UHC vs FL Blue Medicare Advantage Plans

[Northwoods]

I currently have a UHC Advantage Plan and go to The Villages Health (TVH). Now that TVH accepts 2 FL Blue Advantage Plans I'm looking at the differences FL Blue and UHC.
I talked briefly with a FL Blue representative... I've learned that FL Blue has both Moffitt and Shands in-network (UHC does not). UHC includes MVP and Anytime Fitness. FL Blue only Anytime Fitness. There are obviously some co-pay differences.
If you're on a Medicare Advantage Plan, why did you pick the plan you have and do you have any comments about the new FL Blue plans?
PLEASE - If you have traditional Medicare, I don't want to hear why Advantage plans are bad or why you're on a traditional plan. I'd like to keep this thread focused on pros and cons of Medicare Advantage Plans accepted by TVH.

[JGVillages]

I have had Florida Blue Advantage for the last 6 years. TVH has done too much waffling as to what insurances and providers they will accept. A few years back we were considering switching to THV Advantage which the previous year had Moffitt Cancer Center, but doing my due diligence found out Moffitt dropped the THV (United Healthcare) Plan the next year. Another waffle of many. My FBL plan has been consistent. Advise is to research whether you need the HMO or PPO Advantage. With my wife’s cancer issue, knee and hip replacement we found the Specialist Surgeons she wanted all available in the PPO not the HMO. Good luck with your research.

[gatorbill1]

UHC seems to have the most drs in their system - especially specialists

[Parker]

I hope you get a lot of responses here as I have the same questions you do.

[spk7951]

We both have Medicare advantage plans. My wife FL Blue and I have UHC. She has a $42 premium going up to $47.60 next year. Her plan does not have basic dental or vision and mine does. My premium is $0.
UHC has a system called Over-The-Counter Essentials and I can order up to $40 a quarter of personal care items online. Read recently that they are changing suppliers to WalMart next year for their OTC program.
My wife wants to change to UHC during the enrollment period but we need to confirm that UFShands is in network as we had been told.

[Northwoods]

I've been told by the UHC "salespeople" that the UHC Advantage plans do not include Shands or Moffitt. The FL Blue plans (both HMO and PPO) do include Shands and Moffitt. UHC Advantage includes MD Anderson (perhaps the best cancer center in the country) and Cleveland Clinic (rated #1 in heart care). But... that's a long way to travel... and if you have an "event" (a cerebral bleed, etc.) Having access to an out-of-state facility really isn't going to help you. If you have a life threatening medical emergency, do you want to be treated at The Villages Regional Hosp/ Leesburg... or Shands/Moffitt. Those are the choices I'm weighing right now...

[JGVillages]

We both have Medicare advantage plans. My wife FL Blue and I have UHC. She has a $42 premium going up to $47.60 next year. Her plan does not have basic dental or vision and mine does. My premium is $0.
UHC has a system called Over-The-Counter Essentials and I can order up to $40 a quarter of personal care items online. Read recently that they are changing suppliers to WalMart next year for their OTC program.
My wife wants to change to UHC during the enrollment period but we need to confirm that UFShands is in network as we had been told.

The Florida Blue I assume is the PPO at $42/Mo as I have it also. Is the UHC at $0 premium a HMO or PPO? The choice of physicians may be limited with the HMO.

[queasy27]

I've had UHC for a couple of years. I spoke to a Blue Cross agent this week about changing to their plan. The deductibles and co-pays are similar, although BC does include a couple of hospitals that UHC does not. (I wasn't taking notes, but I believe the agent said Shands was included.) The plan I'll be using has no monthly premium.

My beef with UHC is that it was hard to find a specialist who accepted the HMO WelMed UHC policy I had. I experienced very poor customer service with UHC and constantly got the runaround wrt reimbursements, getting denied in error, them telling one doctor my policy had lapsed so he refused to see me, etc. I've spent hours on the phone with them over the course of two years trying to get the business end of things sorted. I did eventually learn to go to the office at LSL instead of calling.

Blue Cross uses a carrot approach to wellness, awarding gift cards for certain preventive health care actions. I've had BC before when I was working and was very satisfied so hopefully will be again. I went to the BC office in Palm Ridge Plaza on 101 across from Southern Trace shopping center, and the agent there (Janet) was a pleasure to deal with.

[spk7951]

The Florida Blue I assume is the PPO at $42/Mo as I have it also. Is the UHC at $0 premium a HMO or PPO? The choice of physicians may be limited with the HMO.

Both of our advantage plans are PPO's. Being a cancer patient she has many doctors and all are covered by FL Blue but UHC does not have Shands in their plan. Looks like she will need to stay with FL Blue.

[GatorFan]

I have Florida Blue and have been very satisfied. No problems with any of myDoctors and less out of pocket for prescriptions.

[dstege]

I am an independent insurance agent and one of my companies I represent is UnitedHealthcare. Here is a very quick comparison between UHC and Florida Blue.
UHC The Villages Medicare Advantage (HMO) 1 BlueMedicare Classic HMO

Premium $ 0
Out of Pocket Maximum $3400 !! (very important)
Primary doc copay 0
Specialists 40
Referrals required NO
In-Patient hospital $225 per day for days 1-8
Both have vision, hearing, dental
Fitness MVP, Anytime Fitness etc
Passport program You can see UHC doctors in most states
as in-network doctors
Virtual Doctor visits Yes
Over the Counter products $40 a quarter NO

BlueMedicare Classic HMO
Premium $ 0
Maximum out of pocket $5000
Primary doc copay 0
Specialists 40
Referrals required YES
In-Patient hospital $200 per day for days 1-7
Both have vision, hearing, dental
Fitness Anytime Fitness etc
Passport program NO
Virtual Doctor visits NO
Moffitt (2 1/2 hr drive) Shands (1 1/2 hr drive)
Over the Counter products NO

These are just the HMO plans. The AARP PPO and Florida Blue PPOs are very different.

I'm sorry this doesn't look like a good spreadsheet, but these are the basics. PM me if you'd like more personal comparisons!

[Ben Franklin]

I think I'm going back to BC/BS. I had them for 30 years in south Florida and only changed to UHC because we moved to TV. I was always satisfied with BC/BS. PPO.

[collie1228]

I use the medicare.gov tool for comparing plans, and every year my plan comes out on top (for me) - the Careplus HMO option. Everyone has unique situation, and the website does an excellent job of comparing plans.

[LarryL]

$0 = HMO. I have it now, comparing choices to determine who covers best when traveling.