The new Villages chapter of the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) is conducting an online future directions survey to establish its priorities.
Open to all Villages residents, the survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VillagesR. General survey results will be posted at http://www.nrln.org/CHAPTERS/VILLAGES/villchapter.html.
In September, NRLN, an advocacy organization that lobbies Congress on behalf of retirees, partnered with The Villages Property Owners Association to form a local chapter.
The group was drawn to The Villages after a decision in July by The Villages Health to no longer accept Original Medicare with supplemental insurance effective Jan. 1. To receive treatment, patients eligible for Medicare must enroll in The Villages Medicare Advantage programs offered through United Healthcare. The health system will continue to accept Tricare and also patients under age 65 with other forms of insurance.
A previous NRLN survey found 93 percent of about 3,000 respondents said they would find new doctors and leave The Villages Health instead of enrolling in the Medicare Advantage programs. An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 of about 40,000 Villages Health patients area affected.
NRLN president Bill Kadereit met with officials of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services two months ago about The Villages Health decision and was told the health system has the right to reject any customer.
Founded 14 years ago, NRLN lobbies Congress on behalf of retirees from more than 200 corporations, representing more than 2 million retirees in groups such as the American Airlines Retiree Committee and Ekra-Kodak employees. The group has supporters in 75 percent of congressional districts and in all 50 states.
