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Kaiser Permanente has made some positive changes in the way it does business by improving its arbitration process and by hiring better medical staff. However, before you shout ‘Kudos Kaiser’, many experts say that additional work still needs to be done at Kaiser and with the California insurance system in general.
Jeff Milman, a member of the Advocate Law Group Network who has been practicing law for over 25 years and specializes in medical negligence, told us what he thinks still needs to be changed. “Well, that’s a tough issue. I think one of the things that needs to be changed statewide for all of California, not just Kaiser, is a change on the cap on damages. I think that with a $250,000 cap on damages, a lot of systems, including Kaiser, don’t have a real impetus to change the way they do business. If they are slapped a little harder economically, they would make different changes.”
“The other thing I think that would help a Kaiser system is, instead of us all hearing commercials telling us how dedicated they are, how you should thrive and handing you a patient handbook which asks you to self-diagnose, I think what would be better is easier ways to get appointments and faster ways to get tests.”
A love / hate relationship
Many of the Internet blogs criticize Kaiser for providing inadequate treatment, but yet others seem to praise them for excellent treatment. We asked Milman what he thought about these differing opinions. “Well, that seems to be my experience, too. I’m not saying Kaiser’s a bad system because some people absolutely love them. If you are proactive, you get good treatment. Unfortunately, some have claimed that if you’re not sick, you get excellent treatment!”
“If you find the right physicians to treat you at Kaiser, you may be happy as a pea in a pod. The people I come in contact with are usually not the happy ones. They’re the ones who feel they’ve been wronged and seek out a lawyer.”
Getting the right help
If you’ve been the victim of medical negligence by Kaiser Permanente, it’s important to get the right help. Attorneys whose practices specialize not only in medical negligence, but who also know the Kaiser system inside and out are available to help. To contact an attorney, click here.
