I am joining fb in coming weeks and currently 21 weeks pregnant. I would like to know which insurance plan offered by fb is better. I have seen very good reviews for Kaiser santa clara and I intend to move to Sunnyvale/Santa clara area after I join Fb. Aetna ppo gives flexibility to go to any obgyn n hospital (like pamf) but comes with hassle of managed insurance. Aetna EPO I do not have any idea and could not find much info online. Please provide your recommendation and valuable comments. If you know someone who has delivered baby in any of the facility under these plans, feel free to add their experience. Current TC: not worth mentioning Fb offered TC: 400k #insurance #medical #health
Kaiser is much better in CA Bay Area . You will Mostly not pay anything or bare minimum with Kaiser Plan during child birth or any complications.
I think PPO allows you more flexibility in choosing your own doctors. With Kaiser I think you have to use their doctors and facilities. So if you have a doctor you like just make sure you could even use them if going with Kaiser.
Thanks for your input. I think outside doctors don't treat kaiser insured patients and you have to go to kaiser if u on kaiser .
Yeah I was always curious about how that works if you are outside of the Kaiser network (like when traveling), and need care. Is it all out of pocket?
I have Kaiser hmo and my wife Aetna ppo so we got both. Mostly we use Kaiser though. Itâs pretty good in Bay Area and almost no out of pocket expense.
So you have added each other as secondary coverage ..we did that before had many issue with coordination of benefits..
Itâs an issue if both benefits overlap, eg Aetna and blue shield. But since if we go Kaiser itâs never going to be covered by Aetna, and vis versa itâs not a problem.
I have had both not as an expectant mom but the ease of service is way better in case of Kaiser when you are is CA or Seattle.
Thanks for you input.. this really helps
There are pros and cons. I am experienced with pregnancy/delivery at Kaiser. Pros: 1. One stop for all, no need to search for doctors/appointments etc. most doctors are standard and good for trivial/moderate issues 2. The mid wives during delivery are awesome. So are the nurses post delivery. 3. You have access to a paediatrician as soon as the baby is born, no need to research too much into it. 4. Easy free access to tele medicine, nurse helpline (no need to rush to emergency all the time) Cons: 1. The first pro is also a con. Not sure how well the doctors can handle really complicated issues. During our pregnancy, our kid was not properly aligned and had to push for 4 hours(20 hours pregnancy) before they decided to use forceps. 2. HMOs honestly have a conflict of interest: they have to keep costs low. This might result on them skimping on some tests etc which PPOs would do... you can view this as either a positive or a negative since some of the things that regular hospitals do seem to be going overboard as well.
Thanks for great input đ
I personally had a terrible experience with Kaiser and ditched them for Aetna PPO. With Covid, they have put a lot of extra restrictions on appointments etc. and gone in for extra cost cutting. Being the one stop shop is convenient for minor things, but they cut corners and make you pay in time instead of looking out for your comfort. E.g. only once a month appointments till 36 weeks vs 2 week appointments with PPO obgyn from 2nd trimester. If money is not a concern, go with Aetna so that you have full control over who your doctor is, your pharmacy, labs etc.
I like Kaiser for its one stop shop and being able to avoid dealing with ridiculous insurance claims. Some doctors are very robotic though
I gave birth at Kaiser in California and I highly recommend it. If you go the PPO route, youâll have to find a doctor yourself and go to different labs, etc. Kaiser makes it so easy and the entire pregnancy to birth costs like $200 copay. I think with other doctors, you can probably get more checkups but honestly theyâre probably just waiting your time in order to bill your insurance more. Similarly, Kaiser will probably discharge you and baby 2 days after a healthy birth while others might keep you longer, but staying longer isnât necessary better.
Discharge after 2 days is not necessarily good!!! Thatâs where Kaiser and the other hospitals differ: Kaiser is incentivized for getting the patients out faster, and the reverse is exactly true for other hospitals. What if you had a slightly traumatic delivery and an extra day at the hospital would have helped recover faster and also helped with any baby feeding complications? There is no winner here... each has to evaluatewhat works for them best and go with it. We will still go with Kaiser, but sometimes, I have my doubts
PPO all the way. Go PPO and pick between PMAF, Stanford or El Camino hospital for OBGYN. They have great doctors and delivery rooms.
PPO all day. Donât penny pinch.
Not concerned about the expense here but about the ease of use and having everything under one roof.
And at FB both plans are free... đ