It scares me to think that Kaiser could be the template for national health care! My husband and I will work ourselves silly to afford better! All physicians who are from other countries, and are working with the American public, need to understand, have respect for, and be able to communicate very well with Americans and in very good English. I was bombarded several times with physicians who patronized, looked down on, and who had little regard for Americans or for learning proper English. In addition, there were a total of three situations we experienced with Kaiser which resulted in our resolve never to return to their plan. My husband and I were members of Kaiser for three years back in the late 1970’s when I worked with Sacramento County. We joined again briefly about fifteen years later, but we quickly dropped out and pursued private insurance. I have a story that I have told many times for its amusing qualities. As a community college instructor in California for a number of years, diversity and our ability as a state to integrate so many immigrants from all over the world has always been a source of pride as a Californian. We are glad that our sons grew up knowing and understanding many cultures and having friends from many countries. For this reason, I have never had a problem with going to physicians from other countries. One time in the late 1970’s, my toenails started to give me problems after I did a lot of hiking in Yosemite National Park. I also noticed my toenails were not growing correctly. I saw a physician from India and explained to him my story about hiking, the pain I was having in my toes, and about how they were not growing correctly. He looked at me for a long time, not at my toes, but at me in general. He then said in halting English, “You look good on outside, so you are good on inside.” That is all he said. I looked at him in disbelief, and asked him again what he recommended. Again he looked at me and said, “You look good on outside; you do look good on inside I think. You have no problem. You look good.” I excused myself and left his office, marching right down to the patient relations department. I may not remember exactly the name of the department, but I was told that if I had a complaint that is where I should go to explain my issue regarding the doctor. I was assigned another physician, but after seeing the next doctor, the nurse at his office quickly walked up to me and said, “You’ll never get the proper treatment here; go see this doctor, an Internist. He will take you seriously and get you help." I had to make excuses as to why I should go to yet a different doctor, but I did eventually get proper medication. On another occasion after the birth of my first child, I had some strange cramping and was sent to a general practitioner for an exam. An older doctor and Caucasian, he was pleasant but began to talk about surgery to resolve post-birth problems. I had not even been examined yet. I sensed a strange logic in his explanation on why I should be operated on, and decided not to return to Kaiser again. I found a gynecologist who examined me and offered exercises and a diet plan which resulted in all ending of my symptoms and increased health. In 1975, when I was working with Sacramento, CA. County, my husband was having a lot of pain in his left heel, an area which he had had surgery on as a child. Because my husband’s family had been with Kaiser for a long time, and because we were newly married, I didn’t have any history at that time to cause me to second-guess their treatment. My husband agreed to surgery, which the doctor said would “update” the skin graft done in his childhood. After the surgery, my husband’s nerves in his left heel and foot were damaged and resulted in the loss of feeling. A year later my husband went to a private surgeon in Fresno specializing in the feet and leg areas. My husband was told that the surgeon was a “butcher” and ruined the graft that had been “state-of-the-art” in 1958 when he had had it done. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and my husband never obtained any compensation or feedback from Kaiser. In addition, the surgeon that had done the surgery was “no longer with Kaiser” as said by Kaiser’s administration office. Those are our stories, and I hope that others can learn from ours and others’ stories that it is important to accept only physicians who are culturally respectful of Americans, who have a very good command of English—our language, who have proven success in the area of specialty that is needed, and who do not push for unnecessary surgeries. “JTF”

From CNN - Who will make your life-or-death decision? Will that person actually honor your wishes? - You know what happened to Gary Coleman and it can happen to you By Elizabeth Landau, CNN June 16, 2010 1:36 p.m. EDT

Notice: Kaiser Permanente has promised President Obama that they are providing coverage for children up to the age of 26 now - before September. Your child's medical coverage will continue. Reports from employees to parents that children over 18 will be denied care until September should be questioned. See: http://www.healthreform.gov/healthsecurity.html

This ribbon is intended as a remembrance of those that 
have been harmed by the 
health care system. 

If you would like us to send you a ribbon, please contact us at: Ribbons@kaiserpapers.org
If you wish to send us your loved 
ones photo and/or name that you 
are remembering we will place it 
online for you at a Medical Wall of Remembrance. If this is a Kaiser 
Victim that has passed away, 
and you request us to, we will 
also place their name on the 
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KAISER BILLING PROBLEMS - TROUBLE COLLECTING BACK OVERPAYMENT OF CAP? PLEASE LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THE YEARLY FINANCIAL CAP LIMITING THE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES WITH THEIR KAISER INSURANCE. EVERYONE MUST KNOW THE AMOUNT AS IT VARIES. SENIOR ADVANTAGE IS $4K YEARLY. EVERYONE MUST KEEP TRACK OF THEIR SPENDING AS KAISWER WILL DO ALL THEY CAN TO AVOID PAYMENT. THE NUMBER KAISER HAS MEMBERS CALL WILL ONLY GIVE THEM THE "RUN AROUND." SENIOR AND OTHERS OVERBILLING PROBLEMS CONTACT: HILLARIE LEVY - hillarie643 at aol.com