Kaiser Permanente
reviews and complaints

I have been on the Kaiser Permanent health plan off and on since 2006. I used to love it. Now I really would like to change healthcare providers, as Kaiser treats their patients poorly. Here is my story.

My husband switched his healthcare plan in 2012. I was suffering from a chronic condition. I was in and out of the ER and not sure how to manage it. With the help of my doctor, I had the condition in check by learning my triggers, finding the right medications, and using Tylenol 3 as needed for pain. It gave me some quality of life.

About a year or so ago, my once beloved doctor changed. He became cold and informed me that the laws for narcotics had changed. He started asking me invasive questions such as do I sell my pain medication. It made me laugh because it was so outlandish! Seriously?! I was drug tested and passed.

A few months later my stomach started hurting. I emailed me doctor for advice. I was told to make a appointment with my gastro specialist. Anyone that has Kaiser knows it takes months to get a available appointment. Every day the pain got worse, and I ended up in the ER. I got a appointment with the nurse practitioner in the gastro department. He found the problem, but a total tool. I can understand why he has a open schedule. The ER doctor found I had a swelled stomach. I just needed a medication adjusted. I guess my primary could not figure that.

Time went on, and my leg started hurting. I figured at first I had hurt it. It did not go away and it got progressively worse. I called to make a appointment with my primary. The next appointment was two weeks away. I had to go to go to make a appointment with Urgent Care. I had a pinched nerve. I had to make a second appointment with Urgent Care a second time for a referral for physical medicine, since once again my doctor was booked up for two weeks.

Out of the blue, my doctor's nurse calls me and requests a appointment. How amazing that she can book a appointment in a three days! I was excited to see my doctor. I had not seen him in a long time. Guess what, it was just another uncomfortable session with invasive questions.. I asked if he could fill a prescription for steroids, he does so reluctantly. He informs me I should have gotten them from my physical medicine doctor. Are you kidding me?! I had to wait months to get a appointment for a physical medicine appointment and a physical therapy too! It was the therapist whorrequested the steroids because of the level of pain I was in. She seemed to think it was perfectly okay to ask my primary for this medication. I left this appointment feeling annoyed and confused at what had happened to my once really nice doctor.

Over the weekend I had a bad reaction to the steroids and it was not helping the pain I was in either. My lower back, left side, stomach, hurt so bad it felt like I was on fire. As if my nerve endings were being bitten by thousands of fire ants. I could not stop barfing. The ER doctor gave me pain meds and sent me home.

I emailed, left numerous messages for my primary. He just ignored me. I received no call back, nothing.. Finally, I received a email after three days of agonizing pain. It was addressing another issue. I have never been so angry besides a doctor that almost killed me.

Come to find out Kaiser rarely gives out pain medication anyone. Instead of conveying this to me, my doctor ignored me, treated me poorly, purposely made me feel uncomfortable I believe so I would choose another healthcare provider.

Kaiser is a disgusting and inhumane! I could not sleep for four days. I was left to cry in my bed curled in a ball. That is the way Kaiser doctors will treat you. They could care less if you are in pain.

It gets even better! I picked a new primary doctor and she is forcing me to be weaned off my pain medication. Lucky for me I have been a cash patient in a pain management/medicard office. It is cash only. But well worth it if I do not have to deal with this bs anymore! I have no idea why my husband has to pay for our healthcare. To be treated so poorly. I mean that is what people are doing now a days.

The new laws are bullcrap! If someone had offered me a illegal drug when I was in that much pain, I am not sure if I could of refused. By denying people of pain medication, the illegal trade will blossom. At least a doctor is monitoring what you are taking. When you are in agony, you may do whatever it takes to feel better. All places like Kaiser are doing is making more business for the local drug dealers.

I had to resign from my position at Kaiser due to family member becoming ill, and I did not give a 2 week notice, only a day notice due to the circumstance. I was never told by my supervisor that I was not eligible for rehire, an investigation was never done, and HR never contacted me. Later when I was able to work again, I realized I wasn't getting calls back from Kaiser. I called HR on my own, and found out I was on the do not rehire list. Policy states, "5.9 An employee who voluntarily resigns (not resignation in lieu of termination)
should not be designated as IFR without the manager first consulting with the
HR Professional assigned to the terminating employee’s department and/or the
appropriate Legal liaison counsel for the medical center or Region."
I am not aware of anyone consulting HR or legal regarding my status as IFR. Its been years since I worked at KP, and I recently received an email from HR they would review my file for a chance to come off the list. I haven't heard from them in weeks. I do not know where to go from here, as I was an excellent employee, never once written up, I only had personal circumstance that required I resign w/o notice.

