[maistocars]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

We have been using AARP United Health care for supplemental insurance with no problems for several years.

I agree Tink - we have the same and it's been great for us.

[Boomer]

An AARP UnitedHealthCare supplement to Medicare has taken care of us.

We have Medicare as the primary and the supplement is a Plan F (grandfathered in— no longer offered) but this year I am going to look at switching to Plan G which might not be quite as high a premium, has a small deductible instead of none, but as
I understand it, Plan G offers the same freedom of choice as Plan F, so I want to take a look.

As I understand Plan C, aka, Advantage Plans, the premiums are less and they sometimes offer extra things, but they operate like HMOs. The government gives the Medicare money to the insurance company to manage with Plan C.

I understand that a lot of people like Advantage Plans because the premiums are less, and they work well for them. I don’t know anything about The Villages plan though. I think it is a Plan C, but someone here will know all about that one. We decided that for us the plan with the most freedom was what we wanted.

Boomer

[Marsha11]

Not sure if you are a temp in the Villages. Your ins back home would probably do something fir you. Buying it here for a few months, I'm not thinkin about it

[jminnis]

If you are talking about supplemental insurance, AARP United Healthcare is accepted everywhere Medicare is accepted....which is everywhere...

[dougawhite]

Originally Posted by jminnis

If you are talking about supplemental insurance, AARP United Healthcare is accepted everywhere Medicare is accepted....which is everywhere...

Wrong. Supplemental plans are NOT accepted at The Villages Health.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by dougawhite

Wrong. Supplemental plans are NOT accepted at The Villages Health.

I thought I understood Medicare, but now I am confused. My understanding is that any provider that accepts original medicare (part a and b) is required by federal law to accept all Medigap (supplemental) plans regardless of the insurance company and that there is no network within the 50 states. My understanding is also that providers who accept original medicare have the option to choose which Medicare advantage planes the are willing to accept, effectively creating networks like with traditional private insurance.

This begs the obvious question, how can the Village’s Health accept original medicare but legally refuse to accept a Medigap (supplemental) plan? Are they somehow not participating in original Medicare while still accepting a specific Medicare advantage plan? If that’s the case, beware, that is a very unusual and shady practice?

Inquiring minds want to know?

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I thought I understood Medicare, but now I am confused. My understanding is that any provider that accepts original medicare (part a and b) is required by federal law to accept all Medigap (supplemental) plans regardless of the insurance company and that there is no network within the 50 states. My understanding is also that providers who accept original medicare have the option to choose which Medicare advantage planes the are willing to accept, effectively creating networks like with traditional private insurance.

This begs the obvious question, how can the Village’s Health accept original medicare but legally refuse to accept a Medigap (supplemental) plan? Are they somehow not participating in original Medicare while still accepting a specific Medicare advantage plan? If that’s the case, beware, that is a very unusual and shady practice?

Inquiring minds want to know?

Copied off The Villages Health website:


"If you are Medicare Eligible, you have an important choice to make about Medicare and the primary care services you receive in this community. The Villages Health is a health care system specifically designed for your lifestyle, but when it comes to Medicare we only partner with a few Medicare Advantage plans.

We only accept Medicare Advantage because we care about the physical, emotional and financial needs of our patients. With Medicare Advantage, our patients stay healthier, experience less stress and save money on health care."

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by rustyp

Copied off The Villages Health website:


"If you are Medicare Eligible, you have an important choice to make about Medicare and the primary care services you receive in this community. The Villages Health is a health care system specifically designed for your lifestyle, but when it comes to Medicare we only partner with a few Medicare Advantage plans.

We only accept Medicare Advantage because we care about the physical, emotional and financial needs of our patients. With Medicare Advantage, our patients stay healthier, experience less stress and save money on health care."

Anybody who believes the last two sentences of the above statement from the Villages Health is stupider than a bag of rocks.

[RPDaly]

///

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Anybody who believes the last two sentences of the above statement from the Villages Health is stupider than a bag of rocks.

