So, at the request of my doctor, I switched medications. I had to wait for my old medication to stop working (a few months), then when problems started, I made my appointment to get new medication. That was about 5 weeks ago. It was over a month wait for a damn specialist appointment. Then, yesterday, they called me to inform me that my “doctor wont be there that day” (they only have one specialist per area?) and that I could get an October appointment. TWO fucking months. NO fucking way. I told them that was unacceptable. They told me they would find an outside referral and call me back. They never did. I emailed my primary doctor and informed her that the system isn’t working; get me back on my old medication, this isn’t worth the hassle. DO NOT USE KAISER BENEFITS. IF YOU ARE AN H.R. REP, THIS IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COMPANY.
Also: Don’t use PayChex… And remember: Kaiser was one of the companies that helped convince Nixon to increase the privitization of health care so that more money could be made. Quite simply, it’s cheaper for me NOT to see the doctor then to see the doctor, since my benefits are already paid. They have a capitalist incentive to NOT provide me their services, as this increases their profit. Also? I was told I had to pay for Carolyn’s June benefits ($320), even though she didn’t have any back then. Why? I was told they could refuse to treat any problems she has, even a year for now, citing a “pre-existing condition” (which occurred between June 1-30). I re-iterate that Carolyn was not on the plan until August 1st,and that was only after they made me fax in my marriage certificate, and made our H.R. person fax things in THREE TIMES. (They don’t even notice their faxes until 10 days later sometimes.)
It’s real nice how capitalism causes big corporations to lobby congress to allow laws like this pre-existing condition bullshit to exist; laws which can only be used against the people to increase corporate profits.
I’m sorry, but in other countries, you can see a fucking doctor without a 2 month wait. And a 30-day discontinuity in coverage CAN’T be used against you a year later, because EVEYRONE IS COVERED ALL THE TIME.
In France, you’ll get house calls on a weekend even if you are a non-citizen.
We have the technology, but we have no financial incentive to DELIVER it to the people.
If our doctors have a 10% better success rate at curing conditions compared to other doctors, but we have 15% of people with no coverage — that is not better. That is worse. That is better for the rich, worse for the poor, and worse for everyone collectively.
But our doctors aren’t 10% better. Fucking CUBANS live longer than Americans, and they spend 1/26th.
Capitalism can breed waste. It’s the best system for free markets, but health care is not a traditional market, nor is it free. I can’t just go to a different doctor tomororow because I didn’t like my doctor today. Nor can I choose my own health care provider without paying $>600 a month (vs $0 a month I pay when provided via my employer) (but $320/month for Carolyn to be on my plan).
August 29, 2007 at 11:08 AM
I don’t have anything of value to add about K-P, but I second your emotion about PayChex. We’ve had them for maybe 5-6 years and they have screwed us over time after time. I spit on their collective feet.
August 29, 2007 at 11:13 AM
PayChex totally fucked my company over.
Things didn’t happen the month they were supposed to.
They didn’t bring enough handouts to the “OUR BENEFITS ARE SO GREAT!” meeting, despite my company fitting in one room.
They made everyone fill out paperwork requesting their 401(k) allocations. The list of funds they gave us information on did not match the list of funds available.
After making our 401(k) selections (twice) and entering them, we received paperwork indicating that all of our money was 100% in this fund that WE DID NOT CHOOSE. (This happened to tons of people.)
We were then told, after that, that we had to set up our funds AGAIN online.
Of course after that, they closed the fund that many people had to invest in, so everyone had to re-decide on their investments AGAIN, a 3rd time for some.
They screwed up my vacation balance on about 5 paychecks in a row; I had to start manually tracking.
Fuck PayChex.
August 29, 2007 at 11:20 AM
(updated rant)
August 29, 2007 at 11:25 AM
[i]Fucking CUBANS live longer than Americans, and they spend 1/26th.[/i]
I feel like this is worth exploring, since there are so many more factors than medical care. Obviously it’s a major contributor, but I would also think things like diet and exercise have a broad effect, especially as poorly as we are doing in those realms. I wonder if it’s possible to begin to isolate some of these factors.
