The survey and hiring of the outside firm is indicative of some underling problem. A consideration to keep in mind is the change to Medicare plan C from plan A & B only impacts people over 65. The Medicare law has not changed. With few exceptions, all people in the US 65 and older are covered by one of the Medicare plans. The Villages is a 55+ community with many owners actually less than 55. These people with their insurance are still accepted by TVH. In fact, the average age of TV is around 67. So almost half are not on Medicare and can be treated with their current insurance. Yes, when you hit 65, you have to make choices on which Medicare options your going to take. But to have a system say I will only take one of the two sounds out of step.
I would guess the reason for the letter and the survey has more to do with the actual growth of the 65+ patients compared with the growth expected for the decision to make financial sense. With the growth in TV, the competition in the medical services field has to be huge. They have to have the infrastructure to provide the service, but they need to have the patient numbers grow to make it successful. These are the kind of things that can change decisions.
|