For the record I just posted the info from the Villages Health website - It was not intended to be an endorsement on my part for plan types or local providers.

[Smalley]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I thought I understood Medicare, but now I am confused. My understanding is that any provider that accepts original medicare (part a and b) is required by federal law to accept all Medigap (supplemental) plans regardless of the insurance company and that there is no network within the 50 states. My understanding is also that providers who accept original medicare have the option to choose which Medicare advantage planes the are willing to accept, effectively creating networks like with traditional private insurance.

This begs the obvious question, how can the Village’s Health accept original medicare but legally refuse to accept a Medigap (supplemental) plan? Are they somehow not participating in original Medicare while still accepting a specific Medicare advantage plan? If that’s the case, beware, that is a very unusual and shady practice?

Inquiring minds want to know?

The Villages Health is a Medicare Advantage Plan. As was written previously, it's an HMO with benefits offered and choice of doctors limited. There is a network of doctors. I'm pretty sure the Medicare Advantage subscriber get a free membership to Genesis Health Club.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I thought I understood Medicare, but now I am confused. My understanding is that any provider that accepts original medicare (part a and b) is required by federal law to accept all Medigap (supplemental) plans regardless of the insurance company and that there is no network within the 50 states. My understanding is also that providers who accept original medicare have the option to choose which Medicare advantage planes the are willing to accept, effectively creating networks like with traditional private insurance.

This begs the obvious question, how can the Village’s Health accept original medicare but legally refuse to accept a Medigap (supplemental) plan? Are they somehow not participating in original Medicare while still accepting a specific Medicare advantage plan? If that’s the case, beware, that is a very unusual and shady practice?

Inquiring minds want to know?

I never understood it either. I remember when it was first offered, I kept thinking I was reading wrong because it looked to me like they would accept only their own advantage plan, and that was it. No Medicare primary or supplements.

It sounded like a “company store” routine to me.

We never had to use The Villages Health, but we never planned to be full time at our house in TV, so I never looked any further beyond my initial cringing at what I thought was going on. We have no intention of giving up our Medicare and supplement — unless “they” make us, as in………

Medicare recipients, now and future, need to keep in mind that some of those loud “promises” we hear about “protecting Medicare” — including even a very special signing of said “promise” a few years ago right in TV — with great fanfare and flourish — mean that the goal is to turn allllllll the money over to insurance companies and take away your choice of having Medicare as primary and a supplement chosen by you. Advantage Plans all-around……

Your old self is up for sale to insurance companies.

Don’t kid yourself. Insurance company lobbyists matter.

Soooo, looks like it all depends on what “protect” means.

Read between the lines.

If you’re OK with insurance companies making even more profit on you, well then, so be it. But I am not OK with that and want to continue to be able to choose Medicare as my primary. It works.

Cassandra Boomer

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by dougawhite

Wrong. Supplemental plans are NOT accepted at The Villages Health.

But Is Basic Medicare accepted? If they don't accept a supplement, then they likely don't accept Basic Medicare. An Advantage program is not Basic Medicare.

[Joeint]

Originally Posted by bowlingal

Joeint....they are medicare personnel. Don't know if they are volunteers or if they are paid but are medicare specialists....NOT insurance people. No better way to go than to talk to the people at SHINE. They do not steer you to insurance people who make money off you. They DO take your needs into consideration. Medicare is a federal program, can be used anywhere in the US, as is the supplement. You may want to change your post.

Taken from the Shine web site; "SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) is a free program offered by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and your local Area Agency on Aging. Specially trained volunteers can assist you with your Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance questions by providing one-on-one counseling and information. SHINE services are free."
They are not Medicare Personal, I talked to them and I knew more than the counselor I talked to. IMO you are better off talking to an independent agent who deals with many of the different Medicare Insurance providers.

[Pgcacace]

Call your benefits provider for a list of doctors in your zip code and surrounding zip codes. Then call the Drs office to confirm.