Changes announced late last week in the type of insurance accepted by The Villages Health do not affect The Villages Regional Hospital, a hospital spokesman said Monday.
“The Villages Regional Hospital gladly accepts all insurance plans,” said W. Frank Faust, marketing director at Central Florida Health in Leesburg.
The Villages Health, which operates a network of six primary care clinics in The Villages, announced in letters to patients that effective Jan. 1 it will no longer accept Original Medicare with supplemental policies for new and existing patients. Clinic patients on Medicare must have The Villages Medicare Advantage plans offered through United Healthcare.
The health system will continue to accept commercial plans and Tricare for Life, which covers many military veterans, for existing patients who do not qualify for Medicare.
The announcement prompted an outcry over the weekend. Medicare patients can change their health plans for the following year during the annual open enrollment period, which is Oct. 7 through Dec. 15.
Counseling for affected patients of The Villages Health and other Medicare recipients is available through SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Elders), a state program with a team in The Villages. Counseling sites and times are available on the local SHINE web site at http://www.floridashine.org/Counseling-Sites/Sumter.aspx.
The Villages Regional Hospital, a separate entity from The Villages Health, is part of Central Florida Health, a non-profit healthcare system that also operates Leesburg Regional Medical Center.
Earlier this month, the hospital opened a 20-bed rehabilitation hospital on the fifth floor of its new north tower. The opening culminated a $59-million expansion project that began in 2013.
Since it opened in 2002 with 60 beds, The Villages Regional Hospital has expanded to more than 300 beds.
Federal law requires hospital emergency rooms that accept Medicare or Medicaid to offer an appropriate medical screening exam to anyone who requests treatment and provide stabilizing treatment and transfer to another medical facility, if needed.
