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No, I'm not asking/talking about any legislation pending in Congress.
I have read, in various threads on the Maine forum, various negative comments about health care in Maine ... or maybe more accurately, the comments are about health insurance companies and health insurance options in Maine.
What about someone moving to Maine who already has health insurance? I'm a federal retiree with Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It's a national fee-for-service plan, and as far as I know, it's accepted in every state, including Maine.
Are there any federal retirees in Maine with BC/BS who can confirm this?
Also, have the health insurance difficulties in Maine resulted in a doctor shortage? As my wife and I age, we will likely need more health care than we previously needed, and while we love Maine and are very, very seriously examining the pros and cons of relocating to Maine, the availability of quality health care is one of the most important factors in our decision-making.
I'd appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer. Thanks!
No, I'm not asking/talking about any legislation pending in Congress.
I have read, in various threads on the Maine forum, various negative comments about health care in Maine ... or maybe more accurately, the comments are about health insurance companies and health insurance options in Maine.
What about someone moving to Maine who already has health insurance? I'm a federal retiree with Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It's a national fee-for-service plan, and as far as I know, it's accepted in every state, including Maine.
Are there any federal retirees in Maine with BC/BS who can confirm this?
Also, have the health insurance difficulties in Maine resulted in a doctor shortage? As my wife and I age, we will likely need more health care than we previously needed, and while we love Maine and are very, very seriously examining the pros and cons of relocating to Maine, the availability of quality health care is one of the most important factors in our decision-making.
I'd appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer. Thanks!
You need to speak with the plan admistrator with whom you are enrolled right now to find out how the plan will work in Maine. At a guess you will see little change, although the servicing company...that which pays the claims...may well become Anthem Blue Cross or someone else under contract to the master group for Federal employees. It seems likely that the dollar cost of premiums might be higher, but I would only be guessing since you are a part of a very large group.
As far as medical SERVICES are concerned, as a retiree my wife and I are working our way through doctors trying to find one that we can remain with as a primary care physician. It seems to us that this is an area of critical need, and so far our relationships with primary care physicians, here in the Ellsworth area and in the Belfast area is mixed, to be kind.
I wanted to fire the primary care physician who was my parents' doctor for twenty years and I also wanted to initiate a malpractice suit against that practice. It was my father who ultimately made the decision not to do so, but it was their direct negligence that caused my Mother to endure serious pain and other difficulties the last ten years of her life.
The doctor who my wife has been seeing here for about six years should lose her license. She is not competant, and worse still, is slow to make referrals to others who might better diagnose medical needs.
Now, our experience once you are past the primary care service level is that the overall quality of advanced or specialized care physicians is excellent, and we have found terrific physicians for a number of conditions...rhuematology, surgery, orthopedics...all have been outstanding when their services were needed.
So, I think that health CARE is a mixed bag in Maine. There are very, very good doctors who chose to live and raise their families in a smaller market, and suffer the lower income standards that their skills might demand in other areas. Then there are the lousy ones, and they exist, too.
Unless you plan to live in the southwest corner of Maine where the population is most dense, you may find that you will go some distance to receive medical services. As in everything else about Maine, it all begins with population and population density. Maine is a very, VERY large state for the northeast, yet its population is only 1.3 million people, and that means EVERYTHING where medical services are concerned.
Unless you have specific medical needs now, I would not worry too much about the availability or quality of service overall that your medical needs can receive.
I think you could find fine healthcare here respective of the level you think you would probably need considering your retireing. My mode of thinking has always been that it doesn't matter where I am living...IF I am diagnosed with something life threatening I will seek out the best care and that might mean out of state or where ever. What I want is great emergancy services and good doctors that will make available to me good preventive care..
back to emergancy services.. as we age I think the risk of a sudden emergancy is more life threatening and a need for quick emergancy treatment is preferred. Southern Maine where the state has most of its population will provide access to excellent medical care, your will not be far from Boston also should the need arise for that. With respect to emergency medical services.. you don't have to go too far outside the larger municpalities before your looking at a 20 minute response time...or longer for EMS.. So I would then also focus on the cities and larger towns surrounded the cities of southern Maine.
My thanks to Acadianlion and flycessna for their detailed responses - that was just what I was looking for.
In checking online, I'm almost positive that my health insurance will be the same (premiums and coverage) in Maine as it is here, but I will call and double-check.
We have no special medical needs at this point, and my inclination (from many visits to Maine over the last five decades) is to avoid southern Maine, and look more to the mid-coast area ... not on the coast, but within 10-15 miles of it. This is subject to change of course, as we delve further into real estate options throughout the state.
One of the things we'll be looking at are locations of hospitals - that will help us narrow down our options, I think. And my wife is a stained glass artist, and having some kind of outlet/environment for that is definitely a factor.
