Exploring new areas

[katie45]

A very important item that may be overlooked is Health Insurance.

If one is on Medicare and has either a Supplemental Plan or an Advantage Plan they need to know what is available in the new location. And although there may be plans available, in more remote areas the monthly premium can be significantly higher.

On Medicare's website, you can Compare Drug and Health Plans by zip code; thereby being able to make sound judgement on the plan you will sign up with.
https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan...ookieSupport=1

If a person has any particular health issues that require a specialist, one needs to be aware what is available in the new location.

[choff5]

Originally Posted by katie45

A very important item that may be overlooked is Health Insurance.

If one is on Medicare and has either a Supplemental Plan or an Advantage Plan they need to know what is available in the new location. And although there may be plans available, in more remote areas the monthly premium can be significantly higher.

On Medicare's website, you can Compare Drug and Health Plans by zip code; thereby being able to make sound judgement on the plan you will sign up with.
https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan...ookieSupport=1

If a person has any particular health issues that require a specialist, one needs to be aware what is available in the new location.

Good point as we have a lot to learn yet about Medicare as DH will be signing up later this year. I do know that I plan to keep our current medical insurance, now and later, as supplement and will use its drug plan. I've been told through my retirement system that it's better than those offered elsewhere and given I came from one of the largest employers in my state, I feel we do as well as anyone when it comes to medical and drug plans.

I have heard concerns, however, to check on finding doctors in a new area who will take medicare. So far, knock on wood, we haven't needed to deal with specialists.

[City__Datarer]

Originally Posted by choff5

Thanks. Love the comments so far. Grocery stores, exactly, forgot about that. I chuckled about the extension offices because I know exactly what your mean. I grew up in the country, 4-H, etc. and spent two summers in college working as a youth agent intern.

I'm already a little familair with CDDs in Florida and have heard horror stories about the cost of home owners insurance near the coasts. That partly why if we ever do buy I'm leaning at a condo rather thana SFH. [boldface added] This trip will be "eyes wide open". WhAt we need to do is get our checklist made of what's important.

Condos have their pros and cons, but just FYI, some condos do have CDDs (you need to check out what the situation is with each individual condo you're interested in), and with respect to insurance, you generally aren't immune to Florida's high insurance costs by buying a condo; the costs are just less obvious.

I'm not an insurance professional (just someone who's owned a Florida condo and has researched other ones to possibly buy in the future), so I'm sure what I'm about to say is an oversimplification, and also individual condos have their quirks and departures from the norm (so do your own research, of course). But just very generally speaking, the association is usually using a chunk of the monthly fee you pay as a unit owner to purchase insurance that provides some aspects of coverage, and then there are separate unit owner's policies that cover other things.

So, while giving up a lot of control over insurance decision making (for example, if you buy a condo, you may wish your particular condo association were buying either better insurance or cheaper insurance than what they are buying, depending on your tolerance for risk), you still are paying the bill via those monthly dues. You generally have more choice in shopping for/purchasing your individual unit owner's policy, but that is another bill (for you to pay to your insurance company, in addition to your monthly fee to the association).

I mention this because as someone who considered a number of condos in the early 2000s, when I first came to Florida, and am considering them again (with some hesitations about this form of ownership--I've posted about this on other threads), I've noticed that monthly dues in general, at least in my lower price range, have increased dramatically over the last decade or so. I'm guessing spiraling insurance costs are one of the major factors in the increased cost of owning a condo here.

Not meant to discourage you, just have learned a bit from my own experience about considerations to look into that I wanted to share.

I hope you enjoy your trip to Florida! There are many things I appreciate about my life here, and while no place is right for everyone, I know there are a lot of people who are very happy they chose Florida for their retirement years.

[katie45]

Originally Posted by choff5

Good point as we have a lot to learn yet about Medicare as DH will be signing up later this year. I do know that I plan to keep our current medical insurance, now and later, as supplement and will use its drug plan. I've been told through my retirement system that it's better than those offered elsewhere and given I came from one of the largest employers in my state, I feel we do as well as anyone when it comes to medical and drug plans.

I have heard concerns, however, to check on finding doctors in a new area who will take medicare. So far, knock on wood, we haven't needed to deal with specialists.

I agree! Also, are certain medical professionals located near your new location; specifically 'specialists'. One town I was interested in appeared to fit all of my needs until I discovered that the nearest specialist I would need to see was over 70 miles away.

[meo92953]

What a wealth of information on researching new areas. I want to keep Laura's advice alive for all of us just now researching.