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Customer Service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA -- I went to Kaiser walk-in to have a lesion on my finger looked at. This doctor referred me to the dermatologist department. This took all of one week. The doctor cut the lesion off and said if it came back to make another appointment. The lesion came back and I called to make the appointment and they said it would take 7 weeks before anyone could see me. I then called Dermatology and Skin Cancer of Bakersfield, I got an appointment in two days. What is wrong with this picture? In the past it would take two weeks to your doctor or you could call and make an appointment with another doctor for the same day. Now it takes 6 to 8 weeks to see a doctor.

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Done With Kaiser
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- After being on Kaiser from the age of six months to now at 58 and never having a problem, all that has changed. In the last few years the rates have gone up and up and service has gotten worse. It's all about the money. I have a chronic, painful condition - arthritis in my neck (diagnosed by a Kaiser Dr.) and TMJ. I have had an RX for a pain med and muscle relaxer for years, which was used only as needed and sparingly. I was sent a notice recently that they had assigned me a new Dr. after years of seeing the old one who never gave me a problem with refills.

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." What??? 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.

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Denial of Adequate Treatment
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA -- I fractured my knee cap March 2011. It was shattered and surgery with hardware was used to reduce the fracture. I was referred to physical therapy. However, the woman to whom I was assigned never spoke to me or really provided me any real treatment. She was busy training a physical therapy student. I was unable to walk properly when released. I discussed this matter with the surgeon and nothing was done. I sought private treatment paying on my own.

By August 2013, I was unable to walk at all and in extreme pain. I saw their doctor. I was given a sheet of exercises. I persisted. I was given a referral to an orthopedists. X-rays were taken. The X-rays showed the arthritis but they denied the necessary treatment. They focused on my bad knee but I kept telling them it was left hip. I was seen by a physician's assistant who told me this was "my new normal." I was referred to Physical Therapist, but despite how crippled I was, I could only get an appointment every 3 or 4 weeks. The therapist tried to make an opening for me, but was completely overbooked.

On 12/31/14 I switched to Aetna on a PPO. My left hip is now completely frozen. It turns out the hip was completely arthritic and had been since August 2013. I am going to have a hip replacement. It is now June 2014. I have been walking with a cane and in severe pain. It has taken this long, after escaping from Kaiser to get treatment. My advice is to stay far away from Kaiser as possible. Despite their representations, they balance their books by collecting co-pays and denying necessary care. Beware.

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ER Doctors Not Educated
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- Not my worst ER experience at Kaiser, but up there! Came in with bad bronchitis, to rule out pneumonia. No one stopped to look at me. It was very slow, so what's the excuse? I wish I could have seen a real doctor instead of this “David Max Bender”, PA. The woman who took my x-ray seemed human, but the rest of the flighty purple scrubbed nurse idiots shamed, judged and I had to beg to get them to tell me how to treat my bad bronchitis.

I begged, and she barely came out with the words, ”that stuff will be on the discharge papers”, with a withering sneer. Oh, also, ”I'd tell you not to smoke, but since you don't, I don't know." Really? If a mom brought her child in with bronchitis, would she say ”I don't know, just don't smoke”? I don't smoke but I wanted to when I left. This PA put me on **, which lowers your immune system and washes you with **! I had to Google everything myself later!

Don't join Kaiser, DON'T. Group Health, before, didn't use vulnerable, sick people to take out whatever personal problems they have bottled up.! They didn't explain my illness, the meds, tell what to expect taking hardcore ** for bronchitis! All over the web it says not to. Anyway, what a discouraging, demoralizing experience. Over a grand a month. The weird nurse should not ever be in a profession, if she is, that SHOULD involve human interaction. First Do No Harm. I'm sure she smokes like a furnace!

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Kaiser Doctor Unresponsiveness & Email System at kp.org
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- I've been very frustrated recently when corresponding via the kp.org email system with my doctor, Claudia **. It seems that messages are being "viewed", but not responded to. I emailed my doctor on a Friday morning (I had reinjured my fractured toe), and had still not received a response by Monday at noon. This had become a medium urgent issue, so I called the advice nurse, who mentioned that she did not see the sent message to my doctor, which I found odd. The nurse emailed my doctor for me, and this time, my doctor responded back. However, I still had a follow up message for Dr. **, and sent that message back immediately thereafter. Today, I again see that my most recent sent message has been viewed, but there has been no response.

