[LoriAnn]

Sounds like you don't have to worry about lower wages since your plan is to "start" a business. I would assume you plan Medicare/Medicaid certification which might have a slight regional difference in reimbursement. Your primary difficulty will be the large prevalence of Medicare replacement policy's/Advantage plans. That is the reason healthcare salaries are so much lower in Florida than the rest of the country. They reimburse as low as 70% of traditional Medicare. That results in salaries being 25-30% lower as well. It can take as long as a year to be approved as a provider for each replacement plan ,so, start early. If you are planning to create just enough business for yourself and maybe a few other therapist you should certainly earn more than being an employee as long as you stay below the magic FTE 50 number. Good luck. It sounds like fun!