RunnerDuck

DH and I currently have Great West PPO for insurance... and they don't cover infertility. We are thinking of switching to Kaiser in December as we would have full infertility under them. But can they possibly be as good as the seem on paper etc??

Seems everyone I have talked to who has them, loves them... if I've already talked to you you don't need to answer here.

Specifically I am in the south bay area... Santa Clara county...

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DS b. 11/16/03
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DDs b. 3/28/08
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X2

"We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken, sobbing, with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip..."
- the verve pipe

prunepie

personally i hated kaiser. they never dxd my thyroid or pcos. that said i hear they are good for many people when it comes to fertility issues, but my gyno experiences for routine were terrible.

i was in the los angeles area and it was like mc donalds ...like a chain store. lol

they are supposed to be very good for kids.


my word to you is this... if you dont like a doc you see..you can choose another. but still within kaiser. and for the most parts they will stick together and back each other up cause they are all of the same team. you cant go out of network and get second opinions from people who arent " on the same team" does that make sense???

my suggestion would be if you need them for fertility then go for it..but please make sure that you can go back to your other plan if you want.
they would ONLY give me birth control for my pcos... would NOT GIVE METFORMIN bc they said it wasnt approved for pcos. and this was by 3 different docs at kaiser. THEY WOULD only give synthroid for my hypo. see what i mean??

good luck xo jenn

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jennifer, 33years old
long island, new york
dxd 2001
searching for new therapies/meds for pcos
met/gluc not working as well..but on 1000mgxr
married on 9/28/06 to keith

RunnerDuck

Hmmmmmm... yeah that's kind of what I am afraid of. not being able to get met, etc.

My endo actually used to work with Kaiser... he was director of high risk OB or something like that... I plan to ask him at my next appt. what his opinion is, about them. I'm thinking he might know a Kaiser doc so I could kind of be in Kaiser and still have my old doc giving input or something... I don't know. I see him oct. 6...

As far as I know, we can switch insurance as much as we want as long as it is during open enrollment (every Dec...)

But I don't know. I'm really afraid of hating kaiser... but also afraid of paying for IF out of pocket, LOL

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DS b. 11/16/03
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DDs b. 3/28/08
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X2

"We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt-stricken, sobbing, with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip..."
- the verve pipe

prunepie

i am sure there are awesome kaiser drs...specially if you get a referral from your present dr.

its just sooo much red tape. maybe if you are already on met they might go along with what you are on now....its a crap shoot. i am sorry i couldnt offer more of a positive answer.

xoxox jenn

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jennifer, 33years old
long island, new york
dxd 2001
searching for new therapies/meds for pcos
met/gluc not working as well..but on 1000mgxr
married on 9/28/06 to keith

chanchan

I am leaving Kaiser as soon as I have open enrollment. I was diagnosed 11 years ago under my parent's insurance and treated with BCP. I had Kaiser afterward and no one ever suggested Met or that my condition could be caused by insulin resisitance. Diabetes is sprinkled throughout my family history. They basically told me that they couldn't do anything until I actually was diagnosed as diabetic. It sounds like you are stuck between a rock and a hard place as far as weighing PCOS treatment vs. infertility treatment when it comes to Kaiser. My advice is to explore all your options before you switch.

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"you must be the change you want to see in the world" -gandhi


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Emma&Grace

Do you have friends who go to your dr who can give you a recommendation?

When I had Kaiser in Santa Rosa, I went through the infertility treatment. I was disappointed that I had to go to classes and have bloodwork, sa, etc before I could even see a dr. When I finally got to see a dr he was unwilling to give me met. He told me I just needed to lose weight and he was unwilling to prescribe a drug just to make it easier for me to lose weight. Also, they were unwilling to move quickly. It felt like it would take more than 6 months to even get Clomid. I was very disappointed.

I switched to Great West PPO at my open enrollment. Infertility treatment was not covered, but we chose to see an RE anyway. She was great and was more than willing to work closely with my OB/GYN. Any bloodwork I needed or prescriptions I needed filled, she would fax to order to my OB. My OB would then re-write the order so that my insurance would pay for it. Great West paid for everything that my OB order/prescribed without question. They even paid for the Femara since it is a breast cancer drug.

We were luckly that we didn't need IVF since that would have been very expensive out-of-pocket. As it was, we did 2 cycles of Femara with close monitoring via u/s and trigger shot. The 2 cycles cost us between $2000 & $3000. It was very worth it to us!!!

Trish

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dachshundqueen

If you are healthy Kaiser is good. If you are a child Kaiser is good. If you have some form of medical problem.......Kaiser is bad. Simply put. I chose not to go on Kaiser because all of the doctors I see have discontinued accepting it...I had my choice be on my office plan fully paid premiums or pay $200/month at my husband's and get a raise at my office....I chose to not get a raise and stay with UHC Choice Plus.

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Liz and Annabelle and William
Nursing 4 years 2 months straight.

Catylou's mom

My personal experience is a little mixed. Right now i love Kaiser, however one dr. did not want to prescribe me the Met when I suggested it. I switched to another dr. who reluctantly did, but pretty much told me it would do me no good. this was the fertility specialist. Well my baby was born Sunday after 12 years of trying. I seem to have overall good care but it may just be my area. I did have one dr. who was glad I was on Met when I told her I was pregnant because she had recently read or attended a clinic that showed its possitive effects on Pcos pregnancies. So it just depends on the dr. Id say. Good luck.

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Me32/ DH 33
Adopted DD Catylou 7 new baby boy! 9-18-05
Cancer ribbon for my mom 09/03/48-11/09/01
Finally after 12 years !!!!
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Allison.

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Allison
I have to exercise in the morning, before my brain figures out what the hell I am actually doing
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Traditional PCOS - Anovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance
Medications and Supps listed on my profile.