While I understand that doctors have 48 hours to respond, there are a few issues that don't add up. At least one of the messages that I emailed to my doctor was not received. Additionally, it has been very difficult to reach my doctor, so I am unsure if the lack of accessibility and slow responsiveness is more of a modern day situation, or something that is unique to my doctor. I will be looking to switch doctors after this fiasco is settled. Perhaps there should be a system where medium-urgency messages are responded to more quickly? I'm not sure what the answer is. But while I sit here in pain and refresh my browser hoping to see my doctor's message, I just wanted to express my frustration with this process.

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Not Getting Adequate Medical Care
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ATLANTA, GA -- It is now June and I still am unable to most of medicine. I have sent records three times and hand dropped the records off and still no care. I have not had medicine for a disease since December and have recently found out they do not have a doctor who specialized in the disease. I was supposed to have been able to have continuity of care with my own doctor but they rejected this.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, my symptoms are not life threatening but I can tell without the medicine the disease is progressing. I'm told they may hire 1 - Only 1 doctor sometime in the fall. I pay over 1000.00 a month in premiums and I am not getting medical care. I have no idea how to fight this.

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Referral to Specialist
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

SAN DIEGO -- I am writing this review because I cannot believe all the bad reviews about Kaiser on this site. I have been with Kaiser for over 20 years and have had nothing but good experiences! Fast referral to specialists are so fast the nurse makes the appointment for me before I even leave primary care! Appointments are always within a week or two! All staff members are patient, professional, friendly and knowledgeable. Maybe all of this is only happening for me because I am so wonderful? I doubt it... so for what it is worth I LOVE KAISER AND WILL NEVER SWITCH!

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Behavior Health No Way
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- I am a nearly 30 year member of Kaiser. I phoned today for the second time to schedule an appointment. No, I plead for an appointment for my young adult child. I drove him to Kaiser two years ago. I waiting about 30 minutes for him. This was when I first was signed of a possible mental health issues. He said, they told him “he did not need treatment."

Today I explained to the nurse, I am a certified Rehabilitation Counselor. I see my son masking a mental illness with drugs, alcohol, over the counter sleep medications and cigarette. He has mental illness. He doesn't see a problem with his behavior. Most mental illnesses are diagnosed in young adults. I was told, he must call and schedule an appointment. We often hear horrifying stories, of family members calling for help.

I called and got him an appointment with a private provider today. The difference is, I pay Kaiser every month. Do they care if my son overdose? My employer take money out of check and paid them every month. THIS WILL BE MY LAST YEAR AS A KAISER MEMBER.

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Employee's Robbing Disabled Patients - Kaiser Looks the Other Way
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA -- My disabled son was robbed of $10,000 in medical referral checks while lying brain injured in another hospital 1200 miles away.

Before my son arrived home a Kaiser employee (Francis Lager) impersonated my son's Mother, turned it 2 fraudulent forms with the patient's court-appointed conservators signature forged on both. Kaisers Erica Hardesty neither requested nor received any authorization whatsoever from Lager before handing her two five thousand dollar checks consisting of the patients perdiem. Even worse, when the banks refused to cash the checks written out to the patient, Hardesty removed the patient's name and re-issued the checks so Kaiser Employee Frances Lager could steal the money. This actually happened and Kaiser now refuses to pay the crippled brain-injured patients per-diem saying he'll just have to sue the employee they gave the money too if he wants his perdiem.

Kaiser does not obey the law or patient privacy laws at all. Apparently, they are not required to.

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Kaiser Permanente - Billing Nightmare...
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

They keep sending me the bill that I paid long time ago by credit card, and neither multiple phone calls, nor sending mail helped to resolve the issue. Now they are threatening me with the collection agency. That's insanity. One phone call should have been enough to resolve an issue like that. And that's not the only issue, it's just the one I am still fighting with at the moment, although I am no longer their client, and I will never ever chose them as my insurance provider again, and I will warn as many people as possible on all the review sites that I can find, to stay away from them.

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Kaiser Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.4 out of 5, based on 27 ratings and
48 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Kaiser
Kaiser Plaza 19th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
510-271-5910 (ph)
www.healthy.kaiserpermanente.org
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