For about three months now I have paid my premiums. The phone calls get me nothing since they say they have no record of me even though I have the bill in my hand. They somehow had me in for two policies by mistake and cancelled one of them. The only thing they are good at is sending more bills. Numerous phone calls each week get me nothing but false promises. I have not been able to see a doctor yet because I have to start over at least three times during each phone call to try and get this fixed. If anyone knows a good attorney I would like to hear about it ! How is it that people can get paid to answer phones that have no idea as to what they are doing ?

I have pernicious anemia. I have to take B12 shots in order to not get very ill. I have not been able to get both the B12 vials and the syringes for the past two years without problems. I submitted a complaint and got a determination that my issue was "not medically indicated". How absurd. Since my disease process will not allow me to absorb B12 from the foods I eat because of my stomach's inability to absorb B12. How can I use the B12 vials without the syringes. My doctor will not even allow me to take B12 subcutaneously because I'm required to take it intra-muscularly. How could any medically competent person or company think that someone should be able to take a medication required to be given intra-muscularly without syringes. This issue has resulted in my having to take the medication incorrectly using the same needle for both drawing up the medication and administering the medication. In addition, I've had to put off taking the B12 for a month or two longer than I should because of my lack of both B12 and syringes available at the same time in my home. Kaiser should be ashamed of their process of providing medication and their appeal process. Shame on you Kaiser. MRN: 11-[protected]

Had a severe leg infection following surgery none of 5 doctors could identify. First four just circled the progression of the infection and told me to come back if the infection spread. It did, overnight. Was almost to my crotch when I forced the issue with the doctor who had performed the hysterectomy (5th doctor). He said it wasn't his area. I wouldn't let him do the follow-up pap until the infection was resolved. I insisted he feel how hot and hard the leg/infection was, to observe the color and progression, and to take it seriously. He couldn't identify it, so went and telephoned a medical friend in another part of the country. He came rushing back, suddenly attentive and concerned. Told me the infection could have killed me. Prescribed several strong antibiotics he insisted I immediately get and start taking. To this day there is purple and red in the leg. It was a common infection people often get following surgery/after hospital stays, but NONE of the 5 doctors could identify it, or take it seriously. Doctors don't want to touch you - you have to get nasty and insist. In OBGYN - referred there for intense internal pain that turned out to be a UTI - they wouldn't run the simple test without first doing a Pap. It was unbelievably painful due to the UTI infection. They didn't care.

I had to insist one doctor feel the hard and painful lump in my leg - once she relented her entire being changed. She was almost in panic mode because she realized after feeling it that it was a blood clot. Went in some years ago with what might have been a heart attack - they lost the X rays and test results twice.

Urine samples have been lost/tipped over and I've had to sit there until I could produce another one. Drop-in is a nightmare, and patients are repeatedly mislead and kept waiting for extensive periods of time even with appointments. Patients are lied to about samples being sent to the lab - they aren't. Patients have to go to the lab and have the lab re-run the same tests.

Patients aren't cued into procedure preps, I've had to cancel tests because I wasn't properly prepped. I hadn't been told. In the case of an external colonoscopy they only told me about the reactive material a few minutes before the procedure when they asked me if I had a reaction to it. How would I know? They should have warned me so I could look it up. In the Dermatology department a sadist male doctor removed a huge skin tag on my neck with a vibrating needle without numbing the area or giving me anything at all for the pain before or afterwards. And when a growth on my arm I'd questioned doctors about for years turned out to be cancer, the Asian doctor didn't call me with test results as promised. When I did get an appointment with her, she kept me waiting almost 45 minutes - talking to collogues outside the exam room. When she did come in, she waked to the computer, and as she was sitting down, with her back to me, she said "Well, it is cancer. What do you want to do about it?" She didn't even look at me! And how could I decide on the treatment without knowing what the options were, the respective success rates, and doing research?

But that is the San Francisco Kaiser. Good God, you can't even get blankets when freezing in the emergency room! It is a joke - but it Isn't funny. And it SURE isn't competent medical care! And women, particularly older women, are ignored, insulted, and pushed under the rug whereas male patients are catered to, given more time, and actually tested - whereas unsubstantiated assumptions are made about female patients and entered into respective medical histories. Many times patients are not aware of that, particularly if they are older and not computer literate. But it is routine for information to be fabricated and put into patient histories, and for medical test results and records to totally vanish. That's not medicine.

