Back in the 70’s many complained that Kaiser Permanente was a cattle run. It was difficult to see the same doctor when you came in for visits. Kaiser offered a healthcare product that was very competitive as far as price, but many felt it lacked the personal touch and quality that they wanted in a health insurance plan.

Today, Kaiser Permanente is a very different organization. You can choose your doctor and switch doctors at any time. You can email your doctor. Kaiser Permanente now boasts of having one of the most advanced electronic medical records system in the world. Through advances in medical knowledge, equipment and customer service the Kaiser Permanente of today offers some of the best healthcare in the industry.

One customer recently sent me a letter to communicate his thanks for the quality of care he has been receiving at Kaiser Permanente: “I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Doshi and his staff (and volunteers at the information desk) for the excellent care I received at Kaiser Permanente,

Posted: March 30th, 2009 under Kaiser Permanente.
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Our daughter Chloe was born on February 11^th at 12:05 AM. Once the doctor used the suction on her head, she came out very quickly. My wife had a bit of tearing when Chloe came out, but the doctor didn’t seem too worried about it. She later stitched up the wound and said, “It’ll heal in six weeks.” Once Chloe was out, immediately the doctor grabbed her and started suctioning out her nose and mouth. Apparently, Chloe had pooped in the womb. This pre-born baby poop is called meconium and can cause problems if ingested by the newborn.

Once the meconium was taken care of, two nurses took Chloe to a side table to clean her. I stood by the table in awe of this new creation, my beautiful little girl. The cleaned off all the amniotic fluid, me conium and blood, and she looked great. Her head was a little deformed and she sported a red ring from the vacuum they used to get her out, but other than that she looked perfect. Next, it was my turn to cut the umbilical chord. The nurse handed me some strong scissors and I cut through the thick rubbery tube, that tube of life that had once been my daughter’s only connection to nourishment. After the cleaning, the nurses carried her over to the baby scale. On their way over, I shouted out my prediction, “I think she’s going to weigh nine pounds.” I never saw the actual weight, but the nurses said, “Let’s just call it nine pounds.” I think Chloe weighed a tiny bit less than nine pounds, but the nurses rounded up perhaps to please Chloe’s daddy. I was very pleased.

Posted: March 27th, 2009 under California.
Comments: none

Our daughter Chloe was born on February 11^th at 12:05 AM. Once the doctor used the suction on her head, she came out very quickly. My wife had a bit of tearing when Chloe came out, but the doctor didn’t seem too worried about it. She later stitched up the wound and said, “It’ll heal in six weeks.” Once Chloe was out, immediately the doctor grabbed her and started suctioning out her nose and mouth. Apparently, Chloe had pooped in the womb. This pre-born baby poop is called meconium and can cause problems if ingested by the newborn.

Once the meconium was taken care of, two nurses took Chloe to a side table to clean her. I stood by the table in awe of this new creation, my beautiful little girl. The cleaned off all the amniotic fluid, me conium and blood, and she looked great. Her head was a little deformed and she sported a red ring from the vacuum they used to get her out, but other than that she looked perfect. Next, it was my turn to cut the umbilical chord. The nurse handed me some strong scissors and I cut through the thick rubbery tube, that tube of life that had once been my daughter’s only connection to nourishment. After the cleaning, the nurses carried her over to the baby scale. On their way over, I shouted out my prediction, “I think she’s going to weigh nine pounds.” I never saw the actual weight, but the nurses said, “Let’s just call it nine pounds.” I think Chloe weighed a tiny bit less than nine pounds, but the nurses rounded up perhaps to please Chloe’s daddy. I was very pleased.

Posted: March 27th, 2009 under California.
Comments: none

Often when I speak with customers who are trying to choose a health insurance plan, the question comes down to deciding between a standard deductible plan and a deductible plan with HSA (Health Savings Account). These two types of plans have differing advantages. The standard deductible plans offer doctor visits and prescription drug coverage right away. Though the HSA plans do not cover doctor visits or RX until the deductible, they do have some of the lowest out-of-pocket maximums of all the plans.

Standard Deductible Plans

Advantages: doctor visits and prescription drugs covered before the deductible, low monthly premiums

Most Popular of this Type: $30/$1500 Deductible Plan, $40/$3000 Deductible Plan

People who are concerned about coverage for routine visits and prescriptions tend to choose these plans. The $30/$1500 Deductible Plan is one of Kaiser California’s most popular plans. Why? The $1,500 deductible allows Kaiser to lower the monthly premium considerably. Many find that the savings on the $500 and $1,000 Deductible Plans just isn’t enough. For most people, they get their first real price break when they drop down from the $1,000 Deductible Plan to the $1,500 Deductible Plan. The price is right and many find security in knowing that their basic coverage needs (RX and doctor visits) are covered right away with a small copayment. Others want to lower their monthly premiums a bit more, so I will recommend they drop down to the $40/$3000 Deductible Plan. This plan offers similar coverage: doctor visits for $10 more and prescriptions for the same price. The main differences are the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum amounts and of course, the lower monthly premium.

HSA Deductible Plans

Advantages: low out-of-pocket maximums, preventative care, HSA option, low monthly premiums

Most Popular of this Type: $0/$1500 Deductible Plan with HSA, $0/$2700 Deductible Plan with HSA, $0/$5000 Deductible Plan with HSA

Those who focus on the bottom line as well as people who want major medical coverage tend to like these plans. The three plans listed above offer 100% coverage once the deductible is met. The $0/$1500 Deductible Plan with HSA has the lowest out-of-pocket maximum of any of the California plans. Your worst case scenario in one year is $1,500 because after that point you have 100% coverage for the rest of the year. I put my wife on this plan because it was the cheapest way for us to have a baby. After our baby was born in February, now my wife has 100% coverage for the rest of the year. Beyond that, I’m still paying the low monthly premiums that I get with a deductible plan, and I get to deduct all her medical expenses from our federal taxes. The $0/$2700 and $0/$5000 Deductible Plans with HSA offer basically the same coverage; the only difference is that the deductibles/out-of-pocket maximums are higher and the monthly premiums are lower.

