Is Florida health insurance cheaper?

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Old 09-15-2011, 10:03 PM
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Question Is Florida health insurance cheaper?

We live in California and it looks like private pay health insurance in Florida is cheaper. My husband, originally from the Show Me state of Missouri, says it looks too good to be true. Monthly premiums seem pretty reasonable in Florida. Am I missing something??
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Old 09-15-2011, 10:34 PM
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Where are you getting your info from?

We also heard that Fla insurance was way below CA but we don't have any numbers to confirm that.

(my wife's Aetna coverage just went up $65/mo)

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Old 09-16-2011, 06:30 AM
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I think it depends on the plan, individual health insurance is not cheap.
I pay $1,000/mo.
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Old 09-16-2011, 06:52 AM
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Default Ohio much more reasonable than Florida

I recently purchased private healthcare insurance after my Cobra ran out. Same policies in Ohio were about 1/3 cheaper than Florida - but I'm now a Florida resident.

With no pre-existing, I pay $411/mo. for an AARP plan thru Aetna. Florida is an underwriting state (meaning they review your health records and scrutinize your application). Plans now cover wellness benefits (annual physical, immunizations, mammogram, bonescan - I think every 2 years at my age) at no cost. It's a high deductible plan - I think it's $5,000, then 80/20 until $7,500 annual cap is met. Mine has a co-pay for gp and also for specialist visits. A healthcare professional friend of mine helped me interpret the coverage - you need to know what to ask and be sure you understand.

Make a list of questions, such as: what if I developed cancer? Are doctor visits AND treatments covered and at what rate/co-pay, etc. Some policies have some carefully worded language that you need to understand. What if I have an injury and need an MRI (or multiple MRIs) and surgery? Etc. What if I developed a chronic illness such as M.S. or Parkinson's.? Understand the prescription drug coverage.

Another plan with Aetna was cheaper premium but an annual cap of $12,500. A cheaper BC/BS plan was available, but when it went thru underwriting was going to be almost $500/mo. An even cheaper BC/BS plan looked good until I found out what the fine print meant in the event of a chronic illness. I have a minor skin condition (Rosacea) that I think was overlooked (although I disclosed it) by Aetna underwriting. BC/BS wanted an extra 25% for that, even though it involves 1 dr. visit annually and a couple of topical prescriptions! Have never heard of anyone being hospitalized for Rosacea.

A good website to start with is ehealthinsurance.com to compare policies. In Florida, if you have had continuous healthcare coverage, you cannot be denied for pre-existing, but can be charged a higher premium (in some cases, much higher).

Policies are age- and community-banded (60-64 year age band, in my case). Was told to expect about a 10% increase per year. Friend of mine is now researching private healthcare, even though she qualifies for her retiree healthcare, because her retiree healthcare is now $1200-1300 mo. for her and her spouse! No longer subsidized by her employer. That's happening all over the place, even sometimes for those already retired who planned their budgets accordingly.
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Old 09-16-2011, 07:08 AM
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Moved here from Tampa. Have Medicare and a Medicare supplement. The price of my supplement went way down when I moved to The Villages. That was just a difference in counties (Hillsborough to Sumter).
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Old 09-16-2011, 07:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl View Post
I recently purchased private healthcare insurance after my Cobra ran out. Same policies in Ohio were about 1/3 cheaper than Florida - but I'm now a Florida resident.

With no pre-existing, I pay $411/mo. for an AARP plan thru Aetna. Florida is an underwriting state (meaning they review your health records and scrutinize your application). Plans now cover wellness benefits (annual physical, immunizations, mammogram, bonescan - I think every 2 years at my age) at no cost. It's a high deductible plan - I think it's $5,000, then 80/20 until $7,500 annual cap is met. Mine has a co-pay for gp and also for specialist visits. A healthcare professional friend of mine helped me interpret the coverage - you need to know what to ask and be sure you understand.

Make a list of questions, such as: what if I developed cancer? Are doctor visits AND treatments covered and at what rate/co-pay, etc. Some policies have some carefully worded language that you need to understand. What if I have an injury and need an MRI (or multiple MRIs) and surgery? Etc. What if I developed a chronic illness such as M.S. or Parkinson's.? Understand the prescription drug coverage.

Another plan with Aetna was cheaper premium but an annual cap of $12,500. A cheaper BC/BS plan was available, but when it went thru underwriting was going to be almost $500/mo. An even cheaper BC/BS plan looked good until I found out what the fine print meant in the event of a chronic illness. I have a minor skin condition (Rosacea) that I think was overlooked (although I disclosed it) by Aetna underwriting. BC/BS wanted an extra 25% for that, even though it involves 1 dr. visit annually and a couple of topical prescriptions! Have never heard of anyone being hospitalized for Rosacea.

A good website to start with is ehealthinsurance.com to compare policies. In Florida, if you have had continuous healthcare coverage, you cannot be denied for pre-existing, but can be charged a higher premium (in some cases, much higher).

