Kaiser model terrifies former patient
Posted on 1 September 2009 | No responses
Kaiser model terrifies former patient
Posted by Frances Stark of Keizer, August 30, 2009 5:30AM
mirrored from: http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2009/08/kaiser_model_terrifies_former.html
Nothing in the health care debate has sent shivers of fear down my spine like the suggestion that health care cooperatives like Kaiser could serve as the model for the delivery of health care services.
As an employee of the state of California, I was enrolled in a Kaiser for a time and would like to share my experiences with that organization. With respect to preventive care, I attempted to schedule a routine physical and pap smear. I spent about five months trying to do so, and was told every time I called that all appointments were filled for that month, and to try again the next month.
A telephone operator took pity on me and finally explained that Kaiser opened the scheduling for a month on a particular day; all the appointments for that month were filled by 10:00 a.m. on the day the schedule opened, and everyone who didn’t manage to get an appointment was then told to try for the following month. I developed a problem and called Kaiser for an appointment.
I was told that nurse practitioners usually saw patients in the department in which I needed an appointment, but my symptoms were too severe for me to be seen by a nurse practitioner. The best they could offer me was to put me on a five-year waiting list to see a doctor, and if they had a cancellation, they would call me.
I would have 30 minutes to keep the appointment. And if I hadn’t been able to keep that appointment, I suppose I would have been put on the 10-year list.A colleague of mine, a Kaiser patient, was turned away by the emergency room at a Kaiser hospital when he was suffering from a massive heart attack.
He almost died and has since had two heart transplants. Kaiser lost a substantial malpractice suit to him.Two close friends of mine delivered babies at Kaiser hospitals without a physician in attendance. In one case, the maternity department was understaffed; in the other case, the attending physician went home at the end of his shift before his replacement arrived.
If Kaiser serves as a model for the delivery of health care in this country, heaven help us all.
FRANCES STARK
Keizer
Contact 17 Investigation: Fighting for Care
Posted on 14 July 2009 | No responses
mirrored from:http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Contact-17-Investigation-Fighting-for-Care/BFUteCyvw0OFONHOnoIc9g.cspx
Contact 17 Investigation: Fighting for Care
Last Update: 7/13 10:12 pm
While he fights for his life, a local man says he is also fighting his insurance company. The man’s family contacted 17News after battling Kaiser Permanente for months and getting nowhere.
Sixty-year-old Warren Currier suffers from multiple sclerosis. He can’t walk and doesn’t remember much. But when his mother broke down in tears telling his story, he comforted her.
“We are all here mom. This is what you wanted, we are all here now,” Warren said to his mom.
Josephine Currier says she never wanted her son’s medical problems to go public. But after feeling like Kaiser ignored her pleas for help for four months, the mother says she was left with no other choice.
“I found it daunting. I found it very difficult to deal with Kaiser Permanente. The sicker Warren got, it seemed like they wanted to back off,” mother Josephine Currier said.
Currier says Warren became sicker after Kaiser pulled him out of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital and placed him in the convalescent home where he lives now.
Warren’s caregiver says she fought to get him into HealthSouth and saw drastic improvements.
“It was just a matter of like four or five days and he was blooming like a flower. It was like he was getting better. I was seeing a part of him that was gone for a long time. And they were bringing it back,” caregiver Taia Herrin said.
And Warren also says he started to feel stronger and happier while at HealthSouth. He says the center has a program specifically for patients with MS, so he was getting physical exercise and speech therapy daily.
But after 12 days at HealthSouth, Warren says someone came to his room and packed his bags.
“People with multiple sclerosis, especially me, they have problems remembering things. They have problems with vision. They have problems with their speech, so that’s why I talking the way I’m talking,” Warren said. “It’s really hard for me to recall things. But like I said I just remember when I was there I felt like I was getting better. And I blame myself for telling them I was getting better and all of a sudden they released me.”
Four months later, Warren’s mother says she is still battling with Kaiser to get him back into HealthSouth. 17News contacted Kaiser about Warren’s case. Kaiser did not want to go on camera, but they did send us this statement:
“We can understand the confusion and concern expressed by Mr. Currier and his family. His physician has met with them to discuss their situation twice in the past month. Mr. Currier has suffered from multiple sclerosis for more than a decade and his condition has deteriorated. He recently spent two weeks at the HealthSouth Bakersfield Rehabilitation Hospital where he was able to meet his treatment goals and was discharged.
Mr. Currier told us yesterday that he was having problems with transportation to his physical and speech therapy appointments. We will have a social worker contact him to help him arrange for his transportation needs. His physician is reaching out to Mr. Currier to help him consider his long term options. He needs 24 hour care, but does not require hospitalization. There are a variety of facilities in the Bakersfield area that may be able to help him. We will work with him and his family directly to help them understand the options going forward.”
But Warren’s mother says the insurance company is constantly asking for more referrals, and Kaiser doctors never want to write them. The family says it all boils down to one issue.
“Kaiser Permanente is no different than any other large corporation. The less they put out in the way of money, that’s what they are there for. When my son needs more help, it’s gonna cost them more money,” Josephine Currier said.
According to the HealthSouth the average cost for a patient is about $1,000 a day. A study by MetLife Market Institute done last year shows the average cost for a nursing home is about $230 a day.