August 29, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Damn it…I got so used to YABB markup syntax that I forgot to use HTML here. I am teh suck.
August 29, 2007 at 11:30 AM
I’m sure it is (@#4), but there’s no money to be made in making americans spend less money.
August 29, 2007 at 12:59 PM
What we need to do it make health care providers realize that it is in their best financial interests to raise our life expectancy as high as possible, since our health case costs rise exponentially as we age. Insurance companies make out better, as well.
August 29, 2007 at 1:03 PM
That’s a good idea!
I think they don’t have that as an incentive, because people switch health care a lot — i.e. when they get new jobs, when they retire and move to medicare, and such.
They have probably run the numbers on this too.
Yea, a person might live longer, but the odds are, some OTHER insurance (or Medicare, which is an involuntary tax paid by the whole country..) company will make THAT money.
So why try?
Just live in the short term!
It’s the American way. . .
August 29, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Hi there!
I’m afraid you have barely scratched the surface with any of the complaints about Kaiser. EVERYONE should see this site…
http://www.kaiserthrive.org Because Kaiser makes a point of witholding care, this is how they increase profits, my Baby died.
For anyone who wants the story here is the link…
http://www.kaiserthrive.org/2007/03/04/happy-birthday-lehna-jordann-brewer/
Please, don’t anyone believe their BS “thrive” campaign. It is total BS. It is not in kaisers best interest to help you OR your Baby “thrive.” I found out the very hard way what they are all about.
Please do your homework BEFORE it is too late. I wish I had.
My husband was a KAISER EMPLOYEE when they let our Baby die.
August 29, 2007 at 6:46 PM
Yeah, I shudder to think what my path would have been like with the Silent Sinus Syndrome if I was on Kaiser Permanente HMO at the time.
I wanted to pay the $600 COBRA to keep my insurance, but we ended up switching me over to Kaiser since it looked like I was going to take some time off. Now I’m hurrying up to get a job, so hopefully my time at Kaiser will be very limited.
September 4, 2007 at 1:39 PM
“Exactly. If you don’t have a job, this society would rather you die.”
Umm, I’m going to have to agree with society’s sentiment on this one. If you don’t have a job, get a job. Not that hard. Any moron can get a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Or at Wal-Mart. Alot of people don’t get jobs because they think it is below them. “I’ve got a degree, I’m not going to degrade myself by working at McDonalds.” Do whatever it takes. If they don’t, then in my eyes, the’re just lazy. And therefore, if they die, they have no one to blame but themselves.
It’s called evolution. Natural selection.
September 5, 2007 at 5:49 PM
I gotta chime in on this one.
@Chriggy: I disagree with you on several points here. First off, when you suggested that jobless, healthcare-less people get a job, ANY job, or just die, you’re forgetting the fact that most of those “any job”s for unskilled workers don’t come with health care packages. So following your advice, they would work AND die anyway!
I was in an unemployment situation after I graduated Tech for almost 2 years. It was a situation where I couldn’t find technical work (all “entry level” jobs at the time required at least 5 years of experience… figure that one out) and I couldn’t find non-technical work either. Retail places, shops, etc. wouldn’t hire me because I was over qualified! I didn’t have health insurance during that time either. I had played by the rules, worked hard and got a degree, and our society screwed me over pretty hard for a while. Things finally changed and all is well now, but still…. if I had become sick with something serious during that time, it would have been a major setback. I’m not going to say I would have died from it because my family would have (I hope) fronted the money to cover me, but… let’s just say in the rest of the industrialized world it wouldn’t have been nearly as harrowing of a situation.
September 6, 2007 at 8:51 PM
some of this is a bit slanted, but you can glean the sad reality that Wal-Mart, like most any corporation, isn’t exactly doing what it could here… And actually, as Wal-Mart grows, so does the # of uninsured, since it’s employees are less insured on average than other retail employees:
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/facts/#healthcare
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/46004.php
http://www.ufcw.org/take_action/walmart_workers_campaign_info/facts_and_figures/walmartonbenefits.cfm
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/01/business/01health.html?ex=1256965200&en=56cfba459f08ba22&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
So the limit of Wal-Mart to infinity seem to be less people with health care than even now. Yay capitalism?