Made appointment with new doctor for stomach pain and urine leakage. Four times was asked same question about depression, drinking, exercise, in writing and verbally. Wasn't there for depression, told doctor that. That is all she wanted to discuss. Before I'd left the office she'd put a diagnoses of severe and sustained depression in my patient history. She refuses and her chief refuses to remove it. It was a first appointment, it lasted less than 12 minutes, I told her several times I didn't want to discuss depression, no testing whatsoever was done. The intent seems to be to invalidate as many older women as possible - with a diagnoses like that nobody would believe them in the future. There is no history of depression, psychiatry isn't the doctor's field. Focus has become all about money. Women in particular are invalidated, told they cause their own cancers, and routinely are insulted and their health put down. They try to talk you out tests, X-rays, etc. even though insurance covers it and the costs are thus paid for. More and more it's becoming about taking classes. Plus their is a backlash from Asian health care workers at that Kaiser hospital against Caucasians - open insults, hostility, and unwarranted refusal included. Documentation that should be in the files, like hospital stays, allergies, emergency room visits vanish if patients question or complain. It's laughable because it isn't health care. But to people in pain it isn't fully. I've seen older women come into the elevator weeping because they can't get help or anyone to believe or work with them. And it's becoming more pronounced. If you are a women the only tests they want to do on you are pap, mammogram, and a colonoscopy. And the colonoscopy is for ANY KIND of stomach pain or distress. It's a serious test and doesn't need to be run every year or every time there is stomach pain. Also male assistants come into the exam room when female patients are unclothed to hand them things like occult stool tests that could be handed out before or after exams. Protective covering falls down if the woman is stupid enough to reach out for the test - which isn't needed anyways when sitting on the edge of an exam couch. Another prejudice against older women is use almost no lubrication with pap tests, then to blame the pain on age and thinning of skin, etc. Extra lubrication is needed with older patients, not less. But some of the nurse practitioners there seem to actually enjoy causing pain to older patients. It isn't health or medical care. It's people processing, prejudicial treatment of women - particularly older women, and complete discredit ion by attaching false labels such as "extreme and prolonged severe depression" when there is absolutely nothing to warrant that kind of diagnoses. It's just a way to shut up women who might complain or question or protest.

I have been a Kaiser patient my whole life and I have never had a worse group of people to work with. Whenever I call about prescriptions or to make an oppitment it takes about an hour, 20 phone calls, and being transferred 15 times. I got a phone call today from a front desk worker for my primary care doctor. They called and left a message asking for me to call them back. I called 10 times. No answer. So I call the advice services and they go ahead a leave the doctor a message saying I called a bunch and just want to have the conversation via email. Then I got another phone call and message (mind you I'm at work this whole time) from the same lady saying that she missed me again, and that I need to call back asap. After a whopping total of 15 phone calls I finally leave a message asking if they just call and say I need to call back and then they just don't answer on propose? Because I had called 15 times over HOURS and I still have not talked to anyone. I also told her in the voicemail that if its not important, she needs to stop calling me. Now this is not the only time I've had trouble with this kaiser. Whatever you do, DO NOT EXPECT TO HAVE GOOD SERVICE HERE! I have NEVER had to deal with so many incompetent people who obviously can't do there job. I will be ending my business with kaiser asap because they are absolutely no help. What. So. Ever.

Here's what I wrote (in my 2nd appeal) to Kaiser's grievance department...

In my previous grievance I explained that I went to the vision center in December, 2014 at the Long Beach Kaiser and was horribly overcharged for an eye exam. I was aware that my insurance didn’t cover the eye exam, but when I asked what it would cost me, I was told $40. Not $40 as a deposit or as a down payment toward a later balance, but $40.

I recently contacted the receptionist at the Long Beach eye center who, as she confirmed in her system, was the receptionist that checked me in that day and received my payment. I told her the situation and she told me that it’s typical for her to say, “this is a deposit and you will owe somewhere in the range of $136 to $215 for the balance.” I assure you she never did. As I said in my previous appeal, everyone and their brother knows that you can, without any insurance, get an eye exam at Walmart for $60 or less. I heard no price range information when I paid. In fact, the balance I received in the mail from Kaiser was $536, not somewhere between $136 and $215 as Crystal said she typically states. When I asked her why the balance was $536 and not somewhere from $136 to $215, she replied, “whatever the doctor does back there may result in higher costs” - higher costs that are, apparently, not explained to the member as they’re receiving services that will result in an increase!

You can understand my frustration, I’m sure.