Sam Robins
Posted on 10 July 2009 | No responses
Having insurance at Kaiser Permanente is as good as having no insurance. My friend had Kaiser dental insurance through her work, and brought her son into Vancouver, WA, office for his annual check up. The boy has multiple sclerosis and his other dentists gave him general anesthesia so he would be still for treatement. But those damn fools at Kaiser refused. My friend asked them what good is it to have dental insurance for her son if they can’t treat him. They didn’t care. They told her to stop calling.
Kaiser Wikipedia
Posted on 10 July 2009 | 1 response
I hope that anyone who visits Kaiser’s Wikipedia page, as suggested by one of the posters above, will take a few extra minutes to peruse the history of the Talk page. What you’ll find is an abundance of desperate attempts by Kaiser employees to censor any negative facts about Kaiser from making into the main entry. A few even resorted to cyber-stalking editors who wanted to tell the whole story. Such a “model” organization!
I am leaving Kaiser as a doctor, and happily so.
Posted on 10 July 2009 | No responses
I am leaving Kaiser as a doctor, and happily so.
I am a specialist and see every day patients who are hurt by their Kaiser Primary care doctor (PCPs)
The PCPs are encouraged to treat disorders, injuries, and problems for which they have no to minimal tranining –a “wait and see if it gets better” approach to medicine. The patients are often forced to wait months to years before they are allowed to see a specialist.
As a specialist, I would see patients who were beyond fixing–usually old injuries because the primary-care doctor refused to allow the patient to see a specialist.
Kaiser is very political. As a new doctor there, I was told how to manage patients. I had no autonomy and was constantly overlooked and critized for treating patients outside their protocols. I was forced to perform procedures and then essentially boot the patient out of our clinic without any type of follow-up.
It was awful. I, myself, like to follow a patient to ensure they get better. My Department Chief, would tell me that I could not have patients see me more than once. He didn’t care if they got better or not.
Unfortunately, Kasier was my first job out of residency. Everyone thought that I was so lucky, At first, I thought I was fortunate to find such a great job, but as I worked there, I realized how Kaiser truly does not care about the patient. At Kaiser, you are a number. It’s “mass medicine”
I worked incredubly long and hard hours. Sometimes even moreso than as a resident and I didn’t get paid anymore.
Its unfortuante that my very first experience out of residency was at Kaiser. Its unfortunate that medicine has become this.
Ted from Moss Beach, CA
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare/stories/42536
I have health care (Kaiser-a great HMO and could be a great model for a universal health plan) through my former employer, but simply put,,,,it is patently unfair that I have a good health plan while millions of others have NOTHING in the way of decent health care. It is an unfair situation that we need to change. I support your efforts 100 percent! Ted Kaye
Mary from Washington, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Carole from Washington, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
I am a chronic diabetic on four shots a day. I was born with a malformed pancreas which had to be removed along with my spleen and 50% of my stomach when I was 41 years of age. I am now 71. Sometimes I have to reuse my needles because I do not have the money to buy them (they are not covered under medicare) or go without one or other of my Bi-Polar medications. (I am also a Manic Depressive.) Usually by October I have used up all the money allowed me by Kaiser Permanente and Medicare and I have to pay full price for all my medications through December. I know that there are many more people less fortunate than myself and my heart goes out to them. There has to be a way so that people like myself do not have to suffer both physically and financially. I put myself into your hands, my President, Barack Obama, for health care reform. Thank you.
Carole from Washington, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
After almost two decades of living in Southern California – a life I was very happy with – the costs of my Medicare supplement premium (almost $500 a month) and my medications (over $400 a month) made it impossible for me to pay rent, maintain my automobile and live a viable life. I was plunged into a downward cycle of poverty, lost my home and independence and now I am (not voluntarily) living in Washington DC, entirely dependent on social security and the generosity of my son for my livelihood. Fortunately, I became a member of Kaiser Permanente and my medical costs have been significantly reduced, but far too late to restore my independent life.
Liliana from Washington, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Some of my coworkers they have Kaiser Insurance and they can’t choose the doctor that they want, if they need to have an evaluation it has to be one of the doctors the insurance provide. There is no choise and I think it is not fair.
Dinahsta from Bolling AFB, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Joseph from Washington DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Due to not receiving tenure at a major university I am about to leave employment with full health insurance from Kaiser Permanente and move to a job without benefits. I am afraid that health insurance will eat up more than 10% of my pretax income. And I am more afraid if I am forced to have a huge deductible making my insurance payments only useful for catastrophic problems.
Dominique from Bolling AFB, DC
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
joan from Kaneohe, HI
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
http://stories.barackobama.com/healthcare/stories/143473
20 year ago kaiser plan for visiting fee was 5.00 and presciption cost was 3.00 now visiting fee is 15.00 and precription cost is 10.00 and x-ray cost 5.00 and lab cost 5.00 before x-ray and lab was free. now they are going to bring up our primiums and the cost my husband pays for family is 204.59 dollars a paycheck and theres only 3 of us on the kaiser plan. vision kaiser plan was free now they only cover for your eyes but not your glass I would have to go to some else for my glasses.
thomas from Mililani, HI
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
bonnie from Kapaa, HI
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Michael from Mendocino, CA
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
christine from Cleone, CA
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
Colleen from Inverness, CA
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses
julia from Point Reyes Station, CA
Posted on 5 July 2009 | No responses