[Villages Kahuna]

My wife and I were very happy to have chosen Villages Health when it was formed several years ago. They willingly accepted our health insurance--Medicare and AARP Plan F (for secondary insurance). We loved our doctors and their office environment was nothing short of luxurious.

After a couple of years they announced that any new patients would be required to forego Medicare and enroll in The Villages Health Medicare Advantage Plan. We were told not to worry, we were 'grandfathered' as far as insurance was concerned.

Then earlier this year, along with some 13,000-15,000 of their patients, we got a letter saying that our insurance would no longer be accepted. We would be required to enroll in their Medicare Advantage Plan or find another primary care physician after January 1, 2017. Along with the other thousands of their patients who were kicked out of their practice, we were enraged. We were also at a big disadvantage. As Villages Health grew with their aggressive marketing, they drove many of the primary care doctors in the area out of business. Now that some 15,000 patients were all looking for new doctors at the same time, many were no longer taking new patients.

The big disadvantage with The Villages Health Medicare Advantage Plan is a fairly narrow listing of doctors, specialists and other providers in their network. As an example, Moffitt Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Shands Medical Center and all the big hospitals in Orlando or elsewhere in the U.S. are not in their network. Many of their specialists will not treat pre-existing conditions. As an example, I have multiple artificial joints. If I needed a "revision" surgery, I would have to find an orthopedic surgeon to do it and pay the FULL cost of the surgery and hospitalization. Remember, when you choose The Villages Medicare Advantage Plan, you give up Medicare.

What it boils down to is that Villages Health cannot survive financially unless all their patients participate in their Medicare Advantage Plan. Their plan is wonderful if the patients are younger and healthy. It is not good at all if as you age you need specialized treatment or surgeries such as eye surgery, orthopedic surgery, cancer treatment, etc. They provide all of that treatment, but only through their very narrow list of local providers within their network.

Be forewarned. Be very careful before enrolling in Villages Health. Make sure you ask what your options would be should you need any specialized treatment. Will you be required to use one of their network specialists (yes)? Will you have forego consideration of doctors and providers that may have superior capabilities and reputations not in their network (also yes)?

Villages Health is an HMO with limited availability of specialized doctors and other medical providers. If you have pre-existing conditions or want the option to make your own choices for specialized care when needed, be very careful about choosing Villages Health for your primary medical care. We learned...but it was very much the hard way.