[WAOrganicFarmWannabe]

Considering moving to N. FL. Currently living with daughter in PA (would do the same in FL). Would I lose the "extra help" from PA in the amount of approx. $95 a month to help with Rx's and deductibles if I change my residency from PA to FL? Here in PA "extra help" stops if you exceed $16,335/year in income, which I am well under.

[WAOrganicFarmWannabe]

My daughter, son-in law and myself are retired, living in PA and considering moving to FL. My income is SS of approx. $11,000 per year. I also get "extra help" from my county to help with rx's and medical deductibles. "EXtra help" is what the government pays to make up for the amount of money I would have to pay for my rx's. Out of my $11,000/year I pay $87.60 per month for Part B with Aetna. I pay $25 co-pays for primary care and $45 for specialists. Also I paid $45 the other day for an xray. I get 6 different rx's and pay $2.50 for 4 and $6.50 for the other 2. Do Floridians with the same income also get anything equivalent to "extra help" and similar co-pays? How do they fare with $11,000 income? I'm trying to find out how FL compares to what I have now in Bucks County, PA.

[FloridaHappy]

We live in Marion County, Ocala, FL. DH has a Medicare Advantage plan through Preferred Care Partners. We are not only not out of pocket for his supplement, but Preferred sends him back $75 a month of his Medicare premium. His MD's are no copay no matter whether primary care or referrals. Preferred has a dental program that includes free dentures every 5 years. It covers glasses, but it worked out cheaper to get them directly from Sears after getting the Rx through Preferred's ophthalmologist. DH was admitted to the hospital last summer for a week with pneumonia and we never saw the first bill. His prescriptions are no copay for the generics. He gets his other meds through the VA that aren't generic, but I think non-generics are about $10. It's on a tier system.

DH's SS is more than $11,000 a year. You'd have to sign up during the period at the end of each year when you can change your supplement plan and Preferred is not offered in all counties in Florida. It looks like you'd be ahead at least medical-wise to move down here. Now, whether your daughter and son-in-law can get a job is a whole other matter. Marion County is about 10% unemployment. 2 bedroom houses rent around $550-$1000+ a month depending on how fancy you need. My electric bill averages $165 a month, higher in the winter because I refuse to be cold, and I rarely turn on the A/C in the summer. I am running a pool and hot tub on that, though. I didn't notice much of a difference in grocery prices when we moved here from Tennessee.

No state income tax in Florida. Sales tax in Marion County is 6%, but can be higher in other counties. Gas today was $3.79 a gallon. Any other questions, feel free to ask!

[WAOrganicFarmWannabe]

Originally Posted by FloridaHappy

We live in Marion County, Ocala, FL. DH has a Medicare Advantage plan through Preferred Care Partners. We are not only not out of pocket for his supplement, but Preferred sends him back $75 a month of his Medicare premium. His MD's are no copay no matter whether primary care or referrals. Preferred has a dental program that includes free dentures every 5 years. It covers glasses, but it worked out cheaper to get them directly from Sears after getting the Rx through Preferred's ophthalmologist. DH was admitted to the hospital last summer for a week with pneumonia and we never saw the first bill. His prescriptions are no copay for the generics. He gets his other meds through the VA that aren't generic, but I think non-generics are about $10. It's on a tier system.

DH's SS is more than $11,000 a year. You'd have to sign up during the period at the end of each year when you can change your supplement plan and Preferred is not offered in all counties in Florida. It looks like you'd be ahead at least medical-wise to move down here. Now, whether your daughter and son-in-law can get a job is a whole other matter. Marion County is about 10% unemployment. 2 bedroom houses rent around $550-$1000+ a month depending on how fancy you need. My electric bill averages $165 a month, higher in the winter because I refuse to be cold, and I rarely turn on the A/C in the summer. I am running a pool and hot tub on that, though. I didn't notice much of a difference in grocery prices when we moved here from Tennessee.

No state income tax in Florida. Sales tax in Marion County is 6%, but can be higher in other counties. Gas today was $3.79 a gallon. Any other questions, feel free to ask!

Thanks so much for all the info. Sounds like it will vary somewhat by county, as it does in PA. We're keeping a note of the name "Preferred Care Partners". That one in particular sounds wonderful. You did say we're better off in FL with the medicare. DH is retired and on disability. Daughter is planning to retrain for something in the medical field. She too is somewhat disabled and she will simply do the best she can. None of us need fancy quarters, just solid, decent home in a low-crime area. Eventually we plan to all purchase a multi-unit, which PA has a lot of, esp. close to Philadelphia where we are. (Let someone else pay our mortgage from now on.) You're a nice Tennessee person and we hope wherever we go we meet others as nice as you. Feel free to chat anytime you'd like. I'm going to try to "befriend" you on here. Our family is limited to basically just the three of us, so we're going to need lots of socialization when we move. Good luck to all of and much luck to you and your family and hope son-in-law is fully recovered by now.

P.S. By the way, considering Jacksonville. St. Pete may be a bit too high with crime. Not sure. Maybe you can help us there too.

[RMD3819]

Florida Department of Children and Families

Go there for Medicare extra help in Florida.

[Retiredcoach]

The money that you are receiving in PA is part of the PACE program, funded by the Pennsylvania State Lottery. All proceeds from the lottery are utilized to provide low-cost prescriptive care to PA senior citizens (with certain income restrictions). This is program unique to Pennsylvania and would not be transferable to a Florida domicile. This is part of the reason why Pennsylvania is second only to Florida in the percent of the population being of "senior" age. The biggest difference would be that there are fewer programs in Florida to support the senior citizens with lower incomes. In other words, if you have a healthy "nest egg" and/or pension to afford the Florida the sunshine, go for it. If your income is fixed and limited, there are considerably more funded services in PA (with the similar tax benefits).