Wow-TVH temper tantrums
 

It absolutely amazes me the way some people behave. *Begin rant -Those of you that are infuriated about the TVH insurance change should educate yourselves a bit before showing your rear. Hopefully you have kept your letters about how you were grandfathered in for the rest of the existence that TVH has their doors open! Come on folks, be realistic. At the time of that letter there was no plan to go to only UHC MA. You were not conned. You were not lied to. You were not deceived. You were told that for the time being you would be taken care of. Things change. As far as TVH being money hungry devils....well, just an FYI they lose millions, yes plural, of dollars a year by accepting the other insurance carriers. Why, do you ask? Because in order to provide 30 minute appointments, in order to ensure that if you are in the hospital one of the TVH doctors see you, in order to ensure that there are 30 + open appointments available for call ins, in order to ensure that all of your care is coordinated through your primary, in order to ensure that you are taken care of and pampered the way you are-INSURANCE HAS TO PAY FOR IT!! BCBS said heck no, Cigna said not a chance, Humana wasn't biting, Aetna said no thanks. United Health Care said yes. These other insurance plans WILL NOT pay for these things! Please explain how TVH can continue to provide a 30 min appointment and only get paid for 12 minutes of it?! Will you accept being told they no longer offer 30 min appts because your ins will only pay for 10? No, you won't. Will you accept waiting 2 hours for your 10 min appt because the office had to schedule 30 patients for that doctor just to make the money to keep the doors open? Doubt it. At the end of the day you are just being whiney brats. TVH has not changed. They are still the best patient centered medical office in the state of Florida. They want nothing more than to continue to be the best and treat YOU, yes YOU the best. But open your eyes and realize that this kind of care has to be paid for. Like I said, MILLIONS of dollars lost. MILLIONS of dollars in the red! No, it's not so your doctor can drive home in a Mercedes. No, it's not so the medical director can get a yacht. No, it's not so the CEO can go skiing in the Swiss Alps. The whole world can't go into poverty so you can continue to sit pretty on your pedestal getting your butt powdered! - *end rant

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Oh and P.S. it's not only 1 plan. There are 5. One is Medicare AARP Complete. And they also are keeping Tricare

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There is a LOT of misinformation being spread (probably on both sides), but I spent almost an hour at a UHC healthcare office getting answers to my 23 or questions. Came out with a much better understanding of what I may or may NOT be giving up by dropping supplemental and going advantage. Next step is to go over this with SHINE, then wait until Oct 1 for the revised books.
BTW, there are THREE (3) insurance plans accepted by TVHS (not including the commercial/government plans), HMO1. HMO2, and PPO, in increasing monthly costs as listed. I have the three books and am just started comparing the plans to the supplemental we currently have.
There is coverage when you travel for emergency care, some coverage if you have a health problem (urgent care) while you are out of network. For those of you that are dual residence, there is the Passport system for 37 states (you need to check to see if you are covered).
While I do not like the way this was handled by TVHS, there are pluses and minuses on both sides. ALL of us need to actually ask the questions that are important to us as individuals, and determine which plan is best. Be very careful of generalizations, as what works very for one may be a disaster for another.
Hope this helps.

Speaking of rants! You feel better now? You sure told us.

The Villages' trollies for the past three years took visitors to new home areas to show the neighborhoods and types of homes available. The Trollies then went to one of the TVH centers to show the health care centers that were available to Village residents. They used TVH as a marketing tool to sell their houses. Many people bought here glad to know that quality and convenient healthcare would be available. It sounds like your rant is another example of a person who is not affected by this major change and has tired of the anger and disappointment of his fellow Villagers.

It is still available for anyone who has the accepted insurance. If you CHOOSE to have a different insurance provider, that is YOUR call.

Doctors all across this great land change accepted insurances periodically.

Do "doctors all across this great land" change their accepted insurances to only one plan? Can you give us other examples of other private physician groups that have rejected all other Medicare plans except one plan? United Health Care Advantage plan is the only plan TVH will accept for people turning 65 after January 1, 2017.

Actually, I think her "rant" was an excellent factual counterbalance to the primarily emotional response that has been dominating the threads on this subject. As rants go, I'll give it a 9.8/10

If they were offered a huge bundle of cash to do so, they might.

Some needed to be told.

Thank you for posting!

This time, I agree with you.

OMG, is this February 30th???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I will keep you posted.........

Thank you, sir

I felt that it was /is a great post as a counter balance to all of the self-entitled histrionics that have been exhibited on this site .

It is tiresome to hear people constantly complain and imply some great underlying conspiracy to be at work and in this case allege some type of " bait and switch " tactic on the part of the Development Company which set up this amazing system .

Sadly our health care system has been destroyed by the voters allowing the Federal Government to take over 12% of our economy without nary a whimper followed by reelecting them all back into office.

Now we all get to reap what The Administration sowed . And now you are finally paying attention !

With all due respect, May I ask how you know the facts that you are stating? You are stating you know that various insurance companies turned TVH down. That Tvh is millions of dollars are in the red. How do YOU know this? Are you a person that holds a position at TVH? I would think not. You seem a bit agitated. Yes people are emotional. Your rant is not helpful to them. IF you are a nurse, you should know that and tone down your response.

Wow just amazing !! The level of immaturity and whining on here is just something to behold .
No one here operating anything in the Villages are assigned the role to be our benevolent Mommy and Daddy .
These issues are driven by financial realities and not some scheme to be mean to anyone .
I am sure that you would not expect Publix to sell you a basket full of groceries week after week for less than they cost them to make them available to you .
This Health Delivery and Health Insurance Industry is a whole new world since Washington took it over . Recall they did not even know the details of what they had passed .
The real ongoing changes are just fully rolling out on the industry now . Those charged with creating the operating rules which drive all of the expenses are making changes and new rules as they go along .
Ultimately it has an impact on every provider and every consumer of health care products and services in the USA .
Back where I came down here from Canadians were swarming over the border to get treated by US Doctors and to get operated on in US Hospitals and they have to pay cash for everything no insurance .
Why -- because they can`t wait six months to get an operation to remove cancer or to settle for not being given a treatment because they are too old .

