Their performance in the ER…….is worse then just okay

Hospitals all over the country are struggling....due to staff shortages, thanks to Covid. What folks here don't understand is we're living in a mostly rural area that is struggling to catch up due to the rapid growth in the area and not just The Villages. It's NOT a metro area but folks moving here expect it to be or at least just like they were used to back ___________(fill in the blank). I have stories I could share here from my friends and family up north---all are similar to the ones here and they live in large cities.

We've had to experience BOTH hospitals here---granted the ER's need some help (a lot of help) but the care, once on the floor has been great. My other half "got to" experience Shands this winter and from our perspective the care wasn't stellar. Our feeling was---if it's so great, how did he slip between the cracks?? He came home with a wound that was festering (the dressing had been changed only once) and NO antibiotics. Thank God for Home-Health-Care workers!!!

People who are seasonal who say they won't become full-time---I can somewhat see their point but what IF you get sick here and you don't have a primary??? When we first came as seasonal, my pcp back home told me to get established here with someone so my health could be monitored. IF you say you're healthy and rarely see a doctor that can change very quickly. Just some things to think about.

When we arrived in Florida about seven hears ago we were shocked and outraged by the local medical care and billing practices. It seemed to us the providers were preying in the older population. We now go to U of F in Gainesville for all our "serious" medical care, and have been very satisfied. We are hoping over time the University will staff the Villages facilities and oversee care and services the same way they do in Gainesville. Just hope it happens sooner than later.

I switched from United Healthcare to Florida Blue and found it to be equally as good as United Healthcare with far LOWER copays on every specialist etc…I only switched because Florida Blue includes Moffitt in their coverage and United Health does not and because of the lower copays. Am very satisfied and happy I did!

The health care system in this country is very broken.

The ACA made healthcare unaffordable for me.

If you are a single 64 year old in Florida and don't qualify for a subsidy (or a group plan) , the cheapest ACA plan available is through Ambetter and has $710/mo premiums with a deductible of $8600.

A Florida Blue HMO plan with an $8700 deductible is $786/mo.

A Florida Blue plan EPO is $833/mo.

There are only those two companies available to pick from.

A few preventive services are available at no cost such as colonoscopy and mammogram. Other health care costs, including prescription medications, must be paid for by the insured until the astronomical deductible of $8600 is met.

Prescription drugs can be extremely expensive and one can sometimes take an inferior generic for a lower cost and still wind up paying hundreds of dollars for one of these.

I'm on a Florida Blue plan and my agent says there is no in network hospital nearby. I look on the "find a doctor" and for many specialist there are none even within an hour drive.

So I pay the astronomical premiums and wind up often going to a doctor that is not in network because I have to pay anyway.

It infuriates me.

I'm hoping when I get to Medicare it will be better, but you have to pay for supplemental plans and pay more based on your income. SMH ������

I am sorry to hear that.

Since my wife and I kept the insurance we had while we were working, we were not affected by the ACA, but I have always wondered how it affected other people.

I did NOT support Obama and Pelosi, but I always suspected, and hoped, that they are good people who did what they thought was best for the American people. Whenever I would ask people about how the ACA affected them, they would usually start talking about how wonderful or horrible Obama was, but would not give a straight answer to my question.

That is why I appreciate your straightforward comments.

Hesitations…
 

Hesitations… I am very close to retirement and would very much like to come to the villages. However as an RN, this is one of my biggest reservations. I am presently in Dallas Texas and the medical care here absolutely cannot be beat. I have a friend who is from Florida, she is also an RN and she did highly recommend the university at Gainesville.I was considering coming back to Texas once or twice a year for medical care but I don’t know how long that my finances could support something like that

ACA age discrimination
 

I believe premiums prior to the ACA took into account preexisting conditions, smoker, gender, and perhaps other things. So the ACA was great in getting rid of a lot of that (one positive outcome - could have just passed that one law IMHO). Why is it that premiums are based on your age? Doesn't seem fair to me to leave just that one discriminatory aspect.

Also plans and premiums are dependent on the state you live in - we could not even get COBRA when we moved out of state because the plan was state based. And our child less than 26 years old could not be covered on our plan because it was not a "stay on your plan situation." It took healthcare.gov weeks to figure that one out. So that messes up family deductible.

Sure, some benefitted from the ACA, but the money has to come from somewhere, and I know where some of it comes from - people like me.

I wish I could purchase a catastrophic plan and pay the first $100k of my own medical expenses or whatever risk I want to pay for. Would make things easier for many. But the government does not allow that.

One year anniversary in the villages. Just had surgery for my first significant medical issue. Went to Advent in Ocala and couldn’t be more pleased with my care. I’m on traditional Medicare with supplement. Have heard the horror stories from others about care in the Villages and hope UF can turn it around. I’m a retired health care professional and throughly investigated my options prior to selecting my providers.

Yup, Obamacare absolutely sucks for those who don’t qualify for subsidies, because a surcharge is cooked into your premiums to pay for the subsidies and free insurance that others get. I retired young and was able to buy very affordable low deductible private insurance before Obamacare. After the so called Affordable Care Act kicked in, my insurance was no longer very affordable. Premiums tripled for insurance with substantially higher deductibles and max out of pocket. I don’t look forward to getting any older, except that I can’t wait for when we shortly will become eligible for Medicare.

You had very good instincts.

Forwarned is forearmed
 

If you understand that the best medical care/hospital here is either in Ocala or Gainesville or Orlando you will be fine. Adjust your doctors accordingly. Most of the healthcare in the villages do not accept medicare, imagine that. ER's do accept medicare, and are good for short term fix, but after that, you are on your own. As long as you know that you will be fine. Weakest link here is hospital care, hopefully it will change. Otherwise place is great..........

I retired this past September following a 44 year R.N. career with the 1st 23 of those years working mostly ER and the last 21 years worked as a primary care R.N. case manager at the VA Hospital in R.I. I met my PCP when she was the chief medical resident at the VA which is affiliated with Brown University and was one of her 1st patients when she went into private practice. And I met my GI and eye doctor the same way when they came through the VA as residents. The several other specialists that I see occasionally were referred by doctor colleagues I worked with that I trusted, so leaving this network of clinicians who have provided me excellent care for many years was not an easy decision to make. But I will admit having had to be an outspoken healthcare advocate for my now late parents who also lived in and received their healthcare in R.I. on several occasions, and additionally myself having had a bad experience following surgery I had 18 years ago in a state magnet status hospital where I was close to signing out AMA, substandard to very poor care can happen anywhere including the most prestigious healthcare institutions. That being said, my husband who is a disabled Vet and receives most of his care from the VA and I after weighing all the pros and cons decided relocating to TV will improve our overall health as it will provide us greater opportunities to be active and socially engaged more of the year due to climate than remaining in R.I. Since I kept my standard option Federal BC/BS coverage when I retired and enrolled in Medicare A & B when I turned 65 in February and my BC/BS now acts as my Medicare supplement, with this coverage I am not eligible for primary care through The Villages healthcare system. Fortunately I have a former retired R.N. colleague who relocated to Leesburg a number of years ago so I will tap her for some advise regarding getting a PCP and other specialists when we relocate to TV which will be at the end of this month. And if need be I will travel to Ocala or Gainesville for routine healthcare services, and if I land in a TV hospital I will hope for the best as I would in any other hospital.

Mine is another vote for Advent in Ocala.
5 star!

And that’s being kind and very overly generous in your review.