Policies are age- and community-banded (60-64 year age band, in my case). Was told to expect about a 10% increase per year. Friend of mine is now researching private healthcare, even though she qualifies for her retiree healthcare, because her retiree healthcare is now $1200-1300 mo. for her and her spouse! No longer subsidized by her employer. That's happening all over the place, even sometimes for those already retired who planned their budgets accordingly.
How much more or less would your plan have cost i you didn't go through AARP vis a vis directly through a broker?
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Old 09-16-2011, 07:38 AM
Ohiogirl Ohiogirl is offline
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I do not think there are any price savings by not going thru a broker (or AARP in my case). You do have to be a member of AARP - or eligible to join - for the plan I got. A different Aetna plan was available that was almost identical, and with a cheaper premium - only difference (I think) was the annual cap. AARP-Aetna plan was $7500 annual cap, and the non-AARP-Aetna plan had an annual cap of $12,500. I felt more comfortable with the $7,500 annual cap - I have over 4 years to go until Medicare - might have felt differently had I been 63 or 64.

I think you need to look at both worst-case scenarios (what would I pay if I developed x condition) and also at what your typical medical scenario is and figure out what you can best live with.

I typically only see a doctor yearly for a physical (although I put this off for almost an extra year knowing I would be shopping for private health-care - another risk, true, but an acceptable one to me since I wasn't noticing anything unusual about my health), and maybe one other time for an injury or acute illness such as sinusitis or tendonitis, and usually a dermatologist visit. My policy now covers me at a $40 co-pay for a GP and a $50 co-pay for a specialist - annual physical has no co-pay. Also, with this policy, I am covered for the Shingles vaccine, which I got in July. My Cobra policy did not cover this, and it's an expensive vaccine. Flu shots are covered (need to get that now).

Mine is not an HSA policy - the HSA policies I looked at did not have co-pays. Office visits would have to have been paid (at the insurance rate) out of pocket. Knowing myself, I knew I would be more hesitant to seek treatment if I had to pay the whole visit cost out of pocket, especially to specialists. A friend of mine much prefers her HSA plan. Your particular tax situation might sway you one way or the other.
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Old 09-16-2011, 10:21 AM
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After reading the above and the recent thread on VA coverage I believe that we'll stay with our CA AETNA insurance at $425/mo for the lady of the house.

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Old 09-16-2011, 02:28 PM
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Default might not be able to

if you are going to be a FROG you had better check the fine print in your policy. You may be required to notify them of a change of address. This may even be true if you become a snowbird Florida resident.

You might think you are getting away with it for a year or two and then boom, suppose you file a big claim and they investigate residency (and they do these things), and then possibly your policy is voided and your claim denied because you failed to comply with the policy rules. I wouldn't want to take that chance.
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Old 09-16-2011, 03:21 PM
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Smile good info

thanks for all the good info everyone.
To chuckinca: I also went on ehealth website to get my information. It looks like the plans offered are inexepensive but then could really rise with various health conditions. By the way, I grew up in San Leandro, lived in Hayward also, and went to summer camp at Clear Lake (Knococti)! small world. I really want to take my hubbie to Clear Lake before we move from California.
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Old 09-28-2011, 07:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl View Post
if you are going to be a FROG you had better check the fine print in your policy. You may be required to notify them of a change of address. This may even be true if you become a snowbird Florida resident.

You might think you are getting away with it for a year or two and then boom, suppose you file a big claim and they investigate residency (and they do these things), and then possibly your policy is voided and your claim denied because you failed to comply with the policy rules. I wouldn't want to take that chance.
This is my dilemma/question right now. Still snowbirding it, although we will now establish FL residency. We are not eligible for medicare for three years. Entitled to VA tx. Have insurance thru FEBHP now in Ohio but no Kaiser Permanente in FL. Will switch to BC/BS if we have to but we like our doc and generally only have to see her once a year but she is very good and responsive to our needs.
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Old 10-01-2011, 12:54 PM
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My wife has BC and BS of NJ at almost $1000.00 per mo.and they will pay 0 out of network. No hospital, Doctor nothing. Which means when we go out of state we have to get temp Insurance. We will be moving to TV in Dec and will have to change to BC and BS of Flordia. Then when we travel or go back to visit in NJ we will need temporary Insurance. So be very carefull to ask questions and read your policy before you have a problem.
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Old 10-01-2011, 01:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTTPF View Post
My wife has BC and BS of NJ at almost $1000.00 per mo.and they will pay 0 out of network. No hospital, Doctor nothing. Which means when we go out of state we have to get temp Insurance. We will be moving to TV in Dec and will have to change to BC and BS of Flordia. Then when we travel or go back to visit in NJ we will need temporary Insurance. So be very carefull to ask questions and read your policy before you have a problem.
I have BC Virginia and had the same concern. Turned out most everone in Florida is in BC network. Just had knee surgery in The Villages hospital with a local doctor. No problem.
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