Kaiser HMO or Aetna HSA for maternity?

New / Acctg
sg2019

New Acctg

 sg2019
Jan 26 9 Comments

Hi
My husband recently switched jobs and has an option to enroll into Kaiser HMO or Aetna HSA. We’re located in south bay area and are expecting baby this year.
Based on your experiences, are Kaiser institutions reliable compared to either El Camino Mountain view or Sutter health Fremont (which are covered by Aetna)? Are there any other facilities which are better from both reliability and cost perspective? Also if possible suggest any good OBGYN doctors.
Thank you.

#insurance #medical #health #maternity

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 TOP 9 Comments
  • Aetna will give you access to some of the best doctors in Bay Area (and world). Kaiser will give you access to ONLY Kaiser doctors (some of them are good, some are average) but you have no other choice anyway with Kaiser.
    Jan 26 2
    • I had some weird symptoms post vaccine shot, and I saw bunch of super specialists at Stanford, Sutter and UCSF. Only possible because of non-Kaiser insurance (Aetna in my case).
      Jan 26
    • New / Acctg
      sg2019

      New Acctg

       sg2019
      OP
      Our problem is Aetna doesn’t cover ultrasound, hospital charges and out pf pocket is upto 6900$ , is there a way I can call el camino hospital or pamf to just get approximate billing charges.? Will this work ?
      Jan 26
  • Samsara
    bfee70

    Go to company page Samsara

    bfee70
    You’ll pay less out of pocket at Kaiser, but you can’t beat the tax advantages that come with the HSA. Either way you’ll get excellent care at Kaiser, El Camino, and Sutter.
    Jan 26 2
    • HSA is good if you don’t visit doctors often. Planned maternity can easily cost 10-20k more than one would expect
      Jan 26
    • Amazon / Eng
      wawY45

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      PRE
      Apple
      BIO
      I'm a no-man.
       wawY45
      I think with Kaiser you can actually still have an FSA, of course FSA is only good if you spend all your HSA each year.

      FSA expires by year's end, whereas HSA is yours to keep.
      Jan 26
  • Meta
    My3rdFAANG

    Go to company page Meta

    My3rdFAANG
    I had my daughter at Kaiser in Woodland Hills (Southern California) and the experience was great. Kaiser isn’t for everyone, but I have no complaints.
    Jan 26 0
  • Intel
    ltdwench

    Go to company page Intel

    ltdwench
    Don't do Kaiser
    Jan 26 0
  • Amazon
    AvMO65

    Go to company page Amazon

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    Open source development
     AvMO65
    Depends on your HSA. Some plans have very high deductible. The plans from big companies (like Amazon) have lower overall deductible (under 6k). But others have like 8K or more. You typically select HSA if you won't have medical expenses so keep building the HSA account. For the cases like yours, try regular PPO if you want anything other than Kaiser.

    I have known quite a few people in the past had maternity at Kaiser. That being one of the medical cases almost all families go through, Kaiser has a fantastic program. It is used for their selling. Give a great experience to an event that in the past were handled by domestic midwives. While gaining trust from customer for life. Those who went to Kaiser for maternity stuck to Kaiser for a while.

    Pamf/Sutter has been declining in quality of care lately. El Camino is a hospital. You need to find doctors outside. If you are not familiar with doctor landscape, Kaiser would be a safe bet. If there are complications, then I would recommend LPCH with Aetna PPO where my son was born premie. Fantastic NICU at LPCH.
    Jan 26 0