I’ve been in a Kaiser plan most of my life and the “rigidity” doesn’t bother me, maybe I’m just used to it. I know exactly where I get care. Nearly everything

I’ve been in a Kaiser plan most of my life and the “rigidity” doesn’t bother me, maybe I’m just used to it. I know exactly where I get care. Nearly everything is under one roof: doctor, lab, pharmacy, x-ray, specialists, etc. I almost always know exactly what it will cost. In recent years, I can now book all appointments online and view my medical record online. I guess I understand the appeal of being able to pick any random doctor that takes Blue Cross Blue Shield, but this doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t know squat about picking doctors and might as well throw darts at a board. Most PPO plans I look at have vague pricing: “you pay 15 percent of the plan allowance.” Well, what exactly is “the plan allowance”? Kaiser quotes me an exact copay, like $30. And then I read horror stories about people being unable to get an appointment with a primary care doctor for months, if they can find one at all. Many just go to urgent care or ER for everything. Not a problem with Kaiser. I can look through their primary care doctors and pick one. If I don’t pick, they assign me one. I can get an appointment with my doctor in a few days or a few weeks sometimes. If I need an appointment right away, I can get one with another Kaiser doctor, perhaps at a clinic I never go to. I tried a non-Kaiser HMO for a year or two and hated it, right down to the doctor who answered his cell phone during my appointment. I look at PPOs and the opaque pricing kills it for me. Kaiser has been great.