Kaiser denied my Daughter's Pediatrician's request for a referral to an outside Dr @ Stanford Medical? Help.

My 20 month old daughter may have Rheumatoid Arthritis. We need to go see Kaiser's pediatric rheumatoid specialist. He is located at Kaiser's Oakland facility but is only there 1 day a week. According to my daughters pediatrician we need to get my daughter in for an appt within a week or two since the swelling in her knee is so severe it might cause permanent damage to her leg if left untreated too much longer.Due to the Dr only being in Oakland 1 day a week our appt is not scheduled for a month. If we want an appt sooner Kaiser said we need to travel to Sacramento (where the rheumatoid pediatrician is stationed). Sacramento is 3 hours away! My daughter's pediatrician put in a referral for us to see a Dr at Stanford Medical which is only 45 minutes away and they can see us within the two week timeframe. Problem is Kaiser denied her referral. I am going to appeal it. Please give me some pointers on going about the appeal process and what I should say.
Answer:
I don't know about you but I'd drive to Sacramento in a heartbeat for my daughter. Don't delay when time is of the essence. I'm also sure that you can ask for your daughter to be examined by a regular Rheumatologist before seeing the pediatric Rheumatologist locally. Kaiser has many Rheumatologists in the bay area. Rheumatologists are arthritis experts and that's what counts. I hope that your daughter responds real well to treatment.

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Kaiser can be a pain in the butt!! If they sent you to this pediatrician and he refered you to the Dr. at Stanford, I would first get a copy of that referral, to confront them with at the appeal. also a copy of the ped's reports on the severity of the condition. If that dosen't help prepare to see a attorney to file a law suit against Kaiser. Sorry I could not be of more help ..good luck.

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