UCLA HealthcareReviews of uclahealth.org

I enrolled in UCLA Medicare Advantage on October 1, 2026, and I am already extremely disappointed and frustrated with the level of service. I need to see an ENT specialist, and the earliest appointment I could get is March 23, 2027 — more than five months away! How is this acceptable for a healthcare plan that is supposed to provide timely access to medical care? Trying to reach anyone by phone is another nightmare. Calls go unanswered, waiting times are ridiculously long, and getting assistance is an exhausting and frustrating experience. I signed up expecting UCLA's reputation to translate into quality healthcare and reliable service. Instead, I have encountered an incredibly inefficient system that makes accessing basic medical care unnecessarily difficult. What is the point of having health insurance if you cannot get medical attention when you need it? Based on my experience so far, I deeply regret enrolling in this plan. The lack of accessibility, poor communication, and outrageous appointment delays are completely unacceptable. I would strongly caution anyone considering this plan to investigate specialist appointment availability before enrolling.

I went for a basic check-up after an injury. They put it as Level 4 CPT code, which cost me over $1,100. At BEST I saw the doctor for 25 minutes. Level 4 codes are reserved for complex situations taking almost an hour. UCLA Health is very predatory - STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

Overcharged and billed over 1000$ after insurance for a rushed 15 minute dermatology appointment. I was charged the wrong code but billing department refused to fix. Stay away at all costs

Overall, it has proven to be very mediocre, and the dental providers are DISMAL!!! I was expecting more from UCLA & am sorely disappointed! I will be switching my Medicare coverage in the fall - Can’t wait!

UCLA Health is a large unwieldy medical bureaucracy. I have painful neurological problems but after months of calling this bureaucracy I could not get an appointment. An appointment clerk named Brenda claimed my phone number was disconnected. After speaking with Patient Advocacy (useless) several times I never received a callback from the appointment desk. Avoid these clowns and go to Cedars or anywhere else.

Let's stay transparently honest....UCLA is a corporation with an insatiable appetite for money. Back room deals to promote their hospital as #1 in California. Hah! The ER conditions are deplorable; substandard. Oh! But they're ecstatic to admit anyone with solid financial backing. Due to my insurance coverage, I fell into this category. Assigned a bed, complete with a RIPPED pillow (the condition hidden by an uncomfortable, starched case). Upon this discovery, I informed the on-duty staff. The process to secure a decent replacement, took numerous requests; all day long. Found mysterious hairs in the food. Forced to take unnecessary medication; easier for the assigned nurses, interns, and entitled doctors to "keep you in your place." Heaven forbid advocating. Then you're considered a problem. A nuisance. Go ahead, try to report an issue(s) concerning hospital conditions, procedures, and/or a staff member. They don't listen. They don't care. Contrary to the bravado residing in their banners posted throughout the facilities. Regardless of the medical services you're seeking, every patient MUST deal with UCLA's insufferable billing and customer services department. OMG! The customer service phone number listed on your statements is an abomination. Best not to call because the representatives are not responsible or accountable. All errors are blamed on you! We are also forced to utilize the MyChart app. UCLA's fallacious conversations are formulated by Al bots; containing grossly misspelled words, atrocious grammar, and misleading statements. How can we trust the hospital's accounting and accurate payment transmission, with this type of messaging?! They even reached out to an emergency contact for payment! Despite my "great insurance”; a direct quote from admittance! To avoid the insidious pitfalls, hold UCLA accountable! Refrain from "paperless" billing enrollment. Took me over TWO MONTHS to secure a proper invoice and billing statement. They don't want you to discover their egregious practices. Remember your status...a vessel upon which to extort money. Forget respecting you as a deserving human being!

DO NOT GO HERE! I have a mass that has been behaving benignly for years and was called benign at another reputable institution. Then, all of a sudden, it was ruled 'indeterminate' here while the doctor tried to sell me on a costly molecular test, to justify billing my insurance over $6,000 for it. Not cancer, just a gray area gray enough to justify billing my insurance for this test with a 50% (!) false positive rate. I suspect it was not even needed, and I have reason to believe the results were skewed into a gray area to justify this exorbitant billing of my insurance, and potentially motivated by a financial incentive the provider received for this test. I also very likely was enrolled in an 'observational' clinical trial without consent with my genetic data. That is not okay (especially because even de-identified data is senstive PII when it involves genetic material). Despite revoking consent, these people pushed me to go forward with the test. I almost was coerced into an unnecessary surgery that would have been life altering. This has left me with PTSD, and, as a result, I will not be returning to UCLA health. Stay far away at all costs. Rude front desk staff as well, talked down to me like I was a 5 year old. I am sickened and forever traumatized by this experience. People need to know this, look at the other abysmal reviews for UCLA health facilities. They don't even have a therapist for me to see, despite my severe PTSD and other mental issues, they just send me to shady third-party vendors. It is a cold bureaucracy that, at most times, doesn't even hide that they don't care about you. It's so sad to see the corrupt state of healthcare these days, and this is a prime example of it.

Dr. Hiren Swami represents the very best in healthcare at UCLA in Ventura. We are grateful for his dedication and support of our overall health and well-being.