To the Editor:
We haven’t heard the last of the effect of the decision by Villages Health System (VHS) to no longer accept any insurance other than The Villages United Healthcare Medicare Advantage HMO plan.
After several years of growing their business, adding thousands of new patients and hiring dozens of new doctors, VHS had built significant goodwill among their patients by doing all that was promised in the VHS sales pitch.
But there were signs of trouble, signs that their business model wasn’t working. Three CEO’s in less than two years was a red flag. It was pretty clear that VHS was losing money.
By disqualifying about one-third of their hard-earned patients, the VHS owners caused a catastrophic hit to the goodwill and trust of patients. Surveys show that over 90% of the effected patients will leave VHS.
We haven’t heard the end of the story. Replacement patients will be hard to find. Doctors will be laid off. The losses will worsen. Stay tuned for another chapter on this good idea that failed. It won’t take long.
Paul Gaecke
Village of Mallory Square
