Ppo
 

YES. We have UHC PPO and TVHC is our primary care facility. AND, we can go anywhere we want for specialists, for example, without a referral.

The Villages HMO
 

We have The Villages Medicare Advantage plan (HMO). They now put you on the Medicare National Network which means you can go anywhere and use any United Healthcare doctors. Great for traveling and snowbirds. No referrals needed.

Staying with UH advantage. Find medical system different than Ma but learning . Example if you go to an E.R. in Ma you come home with a cast, here you come home with a referral to an ortho. But that aside I like my primary and UF health.

I’m a longtime Villages Health patient.For some unknown reason after 15 years I switched from United Health to Florida Blue this year. WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE!

I won’t go into a lot of detail except to say that they truly are an HMO, requiring pre-approvals for lots of stuff. They are terribly slow to give the approvals. On two occasions they were so slow that my doctor ordered me to go to the ER where they would be required to treat me! That’s true, but it doesn’t say that I had to wait 14 hours in The Villages Regional Hospital to get the 15-minute procedure.

I’m going back to United Healthcare which is truly user friendly. I’d recommend that you ask your doctor, nurses or other medical professionals. I’d bet that you’ll get a 100% response to stay away from Florida Blue!

Humana Community Plan
 

I looked into this as a current Humana customer. I did not have the Community Advantage Plan so I could not use Villages Health. The Humana plan I currently am enrolled in is not accepted by Villages Health. I considered The Community Plan for 2023 but decided to go with a plan with Florida Blue. It is accepted by Villages Health and it has better dental coverage, and other features that suit my needs better than Humana. Check out Florida Blue before making your decision. There is an office on 44th near Brownwood and you can drop in and go over the plans with a Florida Blue agent.

The Villages Health is an in-network group. I learned that my audiologist was no longer listed by name in the FloridaBlue network provider list this past year, so I called both FB and VH. Both said that as long as the visit is at the Villages Health, any employee providing care there is "in network." It's the entire group that's in network rather than any individual physician.

I've had no problem with FloridaBlue. But I'm not on medicare, and my plan isn't one of their HMOs. I know they -have- HMO plans though. My FB plan is a PPO plan. No referrals necessary. Any pre-approvals are merely to determine how much of a procedure's cost is covered. Not to get permission to have the procedure at all.

It's an entirely different experience being dragged through FloridaBlue's Medicare decision-making time trials. With UHC you get an answer Pronto Pronto. With Fl Blue, it seems to be the decision will come in due time. I'm back at UHC and relieved and happy and apologetic that I ever left them. Boy talk about a bad decision. :faint:

My wife has another year to go until Medicare time so when I was going to enroll her in her FloridaBlue plan for 2023 what do you know, at the bottom of the list of providers UHC was there. Eureka finally my dream comes true. Not so fast. They don't cover any of The Villages Doctors or our Hospital which looks like Wayne Manor from Orange Blossom C.C. but is just about as inviting as a BatCave, ER-wise.

Yeah I've been in the ER - helping a neighbor. This was still during the pandemic, they had a section partitioned off for anyone who had covid symptoms. My neighbor was having a full-blown panic attack -during- her wait in the ER waiting area, vomiting, sweating, shivering, yelling in pain. She thought she was dying, she couldn't focus and was mostly incoherent. I had to walk away from her and up to the desk to ask if anyone could do ANYTHING at all to calm her down, or make her more comfortable. She was brought in by ambulance and parked in one of their wheelchairs. It was horrible. For an hour. Finally they let her go to the first room past the door where there's an exam bench, so she could lay down.

I couldn't understand why or how they could just - watch this woman yelling in pain and vomiting in the middle of their waiting area. If she'd ruptured her spleen she would've died before anyone could even bring her a barf bag.

Tinker.....you are one great person. You could never be "bad".

Thanks for bringing the new United Healthcare "Focus" plan to my attention. You do get some extra benefits. With this new Focus plan the only downside is you do need a referral from your Primary Care MD. I talked to one of the United Healthcare reps about the Focus plan and it is fully accepted in the Villages Health. Much to consider.

:agree:

:agree:

I have been with UHC HMO for quite a while now. Have never had a problem finding a specialist when needed. I also think the no referral is a BIG thing. Have never had anything or anyone denied.

I have a UHC PPO plan and use The Villages Healthcare in Pinellas Plaza.