Primary care doctor? One in the north, one in the south?

Thanks for posting the question, and the answers. When Covid-19 reared its ugly head, Ed and I wondered who we'd contact if we needed medical help while in Florida. As it turned out, we managed to not become infected - but still will probably seek out a PCP in our area down there.

Deb and Ed, I'm guessing that you two are on Medicare. My husband and I drive to Florida for one or two weeks a year from SC and are now on Medicare. Years ago, my parents' next door neighbors decided to move to Tampa to be near family, and because Florida administers the health plan, they were required to become part of a State Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) which does not allow a new resident to openly choose any primary care physician; Ellie really hated that because she did a lot of research on candidates here in SC before she chose her primary care physician. Personally, I was surprised when she told me this since Medicare is a federal program, but each state seems to administer Medicare its own way. Ellie and her husband have passed on now, and possibly the Florida rules could have changed. However, since that discussion with Ellie, we vowed never to move to Florida; nice place to visit often but never spend months there if not feeling well.

charlestonsouthern wrote:
Deb and Ed, I'm guessing that you two are on Medicare. My husband and I drive to Florida for one or two weeks a year from SC and are now on Medicare. Years ago, my parents' next door neighbors decided to move to Tampa to be near family, and because Florida administers the health plan, they were required to become part of a State Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) which does not allow a new resident to openly choose any primary care physician; Ellie really hated that because she did a lot of research on candidates here in SC before she chose her primary care physician. Personally, I was surprised when she told me this since Medicare is a federal program, but each state seems to administer Medicare its own way. Ellie and her husband have passed on now, and possibly the Florida rules could have changed. However, since that discussion with Ellie, we vowed never to move to Florida; nice place to visit often but never spend months there if not feeling well.

she may have meant MEDICAID. AFAIK states have no control over or input for MEDICARE. during our recent snowbird trip to AZ i had a non-CV19 medical issue. over 5-days i saw 4-docs including one in an ER, two blood draws, an MRI and CT-Scan. no issues with medicare and my BC/BS supplement.

I've been thinking about the topic and discussing it with my better half and it occured to me that my local primary care doc would be the one to ask first - if he works with a PCP doc in Arizona - I'm sure that I would not be his first patient to winter down south.

Maybe someone else could ask their PC doc and see if it's been done before?