Gruppie Paradise family as poster children for our loser US healthcare, dipping our toes in managed care.

So, Mr. H changed his work status, and is now a consultant. This is fantastic for our whole family. We see much more of Mr. H now! Given the dingbat structure of US health care, it is not necessarily great for health care. If you want any.

Thanks to our fabulous friend C and her company, and her fabulous coworker K, we slogged into the individual health care market with an assist. Mr. H and K chose 3 plans that made the most sense to apply for. We were all concerned as to how it would go. We knew companies could refuse you for allergy shots, which both Mr. H and I get.

I diligently filled out the 6 to 15 page forms for HealthNet PPO (which is what we had in a different form in group health care), Blue Shield PPO, and Kaiser. I called doctors who treated us 5 years ago, one time, to get dates on records. I turned in the forms. And crossed my fingers. And toes.

HealthNet immediately and helpfully refused us with no further discussion. They refused Mr. H and I for the famous allergy shots. They accepted our kids. Swell. Blue Shield, Blue Shield. They asked more questions. They wanted follow up on the one-time hand surgery Mr. h had for a random benign cyst early 2002. Whatever. I diligently answered one query, then another, then another. A month later, we still didn't have an answer. We finally found out they accepted our allergy-shot habit, (we now only need once a month shots, really!). They accepted Chispa. They refused CHANGA. Why, you ask? Because Changa, darn her, had the temerity to have a bad virus last January and February, and couldn't get rid of an ear infection. And because she was ONE, nutty parents that we are, we took her in when she wasn't better. More than once for ear checks. That combined with needing a breathing treatment during that same bug, rendered her ineligible. Apparently she's too big a risk. You know, because we used the health care when our baby was sick.

Kaiser, bless them, didn't ask us if we got allergy shots. I was told not to volunteer that little tidbit. Apparently it's a don't ask, don't tell policy. Seems fair. There was no place to write it down. And anyway, we have a huge deductible. We'll be paying cash either way, realistically. So KAISER. Kaiser accepted ALL FOUR OF US. Mr. H with his hand surgery that was a one-off in 2002. Mr. H and Gruppie Mama with their allergy shots. Changa who has ear infections sometimes. Chispa who is basically fine. Kaiser took all 4 of us. We are insured!!!! But we now need to drop every physician we've ever used since living in Gruppie Paradise. 10 years worth.

Kaiser, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is huge around here. It's non-profit, and it's managed care. It is also all in one system. So you can only see Kaiser doctors, go to Kaiser hospitals, etc. You used to be unable to choose your own doctors, but now you can. My grandparents had Kaiser. I was not impressed. It was very hodgepodge, to my thinking. Kaiser used to be the bottom-of-the-barrel doctors in the Old Days, so we all heard. Certainly, my grandparents' doctors never seemed to speak English without a thick accent giving away their early years as having been passed far from our shores. Not to mention their medical training.

Kaiser, though, has been on our radar for a while. They have 100% computerized their system. Your records are all in ONE unit, no matter what kind of doctor you see. Now do you suppose any of my PPO doctors even know of each others EXISTENCE, let alone know what they've done with me over my life? I'm confident the answer is a big fat resounding no, apart from where I've had records transfered. So, I have noted that our fabulous PPO care, in fact, has room to be quite non-fabulous. Gruppie Paradise Kaiser seems to have an excellent reputation. With the dysfunctional disaster that is ALL health care now,good doctors, doctors who want a LIFE, doctors who went to "the best schools", etc, are all at Kaiser now. So no, I don't think I'll be getting 2nd rate care, which we all suspected used to be the case.

I went to CAL, I certainly know how to advocate for myself and my family if need be in a bureaucracy. So it's a huge change. But hey. We are insured. I now need to navigate enough to get all the doctors I want even though their practices are "closed".

I tried out Kaiser last Tuesday, when my earplugs made of silicone broke off in my ear. The minor injury clinic fixed me in about an hour. In, out. I did nothing but hand over my brand new Kaiser card. And pay. No forms. It's all in the system. Because it's all computerized. Here's hoping our new world order works for us. We are hopeful.