Posted: March 16th, 2009 under California.
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Kaiser Georgia introduces the Now Plans! These 11 new plans are available for an April 1, 2009 effective date. With these new plans, there are now more ways than ever to save on Individual Health Insurance in Georgia. View a listing of all the current Personal Advantage Plans along with a brief explanation below.

• 7 Now Plus Plans: These plans include doctor visits, RX and maternity coverage before the deductible.
• 4 Now Plans: Save money on plans without prescription coverage.
• 5 Balance Plans: Save money by cutting maternity coverage. These plans are especially good for females who aren’t interested in maternity (prenatal and delivery services).
• 2 Balance Plans with HSA: Save on HSA plans without maternity.
• 4 Straight HSA Plans: Save on plans with only preventative coverage before the deductible. Also, with these plans you have the option to deduct healthcare expenses from your federal taxes by opening a health savings account. The HSA 100% Plans offer some of the lowest out-of-pocket maximums. The HSA 80% Plans are major medical plans with lower premiums. 

Kaiser Personal Advantage Plans Offer 3 Ways to Save Money
1. Cut maternity by choosing a Balance Plan.
2. Cut prescription drugs by choosing a Now Plan without RX.
3. Choose a plan with a higher deductible.

Maternity Coverage
For those specifically interested in maternity coverage, we recommend the Premier Plan or the $3,500/100% Deductible Plan with HSA. On the Premier Plan, it you’ll pay $3,000 to have a baby ($1,000 for obstetrician/midwife and $2,000 for hospital delivery). On any of the other Now Plans, your cost would be $4,500 ($1,500 for obstetrician/midwife and $3,000 for hospital delivery). The $3,500/100% Deductible Plan offers 100% coverage after the deductible, thus making the cost $3,500 for maternity coverage on this plan.

For more details on these Kaiser Permanente Plans, click Georgia Health Plans.

Posted: March 10th, 2009 under Georgia Individual.
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When a baby is born, the child is covered by the mom for the first 30 days. The mother’s deductible (if applicable) and maximum out-of-pocket apply. A separate deductible/out-of-pocket max would not apply for the baby. 

There is an exception.  If the baby is enrolled before s/he is discharged, then a separate deductible and out-of-pocket max would apply for the baby also.

Once your baby is born, you have 30 days to apply for coverage for the child. Until this point the baby is covered on the mother’s plan. Click Apply for a Child Plan to enroll your newborn.

Posted: March 9th, 2009 under California Individual.
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As the husband, the hardest part of the birth was the waiting. Our due date came and went. Two weeks later we induced, but that didn’t work. The next day our Kaiser Permanente doctor broke my wife’s water around noon and finally we started getting some action. Contractions started getting intense and my wife, Carolyn, began to really feel the pain, so much so that she ended up getting a shot of fentanyl and later an epidural to deal with the pain. However, after the water broke it still took twelve hours for our little girl to be born.

Around 9:00 PM, Carolyn finally arrived at the magic number: 10 centimeters dilated and 100% effacement of the cervix. At this point the epidural wore out and the pain got even more severe. The nurse said, “It’s time to start pushing.” So Carolyn did, and that seemed to help. Pushing actually seemed to make the pain lessen. During every contraction she pushed three times for 10 seconds each time. I counted for her out loud, so she could just concentrate on the pushing. In between contractions she suffered with a pain in her side and pain from having full bowels.

Carolyn pushed for three hours. I got so tired I had to sit down in between contractions. I can’t imagine how tired she was. I was afraid that she might get too worn out and not be able to push anymore. Carolyn’s mom, my mom and I kept trying to encourage her. “Come on. You can do it!” “You’re making progress.” “We can see the baby’s head.” “We’re getting close.” As optimistic as I tried to sound, I realized that progress was occurring very slowly. I didn’t want to discourage my wife, so I kept acting like we were gaining ground even though I knew it was doubtful how much progress we were actually making.

After three hours, the doctor came in and suggested that we use the vacuum to suction our baby’s head to help her come out more quickly. Both of our mom’s were instantly concerned. They weren’t familiar with the vacuum. Carolyn was OK with it, but she was afraid that I might not be. I was more than OK with it, but I was afraid that Carolyn would worry about it making an ugly mark on our baby’s head. I said, “Let’s do it.” The doctor thought the baby might come out anyway after another half hour, but I’m certain it would have taken longer. I think another hour would have been a bit optimistic. I was afraid that without the vacuum this might take too long and we might end up having to have a C-section. The doctor left the room to get the vacuum.

About five minutes later, the doctor returned with four or five more nurses and a metal table on wheels. We had quite a crowd! There were ten or eleven of us in the room at the moment of birth. Two nurses would clean the baby. One would weigh the baby, and one or two nurses would take care of the placenta. The doctor sat down in front of the vaginal opening and a nurse handed her the vacuum. The end of it was plastic and was in the shape of a circle about two inches in diameter. She stuck the vacuum in the vaginal opening to suction it onto the baby’s head.

Then came the next contraction. Carolyn pushed, and I’m sure she pushed hard. She had an audience to impress now. I thought the doctor would use the vacuum to just hold the baby after pushes so the baby didn’t slip back, but the doctor actually pulled on the vacuum while Carolyn pushed. In one push she had the baby’s head out. After a couple more pushes, the rest of the baby’s body came out followed by a flow of blood.

Posted: March 2nd, 2009 under California.
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