Questions re: Preferred Care Partners

[california dreamer]

Looks like it might be a good plan. I plan on calling them and speaking with sales person but am hoping to get some basic questions answered here. Does anyone know where the gym is located that is part of the benefits? Are CVS, Walgreens and Target in TV some of the authorized pharmacies? And can someone see a Pain management doctor without a primary physician referral? Also, any opinions on their services, doctors, etc; would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any assistance at all!
My husband and I are both looking to move to TV in the spring but healthcare is a big concern.

[JenAjd]

My other half has it and LOVES it! I'm considering switching over for 2012..but need to check with PCP to see if it would benefit me (medications etc). There isn't "THE" gym...though I don't know how to answer that question. I'm thinking perhaps you'd need a referral to a pain-management person. Walgreens for sure is in their spectrum...not sure about the others you asked about. Best thing would be for you to ask a representative your questions so you actually get the facts straight from them.

Last year I did not switch over to them because I was already established with my care-providers and didn't want to change. In the meantime most have also made the switch (after losing some patients to PCP). Hope this helps you even it just for a little.

[Mudder]

The gym is about 4 miles up the road from TV, not golf cart acessible. It's called 24 hour fitness, you get a key thing and go whenever you want. They have a bunch of machines, a tiny shower, no locker room. I do not use it all as it is not convienent and not what I want in a gym. You can go to any specialist(pain management included) without referrals, altho some specialists ask you to get a referral which has never been a problem. All the regular places are ok for medications, lots of choices here. I'm happy with the doctors in the program. I use Premier medical Assoc. for primary care, no complaints at all. And the best part of all is that you get back the $97.00 that they take out of soc.sec. ! No charge for office visits, $25.00 for specialists. Chiropractors are treated like specialists. Don't worry, be happy, there is good medical care here in TV.

[VillagesFlorida]

The gym is about 4 miles up the road from TV, not golf cart acessible. It's called 24 hour fitness, you get a key thing and go whenever you want. They have a bunch of machines, a tiny shower, no locker room. I do not use it all as it is not convienent and not what I want in a gym. You can go to any specialist(pain management included) without referrals, altho some specialists ask you to get a referral which has never been a problem. All the regular places are ok for medications, lots of choices here. I'm happy with the doctors in the program. I use Premier medical Assoc. for primary care, no complaints at all. And the best part of all is that you get back the $97.00 that they take out of soc.sec. ! No charge for office visits, $25.00 for specialists. Chiropractors are treated like specialists. Don't worry, be happy, there is good medical care here in TV.

You get back the Medicare Part B premium of close to $97 if you choose the "Advantage Plan". It's a great plan, but a recent health scare has caused us to switch to the "Gold" plan. My husband and I are both cancer survivors so I looked more closely at our coverage for chemotherapy drugs. I was dismayed when I realized that if we needed these medications we would have to pay a 20% co-pay. We have not needed chemo drugs and hope we never do, but 20% of some of these drugs would be a lot of money out of our pockets. After analyzing the coverage for the two plans we will go with the Gold Plan beginning in January. There will still be no premium, unless they change something between now and then and the added benefits will mean very little out-of-pocket expenses for us going forward. This has been our first year with Preferred Care Partners and we are very satisfied. We use the mail order pharmacy for our prescriptions and, since we use generics, we pay nothing. We even have dental coverage now and we did not have that when we were paying the big bucks for our AARP coverage. The list of dentists on the provider list is small, however, and it is looking like we will have to go to Ocala for our dental care.

[california dreamer]

thanks for your help! I knew I could count on TOTV for answers. Breathing a sigh of relief......

[rpensabene]

I heard you need referrals from your primary and Preferred Care needs to approve first before you can see the specialist.
Look at AARP Medicare Complete by United Healthcare. You don't get back the Part B premium, you still have to pay that, you do not have a monthly premium, no referrals needed, regional PPO network throughout the state of Florida and do have some small copays. It covers dental, vision and hearing exams; good prescription drug plan and has a Silver Sneakers program also.

[Mudder]

You do not need referrals from your primary with PCP, HOWEVER some specialists ask for them, it's not PCP that requires them. Many of the specialists do not ask for them , some do tho, don't know their reasons.
Look at Freedom, very similiar to PCP and if you have a special condition, ie: heart issues you get a few extra services.

[aljetmet]

I heard you need referrals from your primary and Preferred Care needs to approve first before you can see the specialist.
Look at AARP Medicare Complete by United Healthcare. You don't get back the Part B premium, you still have to pay that, you do not have a monthly premium, no referrals needed, regional PPO network throughout the state of Florida and do have some small copays. It covers dental, vision and hearing exams; good prescription drug plan and has a Silver Sneakers program also.

My wife is on disability and has AARP Medicare Complete in TN.

It's been very good and she has about 7 doctors and had to change 3.

The best part is that she is going to be out of state and AARP will allow her to use a Dr in network that accepts AARP. Well until we get the bill! We'll see

Interestingly the plan she has in TN appears to be better than offered in FL.

[Mikitv]

I use Curves with the Preferred Care Plan. This is my first year on it. So far everything has been good.