The Kaiser system would be great if every major hospital nationwide was under it. Kind of like a national healthcare system...
""" Under state law, the practice of “balance billing” — sending a bill to a patient if his or her insurance company doesn’t pay the full requested amount — is illegal for people insured through a health maintenance organization. Kaiser is an example of an HMO, a network of doctors that supplies services to its members. """
That said, a lot of the reason the specialists costs are lower at Kaiser than other offices is because they don't all have their own little office and staff. Many specialists in the US are expensive because they have to have a secretary and an accountant, etc. At Kaiser they are just part of the system, so the costs look a lot lower.