UCLA Health Marina del Rey Primary Care - Marina Del Rey, California

Jason

This is the last straw with UCLA “Health.” I went in for a physical and was charged $50 to “establish care with a provider.” Then my doctor billed my annual physical with additional codes so it wasn’t covered as a physical and I was on the hook for another $300.

And then to top it off, after paying to establish care, my new doctor went on a 9 month sabbatical so I’ll have to repeat the process all over again paying again to “establish care” if I need to see a doctor during that time.

Dumping this crummy healthcare system for Cedars.

Update: after paying to “establish care” and the doctor going on a 9 month sabbatical I was just notified the doctor left the practice and now UCLA Health will need me to pay to “establish care” with another doctor in the office. This place is a total scam masquerading as healthcare.

Olivia C.

Doctors are friendly but consistently billed for unexpected things. Was charged over $300 for vaccinations even with health insurance. Eventually it was removed as an “error.”

Alex F.

Beyond frustrated with this UCLA Health clinic. I went in for my annual physical with Dr. Lodhie. 2 weeks later I received a bill from UCLA for blood work that should have been fully covered by my insurance. It turns out, like many other commenters here, that the doctor (intentionally?) mis-coded for blood work and thus I was charged for it as insurance says its outside a normal physical. This is despite the fact that this is the exact same blood work I've received every year. I have now spent countless hours given the run around from multiple UCLA health representatives.

Long story short -- AVOID THIS LOCATION AT ALL COSTS -- it is a predatory doctor's office looking to scam patients out of money. I will certainly never be returning and will share my experience with as many people as possible. Disgusted.

Kyle

A great experience! I’m not sure where all the hate comes from, so I decided to leave a review.

First, the staff were friendly and effective.
Dr. Boben was kind, took his time to hear me out, and judicious with his practice. I respect that.
He could have easily rushed the process or brushed me off. Instead, he took real time to address my concerns.
The facility is basically brand new looking in the Westside of LA. An extremely expensive area.
That said, I found the billing to be reasonable.

Let’s talk insurance. When you walk into a doctor’s office and ask for anything beyond a physical, you WILL be billed. This is the way healthcare has worked for decades. What YOU owe depends on your insurance.

For example, I paid $75 out of pocket for some blood work, and $211 for a level 3 office visit. I came here with specific tests and reasons, which are above and beyond a normal preventative visit.

All doctor’s offices work this way. These are the rates I pay through my insurance. It’s entirely possible that your insurance will be better or worse.
But all major insurers have contracted rates.

UCLA isn’t scamming you. They offer payment plans and their Health website works well. Billing was very fast and clear.

If anything, it’s the insurance system that is scamming us all. If you are paying $1,000 for an office visit, then your insurance has terrible contracted rates.
For clarity, my level 3 office visit was $864, with a $652 reduction.
If you are surprised with a bill and have poor insurance you may attempt to pay a “cash rate”, which may be better depending on circumstances.

What is NOT okay, and can happen at some facilities (including this one according to some reviewers), is a “bait & switch”, where a patient arrives and is “upgraded” to an office visit at a high cost.
In that scenario, it’s unfortunately up to the patient to understand they are being offered a service, at cost.

I highly recommend you review what’s covered under preventative care. It isn’t much, and you can quickly upgrade yourself into a paid office visit.
But all offices work that way. Anytime you weren’t charged in the past they were doing you a favor.

I can understand it’s upsetting if you walk in here and have to pay $$$ for a brief “visit”. In my case, I came knowing exactly what I needed, so it was no surprise I’d be getting a bill.

All in all, this place represents great value. I’ve paid similar rates for worse doctors and older facilities, without the power of UCLA to back them up. 5 star.

jessica H.

I love Dr. Goldstein and everyone we've seen at UCLA Marina del Rey Primary Care for the past 7 years (even before they moved to this beautiful location). Truly kind and spends the time to support my family's overall health.

ANTHONY A.

The doctors here are kind and mean well. However, it can be a Sneaky Pete situation when it comes to your physical. Once I had my physical and the doctor asked me about a chronic problem. I ended up talking about it and ended getting billed a pretty penny because I ended up talking about things that didn’t consist of a physical and was change to a regular visit. Keep in mind, be very careful what you talk about at a physical. It can cost you a lot of money. Health care is fishy in this country, sadly

Jing H.

DO NOT VISIT. Like others on here, I also should have read the reviews before my annual physical appointment with Dr. Anne Arikian. I signed up for an annual phsyical and was billed for an annual physical (paid for by insurance) as well as a office visit ($1,000) for which I was completely not expecting. Apparently this was for chatting about my migraines for <5 minutes, a conversation that was prompted by the doctor. I thought if I was asked about my migraines, it would be covered by the annual physical. I have been to other places for an annual physical before where they do not charge a separate office visit to answers these small questions. Aparently I had signed something that allowed them to bill me for this. I'm genuinely appalled and feel taken advantage of. I have been back and forth with coding/billing and they are not doing anything about it. Did not expect a short 5 min conversation to warrant being charged separately for an office visit. There are other places in LA that will chat with you during an annual physical without charging you unexpectedly. DO NOT VISIT HERE, it's predatory charging and reason why there is so much distrust in the healthcare system.

Greg B.

I had the same experience as other reviewers Nick and Logan. Wish I would have read the reviews before my appointment so I could have canceled. I came for an annual preventative health exam, and was billed for both that visit AND an office visit for the single brief encounter with Doctor M.G., apparently because I answered his question about how my health has been. Mentioning a recent food poisoning issue was enough for them to bill me for a separate office visit that is "not part of a preventative visit" even though it was the same 5–10 minute conversation.

I could not have reasonably expected I would be charged a second visit by answering that question. Looking back, it seems like a trap so that they could charge more. I'm extremely disappointed and will never use UCLA Health again due to the loss of trust.