New Trolley name
 

The Village Trolley should now be called
"THE SUCKER BUS"

I totally disagree.....explain how they have no problem accepting my private insurance (Cigna) when I am 64 but will not accept Medicare B and my private insurance when I turn 65????? Any medical facility that accepts Medicare C (Advantage Plans) should be required to accept Medicare B.

Easy, they are giving you time to make the change IF you still want their service and care. It's business. They are entitled to accept any insurance plan they want and refuse any they want.

Why is this so hard to understand?

...

As a Canadian with many older friends, I've never once heard of anyone waiting six months for an essential operation.
Or being refused treatment based on age. Never. :ohdear:

I don't think anyone has the right to tell anyone else not to complain. People have a right to their opinions. The bottom line for me is that TV came out loud and strong with the Marcus Welby We're Going to Take Care of Everyone deal, then dropped that theme for the bottom dollar line. We never bought into the original hoopla, so it doesn't affect us, but I think people who believed in what they said have a right to complain.

You live in a dream world nurser girl! I totally disagree!

Anyone who has made it 65 years without ever experiencing insurance policies that change or providers who accept them is about as unique as a unicorn. Every year people go through open enrollment because circumstances change, and nothing is ever promised past that year. Or do you have something in writing that says VHC would never make changes? If you do, then you may have an argument. If not, it's just complaining and feeling like a victim.

Buffalo Jim isn't far off according to this -

Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2015 Report | Fraser Institute

Specialist physicians surveyed report a median waiting time of 18.3 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment—slightly longer than the 18.2 week wait reported in 2014. This year’s wait time is 97% longer than in 1993 when it was just 9.3 weeks.

Again, I am talking about two things: what was touted in the beginning to bring people in, and people's right to complain.

What was touted at the beginning never said everyone would be served. With 120,000 residents and doctors limited to 1,250 patients, there would need to be almost 100 PCP's not the 37 there are today.

And I really wouldn't have an issue with complaining if it was honest. But all the talk about "grandfathered" and everyone covered sets off the BS meter. If it's true, SHOW IT TO US. I, and others, are still waiting to see that "proof".

Too funny....no one ever said we would be taken care of for "the time being"....did God tell you he would only take care of you for the time being, until I make some necessary changes, did your spouse, did your mother, did your life insurance company, did your nursing school. No, they didn't say that. You let your fingers get carried away with your rant. We know you would like to keep your job and I hope you do!! But, you don't work in the finance department, or senior management. You don't know if what "they" tell you is fact.

I had a lawyer friend from Toronto who was pushed out 6 months for cancer surgery . He came to Buffalo and paid cash .
He would have died if he had waited .

I had a good friend in Buffalo who was also from Toronto . His Dad needed heart surgery but the " system " would not approve the surgery only would offer drugs .
He brought his father to Buffalo for surgery and paid cash and it saved his father`s life .
Another business associate had to bring his daughter into the US to get eye surgery which he could not get approved for her in Canada .
Another good friend had to bring his father to the US for Parkinson`s treatment and special drugs which he was denied in Canada .
In the Buffalo area there are many Doctors who crossed into the US to practice rather than work for the wages they could earn within the Canadian system .
Don`t get me wrong I love Canada but I know many many Canadians and medical professionals who do not like the current state of the government health system .
Please do not be offended I am just sharing the real experiences of several friends and business associates .

And on a public site such as this people also have a right to point out that a particular post may be factually incorrect or based entirely on emotions and not reason .

For example the Trolly should be called the " sucker bus " ?
Sounds like the remarks of a 12 year old !

Don't forget to include that a post may also be one from someone who either has a vested interest in trying to deceive those who are legitimately upset, or has even been given orders to protect the one causing all of this anguish.

Just trying to be fair. :ho:

Agree

Just to point out and discuss another common theme on these threads----that UHC advantage restricts my choices so I cannot go see "the best".

There are 135 pages of participating physicians and just about every hospital in the region their handbook. It should not be all that hard to find a quality specialist. There are some hospitals, such as Shands and Mayo that do not participate. If you are already hooked into that system you have a tough choice

Now for a word about "the best":
Let's pick on cardiology as an example. There are 27,076 cardiologists in the US, 1854 in Florida. Only one can be "the best". But he/she cannot see 330 million patients, so somebody gets "second best", and third best, and so on down to 27,000th "best". There are minimum standards they all have to meet, I think the standard is too low, but I also understand that if the bar is set too high it will affect access to care.

So let's say you are "lucky" enough to get an appointment with "the best" cardiologist in the country. You will probably find that he is a zero personality academic jerk who pawns you off on his assistants as he rushes off to his research lab, or to his office to write his next paper for the NEJM, or to fulfill his teaching responsibilities. So why does he have a practice at all, you may ask:

1) It may be a requirement of his faculty position

2) It is fertile grounds to find new and unusual CASES. Note the word "cases", since in his world, you are not a patient, you are a "case"

3) It is fertile ground for him to find people to sign up for his latest experimental drug or procedure. That now makes you a "guinea pig" instead of a "case"

As far as my own care goes, give me a solid above average caring and personable cardiologist, say number 6 or 7000th on the list. I'll take him over "the best" any day.

I'd be interested if the other retired physicians and nurses agree with this assessment.

Likewise, has "the nurse" ever come back to give sources for his/her multiple "facts?"

Just sayin'.

Excellent post!!