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Friday, July 13, 2007

Kaiser SUCKS!

I am so mad at the so-called customer service at Kaiser Permanente. As some of you know, we're trying to get pregnant. My nightmare started the moment I made the phone call for my appointment.

Medical care in the US is so different from Malaysia. Although I have never needed a gynae then, I do know that if you're trying to get pregnant, you just go and make an appointment to see one. So after telling the customer service what I want (to get/go thru fertility treatment), I was finally given a date, a month and a half away from the day that I called. I was told that they would send me a reminder about my appointment. Did they? NO. Fine ......

On the day of my appointment, June 25, i found out that I was seeing a certified nurse midwife (CNM). (Can someone please highlight me if a cnm is a gynae? Im serious. I really need someone to tell me if there's a diff between those 2) Since Iv already done my paps smear 2 mths earlier so I didn need to take another one. All that she has to do is put my name in the computer to sign me up for the fertility class or something like that. (for that we parted with $30 for our co-pay) Iwas told that somebody would call me to set the appointment date for the class. Sounds familiar? Of course nobody called.

So earlier today, I called the customer service (her name is Angela) again hoping that THEY will do something about it or at least let me know what the hell is going on in their multi-million dollar facilities. I am not easily angered if I get the service that I expected. And that's the key-word. SERVICE. When I pay for a service, I expect that I would have to do the minimum and THEY, do the rest. Imagine how I felt when i was told to call the CNM myself to find out what happened to my appointment and that the call never came? I let all my dissatisfaction known to her. She, on the other hand told me to contact the CNM myself. Basically telling me tht its my duty to make sure that THEY give me a call so that I get the appointment that I needed. Does that even make sense? And to make my blood-go-upstairs even more, since I keep questioning her why I need to do all that, she rudely just said to me, "im going to tranfer your call to the doctor's voicemail now" and thats it. She just transfered my call. Anak haram sungguh! Pardon my language.

Dealing with the insurance/medical here is like walking in a maze. Its just so frustratingly frustrating. And I still dont know what is it that we have to do or need before we can actually get the treatment that we want. Or if even need any treatment.

11 comments:

J.T. said...

Hi Farina,

The insurance industry controls a lot of things and they make it difficult for patients sometimes.

I have heard that some patients needing emergency operations had to wait for approval by insurance companies. Ridiculous!

Anyway, it has been awhile since I used the medical services in the States. The last time I did, there wasn't much problem trying to get an appointment. I had sprained my back and managed to see the doctor the same day. I used BlueCross BlueShield.

I hope you get your problem sorted out. It can be frustrating when the people who are supposed to help you, give you the run-around.

Unknown said...

PrincessJournals,

Call JustHealth @ 888-225-2686 (www.justhealthnow.org) and we'll be happy to speak with you about what you are going through.

Trying to assist people with situations like this is what we do - at no charge.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE do not go to Kaiser to have a Baby. Here is my story...www.kaiserthrive.org/2007/03/04

Salt N Turmeric said...

JT, its just so frustrating. thts whylah i meletup on my blog. I hate being given a run around when its not even free! And esp after reading the story tht my anonymous reader/commenter had to go thru, im definitely having a 2nd thought abt trying to get pregnant or any major treatment at kaiser.

pbg, thank u for the offer. as of right now, i dont think i wanna do anything abt it and hopefully i dontv to deal w them anytime soon.

Beth, thank u for the link to your story. Its so heartbreaking reading wht u had to (and still!) going through.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, I am sorry for what you have to go throught. %^&*&^% betullah diorang tuh.

Sabar, sabar.... nanti dah dapat baby lagi banyak kena sabar

Salt N Turmeric said...

thanks Elviza. ni kira sabar lah ni. kalau tak dah lama i carut kat budak tu. :)

Anonymous said...

PJ,

Sorry to hear about the things that you have to gone through. Mine is BCBS and my GYN/OB is at Irvine Regional Medical Center. I didn't know that KP was that bad. But hopefully everything goes well eventually.

It brings back some bad memories that I had years ago dealing with Harvard Pilgrim regarding my hubby's surgery. Can't say it's a nightmare but VERY annoying that I have to keep calling A and B and C almost every other day. Luckily I wasn't working at that time.

Anyway, wish you good luck.

Salt N Turmeric said...

Elena, thanks for dropping. yes, i dont understand why they made us call every tom, dick and harry for a service tht we pay thus entitled to?

since ur experience was w blue shield, now i really dont kno whc to go to next yr. sigh..

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot to mention that I think your hubby should have his check up first. :-)

Don't know why you were seeing CNM. Thought that your first consultation should be a REAL GYN/OB.

Anyway, I think you can consult your primary physician and see if he/she can get you a referral.

Salt N Turmeric said...

im not sure why i was seeing the cnm but wht i do kno is tht she was the one who 'got' me/us signed up for the fertility class.

as of right now, im a bit taken aback w the so-called-system and am giving it a 2nd thought.

Anonymous said...

Funny 'Kaiser sucks' kinda post:

http://designfail.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/step-away-from-the-vehicle-am-i-under-arrest/