but I wanted to at least TRY to go natural and get encouragement from nurses and midwives in that way. They were great. They encouraged me to deal with the pain during my 40 hours of labor (half of which i spent in the hospital) by taking hot showers, by rolling around on the yoga ball (that big exercize ball you can sit on.. a must have during labor), and when I was at the point of exhaustion and almost collapsing, they encouraged me to lay down and take some medicine so I would have enough energy to push when the time came. They helped me make the best decisions for myself, and gave me great care before and after the baby was born. I want to commend the midwives and the nurses.. th... Read more

We've been using KP for 10 years. We've had babies, my husband had skin cancer and a severe allergic reaction, our son had a lazy eye and speech problems and all the other things that happen medically in a family. We've always had quick phone responses from atleast a nurse who works with our Dr. They are attentive and helpful. We can talk to a Children's Hospital Nurse in the middle of the night by phone if we need to. We get in quickly to the Dr. or ER when needed and any urgent need is handled quickly and thoroughly. The only thing not covered was speech therapy for my son, but his evaluation was covered. We've been very satisfied so far & have been able to see the same doctors for regular visits the entire time we've been with KP. The doctors vary in communication skills, and there are some I like more than others, but overall, they are all well educated and have taken good care of us. We live in Colorado, I'm not sure where all these people with such bad experiences live, but... Read more

The most horrible health system, hospital, and from what I've heard EMPLOYER ever. I'm suprised they're allowed to do business as they do without eyebrows being raised for PUBLIC HEALTH issues. I had to sit in an emergency waiting room for four hours as my wrist was twisted in totally to the left with blood streaming out of it. They did not offer me a towel or a band-aid...and i'm suprised a hospital WOULD EVER let a patient openly bleed in a public area. And there were only 3 other people in the waiting room the entire time! I'm suprised they don't lose more money in their lawsuits than they earn for malpractice and neligegence.