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kaiser insurance
Hi everyone!
I'm a newbie, but I've been lurking for a little while now and I've got a question for all you knowledgeable ladies. My husband and I are TTC and I got myself established at OHSU for the future because I liked their midwifery program. However, it's looking like we have to change our health insurance carrier because we can't afford what we have anymore. Our new carrier would be Kaiser and I can find little to no information about their maternity services. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Kaiser, either related to ob/gyn or maternity stuff.
Thanks!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: kaiser insurance
Welcome.
I have Kaiser. What would you like to know?
Oh yeah, maybe I should have been more specific!
Where did you deliver? How have you liked their prenatal/maternity care? Who was your OB? How do you like Kaiser in general? Have you had any problems with them?
Thank you!
The majority of people with Kaiser deliver at Sunnyside or St. Vincents. If you look through older posts, you'll find lots of reviews of Sunnyside. I delivered there and had a fantastic experience, as did a lot of other moms that I know.
As for the prenatal care, I had regular appointments throughout and really liked the MD that I worked with. I went to Interstate and never had a wait to be seen. You can email your doctor if you have a question. One thing to remember is that the person who will deliver your baby, be it an MD or midwife, is likely not the person that you will meet with for your prenatal care. Honestly, I cannot see what difference it would make if you had met the person before or not. If you really feel like you'd need that type of connection, then hiiring a doula may be in your best interest.
The most beautiful thing about Kaiser is that throughout my entire pregnancy and delivery, I had absolutely no bills. Every single thing was covered. Everything. You won't find that through most other providers.
Jeez, I just found a couple of posts that basically answered all my questions. I tried searching for Kaiser (I swear!) but didn't get anything. Clearly I shouldn't just trust the search function.
A few lingering questions: how is it decided whether you deliver at St V's or Sunnyside? Does Sunnyside allow waterbirth?
I have Kaiser and have been going to the Beaverton (Western Ave) clinic for my pregnancy. I have seen a Mid Wife the entire time - Rhonda Chick and I really like her. The one downside with Kaiser is your OB/MW does not deliver you - my understanding is that there are two OB's on 24 hour rotation and one MW that works more of an 8-5 M-F shift and whoever is at the hospital when you go into labor will deliver you (with the exception of a scheduled C-section). Part of the reason I went with a mid wife was due to her availability for my scheduled appointments, she was in the clinic much more often than the MD's, so that is something to keep in mind too. We decided that as long as I made it to 37 weeks, we would go to Sunnyside. We really like and preferred their facilities to St. Vincent's based on touring both of them, but would have gone with St. V's no questions if I went into early labor since they have a NICU.
As far as costs go - I think it just depends on your plan. So far, all I have paid is $15 co pays for my visits and $10 for labs. My annual max out of pocket is $2500, so that is the max I will have to pay. I did call to get an estimate and my out of pocket for a normal vaginal birth will be around $1600 and around $2250 for a c section, both include my annual deductible of $500.
I also have Kaiser, really like Rhonda Chick at Beaverton... will have Dr. Dantas do my scheduled c-section. I have been really pleased so far... have friends that delivered at both Sunnyside and St. V's - both had good experiences.
I didn't have Kaiser with my first pregnancy, but did deliver at St. V's with another group - the doctor I had for all 9 months didn't end up delivering me either (as a previous post has said)... I was told that's just based on their schedules, etc. It wasn't a big deal and since I was there in labor for 21+hrs I wouldn't have expected the same person to be there.
One additional thing I can say about Kaiser is their literature is great in the OBGYN department - great news letters and really easy to read stuff. Impressive to say the least. I had a quick question about a screening test and it was answered within the day via email.
Hope that helps.
Hi there,
We switched to Kaiser right when I found out I was pregnant and was terrified of such a different system than what I am used too. Almost 8 months later, I am in LOVE with Kaiser and hope that we never have to switch back. I live in SW portland and go to the Beaverton clinic for my prenatal care, I primarily see Dr. Anne Stanek and I absolutely love her! I have also seen Rhonda Chick a few times and loved her too. All of the staff is amazing, I feel like I am receiving the best medical care that I ever have. I love emailing my dr. and getting an immediate reply and also have loved their OB nurse hotline for quick questions. They are always super nice and usually you are talking with someone that you have met at a visit. I feel like they have an awesome prenatal program with lots of fun and easy to read literature and I have never felt rushed at any of my visits! I also love that within 24 hours of having labs done I get an email from my dr with the results and her opinion on them.
I think we will be delivering at Sunnyside just based on the two tours we took and the fact that I have had a normal healthy pregnancy. As long as everything continues to go well I will stick with Sunnyside. Their facilities are nice and new, and as everyone has stated before, even many of my friends without kaiser who were told their docs would be their to deliver didnt make it and had to meet someone new. So I dont feel jyped there.
As far as costs, all kaiser plans are different but all tend to be low out of pocket costs. I dont pay anything for my prenatal visits, not even a co-pay. My labs so far, and I am 8 months have totaled $40 out of pocket for ultrasounds and all my routine bloodwork. I LOVE KAISER!!!
I haven't posted here in a long time, but I wanted to let you know that Kaiser will not do a water birth. I asked about that when we were expecting and my OB told me that.
I love Kaiser they were great with my prenatal care, they watched me very closely throughout since I had hypertension and developed pre-e. I always felt like I was in good hands.
We delivered at St. V's and had a great experience. I had never met my OB that delivered, but it didn't matter, she was wonderful.