Have to change from Aetna to Kaiser or United Health.......any input from medical people?

[USMC88-93]

I have Aetna POS, and have to change to one of the following.

Kaiser Permanente HMO - CO
United Health Care (Pay now)
United Health Care (Pay later)

I liked the Aetna plan I was on because it allowed for specialist without Referral.

Can any of the medical professionals, or patients that have dealt with these three tell me amongst the three which one they found more beneficial on the patient / consumer side of things.

[cmailliard]

I use to hate Kaiser for a few reasons. But their model I think is spot on. I had them for a year and the ease of going to the doctor was fantastic. See the doc, go get the x-ray, go to the lab, go get you meds, all in the same building. Ease of use and simplicity are huge in my book. Their care and standards were no different than any other doc I have been to in the past 4 years.

If I could I would go back to Kaiser. I am on my wife's UC Health plan and it sucks donkey dick. I spent 2 hours trying to to even find a place to get an x-ray.

No matter what make sure you get what you want out of your doc. In general I hate doctors, been around them too much in life and have a general low opinion of them. Don't let them throw meds at you and kick you out the door. Make them think and actually treat you, that is why they went to med school.

[brutal]

UHC administers lots of different plans. Employer plans, marketplace plans, etc.

My wife's employer's group is self insured (Centura) and UHC does a good job administering the plan IMHO. My opinion would be limited to that aspect as we enjoy tremendous coverage as long as we stay in (Centura) network. For us, in network doesn't necessary mean in UHC's network, but more often in Centura's network of hospitals and providers. My PCP is not directly affiliated with Centura but is in UHC's provider network so I can see him, but the office visits cost a little more. Not a concern for us because she gets employer paid contributions to an HRA we can use to pay non covered deductibles and copays. In the event we would have to go out of network for some rare specialty, there is still very good coverage and generally low out of pocket costs.

If it's an employer paid plan, that coverage is really going to be based upon what the employer is offering. If it's a marketplace plan, I've offered no help.

[Ramsker]

We've had UHC for years through my work . . . overall have been very happy with it. Our plan is self-referring and I've never had any hassles with anything. And I've had a few surgeries on it--all very smooth from having very good doctors and facilities to pretty painless on the paperwork and red tape. Obviously depends on what kind of plan and what the options are. But my family and I have had a very good experience with UHC.

I had Kaiser through a different job right out of college and I did NOT like that at all. I had two pretty bad experiences with them. One was a pretty minor wrist fracture where on my follow-up from the cast removal the specialist told me I should give up lifting weights due to the injury and that it would never be the same again. Idiot. And the other was a lump in my forearm that was misdiagnosed as just a "fat lump" and nothing to worry about. Several years later when it had grown and I wanted to have it removed (when I was under UHC) it turned out to be a nerve sheath tumor--benign, fortunately, but it definitely required removal and that could have been pretty bad.

So you couldn't pay me enough to go back to Kaiser if I had other options. But that's just me. I have friends with Kaiser who really like it.

[Irving]

So you couldn't pay me enough to go back to Kaiser if I had other options. But that's just me. I have friends with Kaiser who really like it.

Similar (but worse) experience here, but like all places, Kaiser is made up of people. I put the fault on the people, and not really Kaiser's business model.

[trlcavscout]

At least you got a choice, up north we automatically got switched to the not as good UHC, but hey at least the premiums didnt go up.

[rondog]

My wife is a union employee with Kaiser, so we have a pretty sweet deal. But you have to be your own advocate and stand up to the pill pushers, if they can write a prescription and get you out the door they will. If you want more in-depth care you have to insist on it. But I think they're all like that these days.

But I had gastric bypass surgery through Kaiser and I couldn't have asked for any better experience!

[Dave_L]

My wife is a union employee with Kaiser, so we have a pretty sweet deal.

Same here. I had a deviated septum and had surgery last year on it. Zero complaints. Was very easy and no issues. I actually really like my doctor too. They go out of their way to check EVERYTHING if something is wrong. Maybe that's because my wife works there? I dunno. But their "one stop shop" model is great for men. Lol. Simplicity is beautiful.

[rondog]

Same here. I had a deviated septum and had surgery last year on it. Zero complaints. Was very easy and no issues. I actually really like my doctor too. They go out of their way to check EVERYTHING if something is wrong. Maybe that's because my wife works there? I dunno. But their "one stop shop" model is great for men. Lol. Simplicity is beautiful.

No shit. Prescriptions cost us $5, so far no matter what it is. Thank God neither of us need anything really exotic yet.

[BPTactical]

We were on Kaiser for 23 years while I was with the State. All in all we were quite happy with it, had a few experiences with knucklehead PA's but nothing major.
Only after they started accepting Medicaid / Medicare did we see a decline and that was mainly appointment times and the pharmacy was always packed.