But, I'm reassured about the quality and availability of good health care in Maine, although depending on where we land, we may be looking at some travel time to get to the doctor.
I think you could find fine healthcare here respective of the level you think you would probably need considering your retireing. My mode of thinking has always been that it doesn't matter where I am living...IF I am diagnosed with something life threatening I will seek out the best care and that might mean out of state or where ever. What I want is great emergancy services and good doctors that will make available to me good preventive care..
back to emergancy services.. as we age I think the risk of a sudden emergancy is more life threatening and a need for quick emergancy treatment is preferred. Southern Maine where the state has most of its population will provide access to excellent medical care, your will not be far from Boston also should the need arise for that. With respect to emergency medical services.. you don't have to go too far outside the larger municpalities before your looking at a 20 minute response time...or longer for EMS.. So I would then also focus on the cities and larger towns surrounded the cities of southern Maine.
Just my opinion good luck!
Agreed. I would like to add 'tho, the EMS time depending on the emergency may also depend on how far you are from a Lifeflight service. Lifeflight has cut EMS response time a great deal in the last few years (especially from central Maine and north). The Bangor area is also becoming more of a hub for treatment - for example, Cancercare of Maine will be opening a much larger (and much needed) facility in Brewer in December.
... What about someone moving to Maine who already has health insurance? I'm a federal retiree with Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It's a national fee-for-service plan, and as far as I know, it's accepted in every state, including Maine.
Are there any federal retirees in Maine with BC/BS who can confirm this?
Also, have the health insurance difficulties in Maine resulted in a doctor shortage? As my wife and I age, we will likely need more health care than we previously needed, and while we love Maine and are very, very seriously examining the pros and cons of relocating to Maine, the availability of quality health care is one of the most important factors in our decision-making.
I'd appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer. Thanks!
I have a Federal provided health plan [Tricare]. And my Dw is a Federal employee.
I knew that in most areas only a small percentage of doctors will accept Tricare. So when moving here I looked around and I found a regional private insurance that Tricare under-writes called Martins Point. MP has a large network of doctors and medical facilities through-out Maine. So I enrolled in MP.
After having done this, we later came to learn that nearly all doctors in Maine accept Tricare. So in fact, enrolling in MP was useless. But we have not un-enrolled either.
My Dw is a part-time Federal Employee, she can enroll and pay into that plan and get coverage. However my benefits include her, so she has not enrolled at work.
It is my understanding that nearly all doctors in Maine do accept BS/BC.
Is there a doctor/nurse shortage in Maine?
I honestly do not think so.
However, I have read about folks in other states looking for jobs in the medical field where they have 6-month waiting lists to get hired on. Whereas in Maine, they can get hired on immediately. So that does seem to imply that while most other states seem to have a surplus of doctors/nurses, Maine does not have a surplus.
One person who has been DM'ing me about Maine, is looking at coming to Maine, largely due to immediate employment in that field.
No, I'm not asking/talking about any legislation pending in Congress.
I have read, in various threads on the Maine forum, various negative comments about health care in Maine ... or maybe more accurately, the comments are about health insurance companies and health insurance options in Maine.
What about someone moving to Maine who already has health insurance? I'm a federal retiree with Blue Cross/Blue Shield Standard under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It's a national fee-for-service plan, and as far as I know, it's accepted in every state, including Maine.
Are there any federal retirees in Maine with BC/BS who can confirm this?
Also, have the health insurance difficulties in Maine resulted in a doctor shortage? As my wife and I age, we will likely need more health care than we previously needed, and while we love Maine and are very, very seriously examining the pros and cons of relocating to Maine, the availability of quality health care is one of the most important factors in our decision-making.
I'd appreciate any feedback you'd care to offer. Thanks!
I'm not a retiree, but I can confirm that most places do accept Federal BC/BS standard option. We do have National Guard units that have not only active duty, but civil service members who have BC/BS.
Agreed. I would like to add 'tho, the EMS time depending on the emergency may also depend on how far you are from a Lifeflight service. Lifeflight has cut EMS response time a great deal in the last few years (especially from central Maine and north). The Bangor area is also becoming more of a hub for treatment - for example, Cancercare of Maine will be opening a much larger (and much needed) facility in Brewer in December.
Yes, life flight has really made a huge difference!
When I moved up here to Lewiston I cam from DC.. I was very familiar with EMS in DC and like most cities was not suprised at the high level of care, resources, and quickness that was provided...
When I got here I half expected it to be a Podunk EMS system that was trying to do the best it could with what resources it had...what I found was one of the Best EMS services I have seen...response times are un-heard of fast, the level of care excellent... you can't ask for better service than what united ambulance provides around here.. Now most if not all police cars in the twin cities have defibrillators adding yet another level of safety and quick response.
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