The Vilages Health.
 

I was surprised to find out the TV Health does not accept anyone that is not on Medicare or above 60? Does anyone know of a golf cart accessible family practice near the southern part of TV?

I’ve been going to Villages Health since I was 56. My wife since she was 57. Neither one of us is on Medicare. Maybe you misunderstood.

If they are within TV they are all golf cart accessible. Golf cart accessibility has nothing to do with what health insurance one carries.

The Villages Health does accept commercial insurance, but they have a limited amount of space for it since they mainly see Medicare Advantage members. They will be opening a new clinic in Eastport in January and this should increase the number of commerical patients they will be able to accept. Otherwise, I would check with the Brownwood or Lake Deaton locations.

We just found this out yesterday as well. My wife called the office in LSL to try to establish with a family doctor and was told they won't see us because we are not on medicare advantage (essentially). So now we are also looking for alternate option.

First, this page shows what insurance The Villages Health accepts: Accepted Insurance - The Villages Health

Second, attached is a list of primary care groups that I have created.

As far as I know at this time, the only golf cart accessible primary care offices south of Rt 44 are located in the Fenney Professional Plaza - Warm Springs Ave, just east of Rt 301. They are Orlando Health Medical Group/FHV Health and VIPcare.

Just north of 44, Rivers Family Medicine is located in Brownwood between TooJay's and Prima Steakhouse.

The problem with The Villages Health is that many of their doctors are not accepting NEW patients. The group accepts most insurance. But trying to find a doctor available to establish yourself as a patient is next to impossible. What you need to do is call their offices and let them know you'd like to become a patient of the group, and other than "x/y/z" criteria, you'll be happy with whatever doctor can see you. For me, x/y/z is "they can be from anywhere in the world but their accent can't be too thick because I have word differentiation problems with my hearing and I need to be able to understand them." Other than that I'm not too picky.

Thanks.The link confirms that The Villages hospital doesn’t take my Blue Cross/Blue Shield supplemental insurance from Pennsylvania. I go to a much higher rated hospital that takes my insurance and doesn’t charge me a co-pay: AdventHealth/Waterman, in Taveres. It’s a 45 minute drive in a car. Definitely not golf cart accessible. But it’s worth it. I have to have a major surgery soon, and they are sending me to the top surgeon in the AdventHealth system who does it, in Orlando. AdventHealth/Orlando is the top rated hospital in Florida.

Rivers Family Medicine in Brownwood.

It's not a matter of "space" per se. It is a matter of economics, of cost structure. Every kind of insurance pays the practitioners on certain scales. Medicare Advantage has its own payout scale, which is not appealing to some practitioners.

TV Health built it's network of practitioners specifically for those willing to work within the Medicare Advantage payout scale. I am not a practitioner, and have never played on on TV, but it seems to me that Primary Care partitioners are on the lower end of the Medicare Advantage payout scale and are therefore in short supply within TV Health. Specialty practices have other ways to supplement income and are better able to flourish in the system that accepts only Medicare Advantage. So, like all businesses, we end up with a network that is economically weighted toward a mix of people willing to work within certain income ranges.

Many thanks to Champion6 who created the Primary Care Groups document. It is very helpful.

Wife and I just moved here. Both of us are in our low 60’s, and I need to establish new doctor(s).
I have Tricare Insurance and have yet to look into this. Sounds like this will be fun!

The Villages Hospital as well as any specialist would take your Medicare/supplement, perhaps not a pcp though.

I don't believe that is true. My husband was 54 when we moved here and TV Health accepted him readily. However, TV Health accepts a few Medicare Advantage plans, but not traditional Medicare.

Tricare
 

I'm on Tricare and have utilized the villages for primary doctor and specialist for 3 years. You should be good unless there is a recent change that I am unaware of.

Doctors
 

I go to the Orlando Health group in Leesburg. Am very happy with their primary care doctors. I believe they just opened a new office south of 44 and are accepting new patients.

Thank you!

Rivers Family Medicine in Brownwood.

In my experience TV Health does NOT accept Medicare but they do take other insurances. I know they accept Tricare.

OP, you may need to stop in or call The Villages health, the insurance accepted changes with your age. I have no idea of what is accepted for patients below age 65, however once you get to 65 TV health accepts only 3 or 4 ADVANTAGE plans. These plans tend to have limited support outside of the villages health system, and we had to leave these and get back on original Medicare and a supplemental.
Now what you really need to do is contact SHINE (Senior Health Information Network), they have local meetings with advisors which are advertised in the Daily News or on their website. This organization provides UNBIASED information as they do not sell or recommend any specific insurance.

Rivers Family Medical in Brownwood is very good.

They accepted my private insurance UHC before I was 65. Once I turned 65 only advantage plans so I left the practice.

That is my understanding as well -- if you're on Medicare, the Villages Health will allow you to see a specialist under your supplemental plan, but to see a primary care doctor, you'd need to be on their Advantage plan. I'm 90% sure, but can someone else confirm this as well?

