[chaosphere2112]

For those in one of the covered regions[1], Kaiser Permanente is largely not-evil. You have to go through your GP to get referrals to specialists, but it's a series of mostly consistent "I have X problem" "Try Y" "Didn't work" "Try Z" "Didn't Work" "OK, let's get you to a specialist" events.

They have an interesting governance structure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente) that tries to align incentives correctly.

[1]: Coverage areas as divided by corporate entities:

  Northern California
  Southern California
  Colorado
  Georgia
  Hawaii
  Mid-Atlantic (vicinity of Washington, D.C., including Maryland and Virginia)
  Northwest (Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington)
  Washington (except Southwest Washington)

[Cerium]

Lots of people complain about Kaiser. I was a member when I was growing up, and have signed up again now that I have a job offering Kaiser coverage.

For me Kaiser is a couple things. First of all it is peace of mind. They won't screw you. Essentially everything they offer is covered at a reasonable rate. Example: I was sent to the emergency room once and was able to pay on the spot with the cash in my wallet. Secondly, if you go to one of their medical centers everything is in that building. When I am sick, I don't want to go to a few stops across town to get everything (doctors office, lab, pharmacy, etc).

Additionally they actively do things to keep people healthy. They host farmers markets at some of their centers, run advertisements focused on getting exercise and eating well. In general, they make you feel like they are on your side.

[silencio]

I have Kaiser too and I stayed an extra day (vs average) after my unplanned C-section because of pain management issues, and nobody bothered me about it despite the floor being full. Only $500 and that included a salmon and steak and apple cider in champagne flutes celebration dinner one night for me and my partner. Their prenatal and postpartum support is top notch too, including free lactation consultant visits and a hospital grade pump rental (would cost me $1k+ at this point in fees otherwise) to support breastfeeding for as long as I want.

Compare to one of my friends with a bog-standard vaginal birth, was pressured to leave as soon as possible, partner kept getting kicked out of the room, and she paid $7k and counting while still getting random claims. LC visits also not covered despite wanting to breastfeed desperately, and she gave up due to issues that could have been resolved.

It's not even just the baby stuff that is like this - my dad has their medicare advantage plan and he LOVES it and I love the integrated care since it's so easy for his specialists to talk to each other without me having to be the messenger.

Kaiser gets a bad rap a lot of times, sometimes for good reason, but in the average case, they must be doing something okay that they don't fight me like Anthem used to do ALL THE TIME (plus remember when maternity coverage cost like $500 extra _per month_ on the individual market?)