September 6, 2007 at 8:57 PM
“I belive in some states if a company is over a certain size, they are required by law to offer health insurance.”
Wal-Mart helped stop Maryland from passing that :)
September 6, 2007 at 9:03 PM
actually, it’s wrong of me (#23, above) to say “like most any corporation”, because apparently Wal-Mart is actually doing less than average, so it’s bad, even for a corporation :D
September 7, 2007 at 8:49 AM
$264 is within $3 of the cost of a single person Kaiser-Permanente HMO, at least for our company (Rates are negotiated individually; a person in front of me at line may have a different copay than me; they grab what they can.)
That being said, someone on such a low wage is not as able to afford this. Meanwhile, 1% of the CEO’s salary could make it free for everyone. It’s actually greed to the point of hurting others, all in pursuit of the mighty dollar.
And no, I can’t say I’d do the same if I were CEO, because I wouldn’t.
October 26, 2007 at 9:35 PM
Regarding Paychex — I agree 110% with the previous comments about how awful they are. Just recently they neglected to disburse paychecks to our employees FOR TWO WEEKS! And they regularly screw up employees’ sick and vacation accruals. The only thing they seem to excel at is selling their crappy service.
Regarding Kaiser Permanente — my experience has been different from many of those above. I’ve had several successful medical ‘procedures’ in the past year, and I’ve found the staff to be thoughtful and competent. Perhaps the quality of care varies from location to location.
February 23, 2009 at 2:54 PM
Yup. Kaiser Permanente Sucks. Anyone who’s dealt with them for any significant amount of time knows this. They are:
SLOW
Takes FOREVER to see a doctor (for 5 minutes)
EXPENSIVE
And they have no interest in actually delivering care. For God Sakes, they don’t even give you the doctor’s phone number!
Fuck Kaiser.
May 18, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Without a doubt, Kaiser Permanente provides the wost medical service. Went in for TMJ, came out with a pamphlet with less info than I found online in five minutes.
Worse, I lost coverage for about a year and they blacklisted me for my TMJ. Because of Kaiser Permanente, I cannot get health insurance with anyone due to a “pre-existing condition” that they didn’t even frigg’n treat.
So in summary Kaiser Permanente gave me zero medical treatment, and screwed me. I hate them with a passion…
May 21, 2009 at 1:30 PM
I just went with my mother to a visit to her Kaiser Doctor, Dr. Robert Weltman…
My mother, who is 81 years old, was concerned because over a year ago she began having hot flashes- she had never experienced any menopausal symptoms prior to this, so the doctor, without treating her for hot flashes, without KNOWING that it is quite normal for women to experience delayed menopausal symptoms, instead had her tested for cancer. ..gave her an MRI and a cat scan, a Colonoscopy, which all came back negative, so then at the visit, my mother asked him why he hadn’t treated her for hot flashes a year earlier, which made him SO angry, he proceeded to berate my mother, telling her that he had “bent over backwards” to help her, whereupon I had to agree, yes mom, if even a simple injection had been ordered by him, trust me, this is KAISER, he really did have to bend over to get if for you, I’m not sure if it was really backwards or forwards…but he was SO arrogant, that he told my mother she was a disgruntled, narcissistic patient and those types only lead to trouble- so he would no longer be her KAISER doctor…oh BOO HOO…
AND he also told her that if she acted “nice” and asked questions properly, she would get something from the doctor, but if she is curt, in any way, then she gets nothing….
My mother, her own mother died on her 6th birthday, she grew up and raised 5 children, she’s worked hard her whole life and taken care of herself, and she’s tried to be her own best advocate…81…and the doctor had to yell at her for all the nurses to over hear- it was humiliating for both of us, but especially my mother…who just wanted her hot flashes to cease.
The nurse told us that she is “worried” about the doctor- that he’s over-worked and disheveled and that he eats like a birdie all day, taking little bites of his food, and he’s lost so much weight….
