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The amenities - fresh clean air, water from my own well, 28 acres with about 1,000 ft of creek so I don't have to load the dogs in the car and drive for 20 -30 minutes to take them swimming, great views of young calves in the spring gamboling about in the neighbors pasture or the horses fulling full out just for the fun of it.
There is a very strong music and art scene here and much of it can be enjoyed for free and Floyd is becoming a weekend tourist destination.
A CSA, a community garden in town, a farmers market that runs from May thru Oct. High speed internet & a decent library that is part of a regional system make interaction with the wider world easy.
From the traffic light (yes, there is only one) it's 22 miles to the interstate and the towns of Christiansburg and Blacksburg are just past that. They have the usual assortment of big box stores such as Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Barnes & Noble, Tractor Supply, Petsmart, Big Lots, Sears, but no higher end department stores. Some of those can be found in Roanoke I think.
In town we've got 2 grocery stores, 1 fast food joint (Hardee's) one Mexican restaurant, a couple of places with Italian food and several others. Blue Ridge Rest. provides down home cooking while Oddfellas Cantina and Natasha's Market Cafe offer vegan and organic items. I think we've got 3 banks now.
Local health care providers include several doctors, dentists, optometrists and vets to choose from but one must go to one of the larger communities for hospital care, mammogram, colonoscopy, etc. The fire department may have some paid staff but as far as I know the rescue squad is all volunteer. If it's serious people get taken on medevac helicopters to Roanoke.
Traffic jams: Livestock on the road are the most common cause, roadwork on the two main roads means that sometimes those two lane roads become one lane, farmers on tractors going from one field to another (I happen to enjoy the slow drive behind them for the short distances they are traveling). On Friday nights, especially in nicer weather, there is lots of traffic near the light as folks come to to town for the Jamboree at the Country Store.
The town of Floyd provides water and garbage service but out in the rest of the county it's wells and springs and haul your own garbage to the green dumpsters in various locations or big stuff to the dump. At some locations there are also recycling boxes but what they handle is limited to newspaper, cardboard, aluminum, clear glass and just # 1 & 2 plastics.
Only about half the roads of the county are paved, but many are good gravel and fine in ordinary 2 wheel drive vehicles in all but the worst weather. Pick-up trucks, SUV's and all wheel drive Subaru's are common.
Me, well adjusted? Oh, you mean to the country life . I think I'm a country gal at heart, it just took not being tied to a paycheck before I could get here.
I do hope to stay in this house, 10 miles from town, until the end and be buried up on the hill across the creek where several of my dogs are already. This house could accommodate live in help with a big bedroom, full bath and large sitting/family room upstairs. I spend 99% of my time on the main floor.
I can't speak to how this area compares with Abingdon since I don't know that area. If you should decide to come for a visit definitely send me a DM.
Has anyone with regular Medicare had problems finding a doctor who would take them in the new place they moved to? It has become harder to find new doctors here who take Medicare, and I wonder about what happens after moving.
I used Medicare's search function to find doctors in my area. Note that you may want to check 'only show providers who accept the Medicare-approved amount' before searching. Here's the link to the Medicare search:
After I jotted down a few possibilities, I searched google for their names to see if there were any negative or positive reviews of them. This worked very well for me.
Has anyone with regular Medicare had problems finding a doctor who would take them in the new place they moved to? It has become harder to find new doctors here who take Medicare, and I wonder about what happens after moving.
Not just regular Medicare. Even with Medicare Advantage, that is a consideration that has to be taken into account when relocating.
My first taste of that was when the Medicare Advantage premium was significantly higher than I expected and to make it worse, no local doctors were accepting new patients. This was in a small town outside of a large city, but it was based on what your zip code was and in that case, a disaster. Essentially , they didn't want more Medicare-capped patients and so they just said "no new patients" or they reviewed your records to see if they would accept you, with the answer generally being NO. And that was for a pretty non-remarkable health history risk (I of course had no idea what the following years were about to do - maybe they did )
By contrast, areas with a larger population base are more likely to have plans which in some cases have no premium additional for Advantage plans or reasonable premiums plus doctors who will accept new patients.
All of this could change at any time but for now, if I have to figure in another 100.00 in medical for premiums on top of the already-deducted medicare cost, it does make a significant difference on where I might reside.
Sigh - too many variables and of course the unspoken variable that the rules can all change at a moment's notice.