I know you deal with a lot of bogus claims - people trying to screw the system. I am just trying not to get screwed. We are big advocates for Kaiser and hope to stay with you all for a long time to come. So please, please see the reasonableness of my grievance.

I have spent so much time and energy trying to simply not get gouged with this. I don’t want damages; I just don’t want to be taken advantage of. I would like the balance of $536 to be dropped. I don’t say, “waived” because I shouldn’t owe it in the first place.

If I could afford a good lawyer and had the time and money to follow this through, I would. I think I have a pretty solid case. However, I don’t have a lawyer or the time or money to do that. And so I’m appealing to your sense of justice.

I have already appealed to Managed Health Care of Ca. They denied me as well. I talked to a lawyer who has dealt with a lot of insurance companies and he says it’s pretty typical for small money cases to be automatically denied because the big companies know that most people won’t follow it through. And now, I understand why.

If you can help me out with this I would be very grateful. My wife and I both work to be able to have good insurance and enough for our family. We cannot afford this.

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. by x-rays) and TMJ. I have had an RX for a pain medicine 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 permanant conditions and "lab tests" etc. are NOT necessary for these conditions. Nor are "lab tests" even used to diagnose 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.

I registered on the website www.kaiserpermanente.org. After that I chatted with the rep of this website and he promised to help me with the health insurance. I was relieved that the professional would help me, but this jerk understood that I have no idea about this insurance and other stuff, so he simply wanted to steal from me. I want to open a case against this company, ‘coz such ### must be stopped. Please, share your views about it.

I think Kaiser sucks but it is the only medical insurance I can afford as I am self-employed. This year has been a real circus with Kaiser. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get an appointment to see the doctor on the day you need to see them, you either have to wait two weeks or go to the ER. When you do finally get in they behave as though they have no idea about your medical history (I cannot tell you the number of times to date that I have been asked if I have a history of breast cancer and I JUST HAD A LUMPECTOMY SIX MONTHS AGO! The clinics are all like Grand Central Station, the medical personnel are obviously overbooked and the nurses and receptionists quite rude. If you are having a medical problem that you finally can get in to see the doctor about, the doctors run a battery of tests and never find something treatable, yet push you along the conveyor belt for more and more expensive tests like CAT scans and MRIs (to cover their own incompetence). Mostly they offer you pills of one sort or the other to mask symptoms and not treat them. I have to say their breast cancer program is pretty bad, too. I chose NOT to do chemo and radiation because I was afraid they would screw something up and screw me up, too. There was NEVER ANY follow up after my lumpectomy. I read online that breast cancer patients are supposed to go in for a six month follow up mammo. When I did make an appointment for a six-month followup mammo, the radiologist made me wait for 30 minutes while she confirmed that I actually had had breast cancer and that I wasn't trying to get a "freebie screening." I could not believe it.

You may want to grab a cup of tea because this one is a doozy.

In 2011 while I was hospitalized my blood thinner medication (warafin) was stopped. I'm on blood thinners because I had a heart valve replacement in Apr of 2010. The hospital doc ordered for the warafin to be started again the day before I was discharged. A couple of days later while laying on my couch I get this pain in my left toe and I notice a small black dot on my big toe that wasn't there before. I called the advise nurse and was told to soak my foot and keep it wrapped in warm towels. If it worsen I was told to go to the ER. I wasn't getting any relief by midnight, so my husband got our then 12 year old son out of bed, got me into the car and headed to Kaiser ER, after waiting and being examined I was sent home after being told this was due to being off the warafin for so many days but I should start to feel better in the next couple of days once the medicine gets into my system.

The pain kept coming and going and this black dot never went away. My husband kept taking back and forth to the ER FOUR times over the next few days. The pain was getting worse. One time during an ER trip I simply asked for a Morphine injection to help with the pain because my percocet was no longer helping. I was denied and sent home.

The pain to continued to worsen and became a 24 hour thing for me. I literally was screaming at times. It felt like my toes were on fire! Finally I was referred to a vascular surgeon who ran test. To make this long story short, I was told the worse case scenario was leg amputation. If this was treated earlier it wouldn't have gotten this bad.

The surgeon referred me to an outside Kaiser facility for hydrobearic therapy. This consist of being placed in a chamber laying on my back for 2-1/2 hours everyday to try and save my leg. It has the sensation like being placed deep underwater. It was a very slow, slow, SLOW and painful process. I still had the pain and by this time I was put on methadone as well as percocet. Both narcotics did absolutely nothing.