- at KAISER in HARBOR CITY who told her after her hip replacement surgery that her bath robe must have been “misplaced” by HER- (she never even opened her bag- she was in the BED on MORPHINE- someone at that hospital stole my mother’s bath robe!!!!!)
My mother complained – but, it’s kaiser, so it’s falling on DEAF EARS
This is a perfect Kaiser scenerio…it’s happening to my mother also
You go to the doctor….you say, “dr., I can’t sleep” Dr. says, well, you’ll have to see a shrink to find out what is keeping you awake”
Hello Shrink dr. I can’t sleep…well, here are some sleeping pills to help you get some fake, useless sleep….but they are not addictive!!!!
Dr. I still can’t sleep….I’ve been seeing you for 10 years and I still can’t sleep…
here are some sleeping pills that won’t work…come back in two weeks….
repeat…
Jesus, Mary and JOSEPH, if you CAN’T sleep after TEN YEARS- WTF????????!!!!!!
Dr. weltman finally gave my mother a pill for hot flashes, she’s to take a half a pill two times a day- the pill is for high blood pressure and hot flashes….that is so amusing….my mother has the blood pressure of an 18 year old…
and oh, by the way, who, if anyone, has ever received a diagnosis from a Kaiser Dr.????
May 21, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Kaiser also killed my friends 5 year old son…
because they only had 15 minutes and could not make a proper diagnosis in that amount of time…
so they took a guess here…took another one there…sent him home, he went back, sent him home again with yet another FALSE NOTION, but not a diagnosis, their 3rd visit their beautiful 5 year old went in to cardiac arrest and died in his father’s arms…with a growth in his stomach, that the doctors could not locate in 15 minutes…
Kaiser flopped at making cars- don’t you KNOW and cut a deal with President NIXON to create a health care organization built on making profit and giving LESS health care AND you may not be aware, but you share you paid for insurance with medi-cal recipients- that is why you wait so long now- and the illegals only get emergency services….this should explain the state of your emergency rooms to you….
May 21, 2009 at 1:45 PM
I really can’t say enough bad things about Kaiser-
I would not want to be white or black and a patient at the harbor city facility. The nurses are all from the Philippines – I mean ALL of them, and they are SO prejudiced…it’s horrible. I heard them speaking disparagingly about a black man who was not even expected to live!!!!!!! I cried the entire evening thinking that the poor man was there with people who hated their jobs and hated the patients…
it is very upsetting…
June 1, 2009 at 1:43 PM
You know, it’s amazing how I just typed in “Kaiser Permanente sucks” and Google gave me a laundry list of people that hate Kaiser. My name’s Rico Daniels and I stay in Atlanta, GA. I had an experience on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 concerning my condition. I noticed that my mucus went from clear, to yellow, then from yellow to green, and then green with specs of blood. I called Kaiser because I remember my mom telling me that as a boy, I had bronchitis. I read the symptoms and it matched. But I also wanted to take a tuberculosis test (just in case). First I spoke to a rep which transferred my call to an on-duty nurse, which took her 4 minutes to come to the phone. I told her my symptoms and asked upon my temporary visit that I have a tuberculosis test. She told me that I could not have a tuberculosis test on the basis of assumption. I told her the reason I had to be tested is because I never had one and also it was recommended by Kaiser Doctors, (according to “their website”) that I have this test done once or twice a year. She was quiet for a moment and I just told her to schedule me the damn appointment. I feel as though my life is no value to this organization and I will find away to take my business and my money somewhere else. Kaiser Permanente only looks at an individual as a patient. What they fail to realize is that WE ARE ALSO THE CUSTOMER. Maybe I said that wrong. we are the PAYING CUSTOMERS. If we all stick together, we can express our opinions to the big wigs that are calling the shots. There is one thing. There ar many ways to express your opinion. We need to send a clear message. “Either change your policy for the good of the American people or go bankrupt. Just as Kaiser don’t care, I don’t care either. And WE shouldn’t give a damn about Kaiser. They don’t know how it is to suffer. So let’s make them suffer. And I’m serious. Anyone can email me at anytime to brainstorm on some ideas. I’m with you 100%.
R.