For illustration purposes which are anecdotal but based on actual quotes : Although none will sound high to anyone still paying premiums on private insurance, this is the medicare-eligible reality which all will eventually hit (Add to any premium amount that is quoted below the amount automatically deducted for medicare from one's social security - approx 100.00 a month, give or take)
Small NC town in county bordering a metropolitan area
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 105.00
Never found a doctor that would take new patients
Metropolitan area in proximity to said small NC town;
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 45.00
Doctors who would participate and very decent health care facilities
Smaller VA Ex-Urb of DC Metro Area
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero
Definite difficulty finding participating physicians but as a PPO could go to surrounding area that accepted that plan
Plan cancelled for that zip code following year and less choices available
Larger Metro Area in VA - more populated County
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero -Routine Dental could be had for 12.00 a month - Participating Doctors and Medical facilities - very decent
So, that's just a picture of how things can vary in neighboring states and counties. Somewhat like real estate taxes etc. A nominal geographic difference could be a significant financial one.
Another column or two in your matrix.
and lol - any typos etc will be ignored from now on out......the mind is going, the mind is going.............
Last edited by mzfroggez; 02-13-2012 at 06:42 AM..
Reason: extra word - missing words - general cohesion
For illustration purposes which are anecdotal but based on actual quotes : Although none will sound high to anyone still paying premiums on private insurance, this is the medicare-eligible reality which all will eventually hit (Add to any premium amount that is quoted below the amount automatically deducted for medicare from one's social security - approx 100.00 a month, give or take)
Small NC town in county bordering a metropolitan area
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 105.00
Never found a doctor that would take new patients
Metropolitan area in proximity to said small NC town;
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 45.00
Doctors who would participate and very decent health care facilities
Smaller VA Ex-Urb of DC Metro Area
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero
Definite difficulty finding participating physicians but as a PPO could go to surrounding area that accepted that plan
Plan cancelled for that zip code following year and less choices available
Larger Metro Area in VA - more populated County
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero -Routine Dental could be had for 12.00 a month - Participating Doctors and Medical facilities - very decent
So, that's just a picture of how things can vary in neighboring states and counties. Somewhat like real estate taxes etc. A nominal geographic difference could be a significant financial one.
Another column or two in your matrix.
and lol - any typos etc will be ignored from now on out......the mind is going, the mind is going.............
Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a while to wait and who knows what or how things might change (for the worst) but I guess this is another factor to think about. Thanks for the taking the time to provide this.
Small NC town in county bordering a metropolitan area
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 105.00
Never found a doctor that would take new patients
Metropolitan area in proximity to said small NC town;
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 45.00
Doctors who would participate and very decent health care facilities
Smaller VA Ex-Urb of DC Metro Area
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero
Definite difficulty finding participating physicians but as a PPO could go to surrounding area that accepted that plan
Plan cancelled for that zip code following year and less choices available
Larger Metro Area in VA - more populated County
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero -Routine Dental could be had for 12.00 a month - Participating Doctors and Medical facilities - very decent
So, that's just a picture of how things can vary in neighboring states and counties. Somewhat like real estate taxes etc. A nominal geographic difference could be a significant financial one.
Another column or two in your matrix.
Great post, thanks. Can I ask how you researched all this--online? If you punch in a specific location, can you quickly find out what the Advantage Plan premium will be?
WHY are there NO premiums in some areas? I still don't get this.
Not just regular Medicare. Even with Medicare Advantage, that is a consideration that has to be taken into account when relocating.
My first taste of that was when the Medicare Advantage premium was significantly higher than I expected and to make it worse, no local doctors were accepting new patients. This was in a small town outside of a large city, but it was based on what your zip code was and in that case, a disaster. Essentially , they didn't want more Medicare-capped patients and so they just said "no new patients" or they reviewed your records to see if they would accept you, with the answer generally being NO. And that was for a pretty non-remarkable health history risk (I of course had no idea what the following years were about to do - maybe they did )
By contrast, areas with a larger population base are more likely to have plans which in some cases have no premium additional for Advantage plans or reasonable premiums plus doctors who will accept new patients.
All of this could change at any time but for now, if I have to figure in another 100.00 in medical for premiums on top of the already-deducted medicare cost, it does make a significant difference on where I might reside.
Sigh - too many variables and of course the unspoken variable that the rules can all change at a moment's notice.