Keep in mind I was also doing home hemodialysis treatments in the midst of all this. Because I couldn't walk, my husband and mother, who moved in temporary to help, had to wheel me in my grandmothers wheelchair we borrowed between rooms in our house.

Finally I woke up one morning in the middle of November and decided I just couldn't take it anymore. I had an appointment with my surgeon that day and when my mom and I arrived I asked the doc to amputate my leg. I didn't even tell my mom beforehand.

My surgery took place the day before Thanksgiving and by this time four of my five toes had turned completely black because the tissues were dead.

In June of 2012 I had the same below the knee amputation on my right leg.

I call myself blessed because I'm came a long way from that. Tears are welling up in my eyes now as I think about how my legs could've been saved had the ER people took action that first night my husband brought me into the ER. Since then, my husband and I divorced, I lost my house because I couldn't afford it by myself. My husband put me through Hell even before this thing with my legs as he was verbally and physically abusive.

Now it's 2014. My son, who will be turning 16 in Sept. is a huge help to me. We've been in our new place we absolutely LOVE a little over two years now. I had success with prosthetics legs that no one can guess they're are prosthetics unless I tell them. I'm walking on my own, I'm driving my car without any modifications. I've been doing peritoneal dialysis for about two years which my treatments are about 9 hours and take place at night while I sleep. By morning my treatment is finished and I have full time for my days and not having to go in-center 3 times a week. My son will soon be taking driving lessons because we learned he can get his permit early than the legal age because he has a disabled parent. I'm also in the process of starting a support group for people with disabilities and their caregivers at my church.

Yeah, life is good and we're happy but the thought of Kaiser getting off the hook still bothers me and they need to take responsibility. I have all my documentation, notes, names and dates. I feel that one day I'll get that 'day in court' until then I just hope and pray that my story will be shared with others and that they take the necessary protocols and ask questions, do your research get 2nd, 3rd even 4th opinions if needed to prevent being told you have limited choices and going through similar circumstances.

Thanks for reading.

I worked for this company on and off for almost two years total in several different regions (California, Hawaii and Colorado). I was an Army spouse at the time and moved quite a bit during those two years. Always had great reviews from my managers stating what an excellent employee I was. When my husband finally got out of the military we settled down in Colorado and once again I applied for an on-call position and was hired right over the phone. That particular hiring manager ended up getting fired a week after I started due to reasons unknown. Before I was hired I was very open and honest about my availability and to the fact that I would be attending ultrasound school. My schooling is 18 months long and essentially the goal would be to work for Kaiser Permanente in that particular role once I graduated. The interim manager while I was on-call was great, very flexible and understanding. Then those of us that were on-call were moved into full-time positions and placed in different departments. The new manager knew all about my schooling and said it wouldn't be an issue because there was another girl in the department that worked part-time hours. So, with both of us in school working part-time hours it would be like having one full-time employee which would be great for the budget. Well, there was one day a week I had to be in lab for schooling, everything else was online. Suddenly, this became a huge issue even though I was getting the best QA scores with multiple certificates showing how well I was doing. After two months of working with this other manager she decided she didn't want to accommodate my school schedule anymore. Union reps became involved and did nothing to help, I was given no other option. I was told starting so and so date I would need to be there Monday - Friday from 8-5. How could it be that a company that supposedly promotes their employees continuing their education would do this to me? So, I gave my resignation and continued attending school. Obviously, I wouldn't miss class despite what the manager had said. About 5 months later I tried reapplying for another on-call job and was offered the opportunity, but it all came to a halt when I was called by my recruiter hours after my first day of orientation only to find out that I had been marked "INELIGIBLE FOR REHIRE". So the offer was rescinded and my dreams of continuing to work for this company were shattered. This incredibly spiteful manager had placed this in my file because of the days I missed during my "two week notice period" because I WAS IN SCHOOL! A terrible manager for Kaiser to have "leading" people.

I have just received a letter from the Customer Service Center telling me that my plan has been terminated as of a result of me not paying for the last two months. However, the issue is that the department is still not aware that I am now on Medi-Cal and has been on Medi-Cal since the beginning of last month. They are also not aware that the Santa Clara Member Services department sent them a fax stating that I had been approved to remain with Kaiser and that I have been on Medi-Cal since Feb. 1 and that if they have any further questions to please contact me.

It is obvious to me that Kaiser Customer Service Center did not receive the fax. It is also apparent to me that Kaiser is so big that one department does not communicate with another department. Or that the letter typed up by the Santa Clara Kaiser Member Services department might have sent it to another department and not to the correct place in San Diego.

Hate that the customer service department is so inapt. Very, very terrible!