Kasier Insurance in Colorado

Hi everyone,

Has anyone had experience with Kaiser in Denver. I have there HMO plan through my job and as a result can not see anyone out of network.

Can anyone fill me in on.... the good.... the bad.... the ugly....and hopefully...the wonderful ????

Does anyone know a good doctor at Kaiser for PCA ? I am a Gleason 8

Thanks

Skiguy

I have a friend who was diagnosed over a year ago he has Denver Kaiser. He's a gleason 7 and they won't even offer him Brachytherapy. In fact he's been on AS since. At age 65 now he's not too interested in radical surgery. His psa is about 6.5 now. It's rising but not doubling. I can only speak about Kaiser through him, but being I was a federal government worker I had my choice of insurance. Lets just say I was very happy soon after I was dx that I didn't have Kaiser. In fact I had Pacificare who has since dropped Colorado but they did pay for my PCa treatment at CU Med Center Anshultz. In fact I had a 21st century clinical research treatment that really should become the new gold standard for those with low to intermediate risk PCa. I have stated and stand by the fact I am the most successfully treated individual on this site. Well me and another who also had TFT.

I endorse what RCS says the best place by far in Colorado is CU Med Ctr Anshultz. I was originally diagnosed at TUCC and with my low risk number my urologist there answered with a straight face that I only had maybe 7 years to live if I did nothing. Of course that scared the hell out of me and later enraged me when I learned what utter BS that was. He was just hoping I was the type who panics at the "C" word and jumps up on an OR table ASAP screaming "Get it out of me" But I'm not one to panic and thank god for through TV channel 7 I learned about the PCa research being done at CU Med Ctr. I was very fortunate to have Mike Landess broadcast a special about his PCa. I ended having the same doctors and procedure as he did. So if you can somehow change your insurance the top doctors in Colorado are Dr Crawford who is one of the top 5/10 in the country or his director of research Dr. Barqawi who was my primary doctor at CU.

Like I said I'm not too impressed by how Kaiser has treated my friend. I think they just wanted to push him off until he could do medicare.

Active surveillance. basically psa checks every 3 months and biopsies every 6months to year plus, depending on your individual Pca and Doctor.

I had two months of EBRT by N. California Kaiser earlier this year, which seemed to be done very professionally with state-of-the-art equipment. The only things not available were a saddle (they said was unnecessary) and a rectal spacer (not available). I would have been more concerned if I had to pick a particular doctor to perform surgery.

That being said, this whole PC business is a guessing game as to diagnosis and treatment. Even a 2nd opinion from UCSF failed to shed much additional light on my G7 biopsy. Ironically, my treatment choice was made easier by the removal of other options (due to TURP and possible extension).

Hi, Skiguy, belated welcome to HW, as you can see a great place for knowledge and support. No one wants to be here, but we all appreciate the value of the site.

Your signature shows age 64. Not sure when 65 will be, but you will be eligible for medicare soon. If your HMO is not accommodating 2nd opinions or treatments and you can't change your employer coverage, at least you have better choices when you turn 65. Medicare with a supplement plus a Part D plan can be expensive (may be less than $200 mo depending on your state) and will give you coverage for almost everything with very little out of pocket. If you have to insure a spouse who is not eligible for medicare that may force you to stay on the HMO. For now, get the best you can from the HMO. If you have problems getting referrals or payments, ask you employer's HR representative or the insurance agent (if no HR) to help mediate.
Pat