Kaiser Permanente offers healthcare options for individuals living or working in a handful of states. Check out this guide to determine which states have Kaiser health care and what your benefits are when traveling in the US and internationally.
States That Offer Kaiser Health Care
In order to qualify for Kaiser Permanente health care coverage, you must live or work within its service areas. Service areas are defined by the counties or zip codes within close proximity to Kaiser Permanente hospitals or medical offices or its affiliated hospitals or medical offices.
As of early 2019, you can get Kaiser Permanente in the states of California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland and Virginia as well as parts of Oregon and Washington. Residents and workers in Washington, DC are also eligible.
Living or working in one of these states does not automatically guarantee you’re in an approved service area. To find out if your area is covered, add your zip code to Kaiser Permanente’s easy search feature located on several pages of its website.
Washington State Coverage
Although the state of Washington does offer Kaiser health plan services, you’ll need to know which portion of the state is covered in order to enroll in Kaiser Health plans through your employer or benefits office. The Washington State Health Care Authority offers a table of areas not covered by Kaiser Health Care within the state. In Clark and Cowlitz counties, the Kaiser Permanente NW Classic plan and the Kaiser Permanente NW CDHP plans are not available to Medicare members.
Oregon Coverage
Kaiser health plan is available in the Oregon counties of Clackamas, Columbia, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington and Yamhill. However, there are some zip codes that are not covered depending on the plan and the year. Tables for the Kaiser Permanente Silver Plan Health Care coverage areas are available on the Kaiser Permanente website when you choose coverage areas. Prior to enrolling in your Kaiser Health Care coverage, take a look at the website to ensure that your county is covered among the Kaiser Permanente locations.
Traveling Outside of Kaiser Health Care Locations
Kaiser health care covers active members for travel in any part of the world when it comes to emergency and urgent care. If you are only traveling within the Kaiser health care area, you’re able to get non-urgent or routine care along with specialty care as a member visiting a coverage area but not outside of the Kaiser coverage area. Before you travel, register online at the KP.org website to ensure that you’ll have access to your coverage information online.
Know Before You Go
If you’re planning to attend college or live outside of a covered area for an extended period of time, your benefits vary depending on your plan’s out-of-area benefits. Call the Away From Home Travel Line at to speak with the travel team and have your questions answered before you head out of town.