I just recently joined Orlando Health and went to the office on Warm Springs because I'm not 65 and have commercial insurance through my employment. My first visit was a general checkup last week and I was impressed with Dr. Tanya Diaz.

Yes, I agree, this is why we ended up leaving Villages health.

Not accurate. You don't have to be on "their" plan. They don't accept "traditional" Medicare (Medicare Part B/Medigap). They DO accept Medicare Advantage plans - United Health and Florida Blue, and a few others. They also accept a myriad of regular non-Medicare insurance.

Hubby has a UH Advantage plan, I'm not 65 yet so have a normal FloridaBlue bronze plan. The Villages Health is a participating provider for both.

The link doesn't confirm anything about the Villages hospital.

The hospital is owned by the University of Florida and has changed its name.

The Villages HEALTH is not a hospital, it's a medical group with multiple practices and specialties.

The Villages Health is Not part of the Hospital
 

Oops just realized Orange Blossom beat me to it!
The link to TV Health has nothing to do with insurance accepted at The Villages Hospital ( now named UF Health Spanish Planes Hospital). Mando, have you ever contacted UF Health or your insurance provider to ask? Everyone keeps saying that Supplement plans are accepted everywhere. I’m sure Advent Health is good, just trying to clarify that TV Health and TV Hospital are not associated.
Health plans accepted - UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital - UF Health

Thank you for the list. This will be helpful.

And regardless what is listed at the link (we have Aetna and Aetna is listed as accepted in the link), my wife was told straight up they won’t see her (LSL). I was not on the phone call, but she said that they told her it’s because we are not medicare advantage. So the fact is, they are not accepting new patients with commercial insurance.

You’re mistaken, TVH does not accept Medicare. I don’t know about age situation you mention.
They accept Advantage plans, which is NOT Medicare. They do not accept Medicare or Supplement plans.

The specialist in TVH do accept Medicare & supplements. Not all are taking new px, and most require the px have a PCP in TVH.

To be clear, some definitions:
1. The Villages Health is a group of primary care physicians and specialist physicians. To be seen by the PCPs, your insurance must be as specified in the link that I provided. To see a specialist, just about any insurance will be accepted.
2. "The Villages hospital" -- It is named UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital. Just about any insurance will be accepted.

Advantage, right. I'm not well versed in nomenclature so I've been fusing the two. But the bottom line is they won't see us with our commercial Aetna Health plan, regardless of what they state on their site. Whether that's because it's not Advantage or because of our age (or a little of both), it's just a fact.

Their reasoning is NEITHER of what you state.

I'm not on medicare at all, AND I'm not old enough for it yet. They take my commercial Florida Blue plan just fine.

On their website under the list of insurances they accept (including Aetna) it says "Some restrictions may apply." So your plan might just not be one of the ones they accept. But they /do/ accept plans from Aetna. Just not yours. Aetna has a LOT of plans. Villages Health is probably just - not in your plan's network.

According to Aetna website, they ARE in Network. It is not my plan that is the issue.

Because I've been playing whisper down the lane trying to interpret what my wife heard in her phone call, I called them myself to get the actual story of the current status for The Villages Health. This is what I was told:

For anyone with commercial insurance, they are "at capacity" and are not taking new patients, UNLESS you work for The Villages. If you have commercial insurance and are employed by The Villages, you can get in as a new patient. If you are 65 or older (i.e., medicare [or Advantage, I dunno]) then they have spaces for you. She indicated when new capacity under construction comes online, that MAY change and that I (or anyone) should check back at that time.

Apologies for adding to confusion before. This hopefully clarifies it a bit better.

Oh well, it was only 30 posts of opinions, guesses and theories of what the real answer was…………………clarified by one phone call.🤷🏼

That's what I figured. They do accept your insurance, however - their doctors are already at their maximum patient load and have to cut back on accepting new patients. This was a problem last year as well, and I'm pretty sure it's been a problem since the COVID pandemic in 2020.

That was post #7.

Excellent summation. May I add once one turns 65 (Medicare) TV Health will no longer accept their commercial insurance. The choice will be to go on one of their Advantage plans or leave.

That's important information for any of us who are approaching the age when we have to make this decision!

I'll check with the desk at TVH next time I have an appointment to find out if "legacy" patients are grandfathered in or not. If not, then I have a couple more years to transition to a doctor's office that accepts "whatever" health insurance INCLUDING Medicare Advantage (since I don't know what my choices will look like by the time I'm 65 and would like to prepare for all possibilities).

As I understand it, the Villages Health facilities are built and owned by The Villages for the convenience of Villagers. The reason they don't accept original Medicare is because they would need to treat anyone in the area who has original Medicare, and it could be difficult for Villagers to get appointments. If you accept original Medicare, you must be accessible to everyone who wants to use the facilities. At least that is my theory.

There is no requirement to be a resident of TV to be a patient. Scroll down to the FAQ.

Creating Personalized Patient Experiences - The Villages Health