For illustration purposes which are anecdotal but based on actual quotes : Although none will sound high to anyone still paying premiums on private insurance, this is the medicare-eligible reality which all will eventually hit (Add to any premium amount that is quoted below the amount automatically deducted for medicare from one's social security - approx 100.00 a month, give or take)
Small NC town in county bordering a metropolitan area
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 105.00
Never found a doctor that would take new patients
Metropolitan area in proximity to said small NC town;
Medicare Advantage Plan Premium 45.00
Doctors who would participate and very decent health care facilities
Smaller VA Ex-Urb of DC Metro Area
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero
Definite difficulty finding participating physicians but as a PPO could go to surrounding area that accepted that plan
Plan cancelled for that zip code following year and less choices available
Larger Metro Area in VA - more populated County
Medicare Advantage Premium Zero -Routine Dental could be had for 12.00 a month - Participating Doctors and Medical facilities - very decent
So, that's just a picture of how things can vary in neighboring states and counties. Somewhat like real estate taxes etc. A nominal geographic difference could be a significant financial one.
Another column or two in your matrix.
and lol - any typos etc will be ignored from now on out......the mind is going, the mind is going.............
Excellent post. It didn't occur to me that an advantage plan could be cancelled for an entire zipcode! If the advantage plans become less available, people will have to shift to medigap plans, and if you don't sign up for those right at age 65, you are subject to underwriting and can be hit with a higher premium or be denied. Yikes!
Another factor is the Obamacare legislation (which I generally favor though there is no public option, unfortunately), does reduce the payments to the advantage plans over the next few years and that may impact insurance companies cancelling policies later on. Advantage plans are big money makers for insurance companies due to the government subsidies and once those subsidies are reduced or phased out, the insurance companies may stop offering some of them or increase premiums (count on that) and probably reduce benefits.
Great post, thanks. Can I ask how you researched all this--online? If you punch in a specific location, can you quickly find out what the Advantage Plan premium will be?
WHY are there NO premiums in some areas? I still don't get this.
And WHY metro areas = lower premiums or none?
The only way I've found to research specific premiums is to look up a specific insurance company, such as BCBS or Aetna, or whatever, and then punch in various zipcodes and the results will show you policies available in specific zips. Very tedious, and if someone has a better way, please share. Also very complicated, since many companies offer both medigap and advantage plans. Different companies also have with widely varying premiums for the exact same medigap plans......even in the same zipcode.
I think the zero premiums on advantage plans are essentially a contract the insurance company has with specific providers in a limited geographic area. You pay zero premium, but there are significant out of pocket costs, deductibles, co-pays, etc. What you get is guaranteed access to specific hospitals, labs, etc, and no "excess" charges for Medicare covered services. The providers accept the Medicare levels of reimbursement. I think you still can have difficulty finding doctors accepting new Medicare patients, however, with any plan.
I called a doctor's practice in Kansas recently, as I was previously looking at moving out there, and asked if their doctors were accepting new Medicare patients, and I was told that "at the moment" they were taking new medicare patients. However, I was also told that if the Medicare reimbursements are cut, as they are continually arguing about in the congress, then "no." So it's a gamble.
(I'm not moving to KS after all, since I'm not eligible for Medicare yet and I would not likely get any underwritten private policy in the meantime, as a 63 year old. I was told as much by BCBS out there, reading between the lines in the conversation. They can't deny you on the phone, but it was clear that my premium would be very high, "if" I was even accepted. The only other option would have been to wait 6 months without insurance in order to qualify for the federal plan that is part of Obamacare, but I'm not willing to go 6 months without health insurance. So, I'm stuck in Michigan for another year and a half....and still looking for the "right" place for me, probably not KS. I'm glad we have this forum for all the good discussions and information!)
Great post, thanks. Can I ask how you researched all this--online? If you punch in a specific location, can you quickly find out what the Advantage Plan premium will be?
WHY are there NO premiums in some areas? I still don't get this.
And WHY metro areas = lower premiums or none?
I didn't use an online source but I found all the MedicareAdvantage and Medigap premiums listed in a booklet I got from an organization for Seniors called "Seniors in Action" but all of these types of organizations have them. They get them from a state agency called SHIBA; Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program.
I never found anything like this information on line but if it was it would go by the state in question.
There is probably something like it in your state. Also, our local newspaper printed a table of comparisions offered in this state.
No premium usually includes high deductibles and co-pays. Lower premiums in higher populated areas are probably due to more people in the pool and more medical facilities.
I am sure there are more reasons for the last two that can be better explained by those more knowledgable.
"The Sharing Solution" is a book I just heard about on a 'women in community' website but have not yet read, free to read online or available for purchase, that made me think of this thread because it has lots of ideas on sharing things with others to 'save money, simplify your life and build community.'
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. I think I'm a country gal at heart, it just took not being tied to a paycheck before I could get here.
Doctors taking Medicare?
)
) but I guess this is another factor to think about. Thanks for the taking the time to provide this.
