I've been with kaiser my whole life. 3 open heart surgeries from 2 to 32, ongoing medical of all kinds (psych to phys). Kaiser was 2nd in the nation for cardiac care for awhile. I have had nothing but great experiences and have transferred to their Washington state system, which is basically the same, except the facilities and staff seem less sophisticated overall.

I've heard horror stories from all kinds of people with all kinds of insurers. For example, a neighbor of mine uses California Pacific Medical in Nob Hill. It's the hospital that caters to San Francisco elite. This past year his doctors mistook skin cancer on his eye for a sty for like 6+ months. He went back several times complaining before they caught their mistake. It's too soon to tell, but that serious issue may turn out to be a fatal one.

Doctors aren't magicians, and they make plenty of mistakes. More to your point, no respectable doctor is going to ignore the cost and time element. Nor should he. There's no such thing as a cost-free diagnostic or procedure, even when money is no object. Even the very best doctor the world has ever seen is working with scarce time and resources; namely, his own. There's no avoiding conflicting interests and goals of some sort or another.

At the end of the day people should be choosing healthcare based on objective criteria. More importantly, our social policies should be built around objective criteria. By objective criteria Kaiser is one of the very best hospital systems in the country. There's plenty to complain about, but it's the nature of things.

EDIT: I meant CPMC in Pacific Heights (Upper Fillmore), not Nob Hill. Judging by the people coming and going, Saint Francis on Nob Hill seems to mostly serve the Tenderloin.

Hence health insurance should be strictly separate from health care. A strong insurance body could even ensure proper competition in the health care space.