Health Insurance

[gurnee_steve]

I'm 62 and my wife and I are retiring and moving to TV in March 2014. I would appreciate any information on Health Insurance to cover me (wife is on separate coverage) until I reach 65. Some questions that come to mind:

1) Didn't I hear that TV has their own health care vehicle, like a HMO?
2) Can I buy a HC policy here in Illinois and keep it when I transfer to TV?
3) Is the insurance store in Sumter Landing a good place to shop for this?
4) What is the average Silver policy under Obamacare?
5) Does the FL insurance exchange work yet (Illinois doesn't)?
6) Are there any other questions I should have asked?

Thanks everybody for any help you can give me.

[billethkid]

link will not produce!!!

[Bizdoc]

I'm 62 and my wife and I are retiring and moving to TV in March 2014. I would appreciate any information on Health Insurance to cover me (wife is on separate coverage) until I reach 65. Some questions that come to mind:

1) Didn't I hear that TV has their own health care vehicle, like a HMO?
2) Can I buy a HC policy here in Illinois and keep it when I transfer to TV?
3) Is the insurance store in Sumter Landing a good place to shop for this?
4) What is the average Silver policy under Obamacare?
5) Does the FL insurance exchange work yet (Illinois doesn't)?
6) Are there any other questions I should have asked?

Thanks everybody for any help you can give me.

This has lots and lots of questions!

1. FL does not have an exchange - you will have to use the federal one.
2. You may be able to buy an IL policy and keep it in FL. Note the may. You will have to ask the insurance companies which you are considering. Up to them. FL docs may be "out of network" and cost you larger copays.
3. I don't ask car salesmen for advice on what car to buy and I don't ask insurance salesmen what the best insurance policy is. United Healthcare seems to be popular with some Villagers. Others don't like it. The point is that what one person thinks is great coverage may not cover what you need.
4. We have a new (and still developing) health care system. I (and quite a few other folks) use it. It is not a substitute for medical insurance and it isn't an HMO the way you are thinking of an HMO. Google "Villages Health Colony Clinic" and (after you get to their website), click on the link about insurance which they participate in.
5. Read thru old threads about insurance problems. Not every company is in every area. Aetna (for example) is in Jacksonville, Orlando and other places, but not in TV. Folks who moved down from Ohio have reported problems. I have Federal Blue Cross and have never had problems anywhere in the country. People with a state based Blue have reported all kinds of problems with some Blue companies. You mileage will definitely vary. Overall, brand names tend to travel better than Harry's Happy HMO and Golf Cart Insurance.
6. Keep in mind that a substantial percentage of Villagers has Medicare and carry Medicare supplements rather than full blown medical insurance.
7. Check if your wife can add you to her policy. May be cheaper and better cover than an individual policy.

Hopefully others will weigh in with experience with other carriers.

Good luck!

[gurnee_steve]

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this. I've been trying to log on to healthcare.gov every day this week to check prices but cannot create an account. Each day I get a little further which indicates that they are working on the bugs. I actually work now in IT and if I ever wrote/implemented a application that had bugs like this (simple stuff that should have been tested) I would be fired.

[John95019]

Healthcare.gov is inundated with hits and some glitches. Wait till everything gets calmed down and fixed. There's no rush.

[billethkid]

it would be helpful when and if anybody does get to complete their experience with the health care registration to share your experience.

For reasons that they discover in the process many will not.

btk

[tommy steam]

My wife made an appointment with the new villages healthcare system a week ago. It will be the first time see will see a doctor of her choice. This visit will be just an interview. It will cost 200 dollars. The first available appointment is December 20 th. I understand each doctor in the plan will be limited to 1500 patients.

[Avista]

My wife made an appointment with the new villages healthcare system a week ago. It will be the first time see will see a doctor of her choice. This visit will be just an interview. It will cost 200 dollars. The first available appointment is December 20 th. I understand each doctor in the plan will be limited to 1500 patients.

Actually, the limit is $1250 patients.

[Bizdoc]

The system is a bit stressed at the moment in terms of adding new patients and opening new clinics.

$200 for an extended appointment for a new patient isn't that much. I think that I typically paid $130-150 for a quick 4 minute drive-by with a primary care doc.