[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by FromDC

Are you saying The United Healthcare The Villages Medicare Complete 1 (HMO) is nationwide where you can visit almost any doctor? It is quite the opposite. An HMO is structured to have a very limited number of in-network providers. If you have an HMO plan and you become sick and need urgent care outside the network area, the plan will probably cover your emergency situation. If you have an HMO and you want an elective procedure done outside the network, you will probably pay the whole amount out of pocket. If you favor some of your doctors “from back home”, you better talk to your plan provider to see if they will or won't cover your elective care. I used the word 'probably' a lot, because using an out-of-network provider gets you into a gray area of who will pay for what. If you read the Plan summary, it is quite vague too.

Enter your zipcode on the Medicare.gov website. You will access the Advantage Plans you are allowed to sign up for. Stay on that website and do a columnar comparison of the original Medicare plan and the Advantage Plans you are interested in. Shop around, compare benefits, check out the providers, and costs.

Go see a SHINE volunteer representative and they will give you non-biased information and will guide you to your best options. Also, there is a great class at the Life Long Learning College that provides great information: Understanding Original Medicare and Medicare Options.

Do some homework and just don't hop in the golf cart and have an insurance agent tell you what is best for you. I guess I should mention that you should do this homework every year. Plans change and your health changes.

I agree. UHC offers 4 MA plans in Florida, the Villages MA 1 & 2 are both HMOs. The other 2 are PPOs. TV health only takes the HMO. So I would double and triple check the coverage network and participating providers. The concept of an HMO written with TV in mind would have nationwide coverage is questionable at best.