Medicare in Sequim (Seattle, Bellingham, Bremerton: insurance, home, job openings)

[Water dogs]

Greetings. We really want to move to Sequim. I have been checking the Medicare.gov site. It seems the Medicare Advantage, part C is not available in Sequim. It is in Seattle. What are retirees doing for Medicare and healthcare? Are you taking the 2 hour trip to Seattle for general healthcare? The healtcare challenge is my only concern, otherwise, we are ready to go.

[Hemlock140]

My parents are just outside of Sequim in unincorporated Port Angeles. They have been there on medicare for 18 years, now 86 and 89 and have mostly used Olympic Hospital in P.A., but also Harrison in Bremerton. I can't tell you what part C they have but they have never had to go to Seattle for anything and they have had broken bones, back surgery, diabetes, cancer and more. According to their website, of Olympic Medical Center’s patients, 83 percent use government-paid insurance with 58.63 percent of all patients relying on Medicare.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

My parents are just outside of Sequim in unincorporated Port Angeles. They have been there on medicare for 18 years, now 86 and 89 and have mostly used Olympic Hospital in P.A., but also Harrison in Bremerton. I can't tell you what part C they have but they have never had to go to Seattle for anything and they have had broken bones, back surgery, diabetes, cancer and more. According to their website, of Olympic Medical Center’s patients, 83 percent use government-paid insurance with 58.63 percent of all patients relying on Medicare.

That's very interesting. I'd heard that people in Pt Townsend go to Kitsap or Seattle for services their hospital doesn't offer, but it sounds like they only need to go to PA. Strange I haven't heard mention of that, from people I know there, nor on the WA forum here, on the Pt T and O. Peninsula threads. This is good news.

[CrazyDonkey]

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/l...l-health-care/

I was walking around Sequim posting leaflets headlined “Making Retirement Security Real For All” when I stopped at Olympic Medical Center’s walk-in clinic to pin one on the bulletin board.

Every seat in the waiting room was taken by elderly folks who looked even shakier than I am.

Lots of them were leaning on canes and walkers.

It got me thinking about the Trump administration’s scheme to slash Medicare reimbursements for clinics like ours by 60 percent from $118.35 to $47.34 per patient visit.

Olympic Medical Center officials estimates this cut will cost the hospital $47 million in the coming decade.

Targeted are rural clinics nationwide that are more than 250 yards from the parent hospital.

In our case, the Sequim clinic, 17 miles from OMC in Port Angeles, served 20,000 patients last year.

[CrazyDonkey]

https://medicarewire.com/medicare-plans/county/53009/

Best Medicare Advantage Plans

There are no Medicare Advantage plans available in Clallam County at this time. This may change in the future. For now, you can add Medicare Supplemental insurance and a Medicare Prescription Drug plan to supplement your Original Medicare coverage and benefits.

[CrazyDonkey]

There are now four Medicare Advantage Plans available in Clallam County:

https://medicarewire.com/medicare-ad...ngton/clallam/

[CalWorth]

I go to specialists in Seattle. Long trip, bad traffic but no choice. Not enough specialists on North Olympic Peninisula. One of mine is retiring soon, several already have. New MDs don't want to come here. Family practice is OK but long wait for appointment. Many times only PAC is available, no MD. It has gotten harder to get care in timely manner since pandemic. I waited 6 mos. for appointment in Seattle with specialist. The type of testing I needed was not available locally. Most people I know in the area do not use Medicare advantage, they use original Medicare. A friend went for eye test for glasses in July, have bad cataract, no appointment till November with ophthalmologist. The one local cataract surgeon died last year.

It's also hard to find a dentist or veterinary care. There is no 24 emergency vet. The closest is Silverdale or Poulsbo, across Hood Canal. My neighbor's dog was very sick & died enroute to emergency vet.

[MechAndy]

I have some questions if you all don’t mind.

I still haven’t figured out my healthcare here in Clallam County.
My pension currently covers all my healthcare.
I get to chose from free Kaiser or $175 per month for a PPO policy that has copays.
Our third party pharmaceutical coverage is free.
Our third party chiropractor is a $5 copay.

Kaiser said they won’t cover me here if I was a resident of Clallam County so I am keeping my California residency and seeing my doctor when I’m down there.
I just don’t want to spend the $175 per month if I don’t have to and I like my personal physician a lot.

It is sort of a drag to be honest with you.
The other day I thought I had an ear infection and wasn’t sure what to do.
I could have emailed my doctor but wasn’t sure if I could handle that over emails.
Luckily it went away.

Are any of you on a PPO coverage policy here?
If so do you like it?
Thanks.
Andy.

[rkcarguy]

Can I ask if its the availability of plans for an area or is it the actual availability of doctors offices accepting new medicare patients?
From what I understand, Medicare "short pays" the doctors, and due to marked growth in the area we see a lot of offices that aren't taking any new Medicare patients or new patients at all. Additional job openings for medical personel go unfilled because any doctor or nurse is going to go for a nice place with a pool on their income somewhere else, instead of having to "bid" $750,000 for a 1,100sq/ft fixer home that needs a complete gut.
Despite the growth in my area, my primary care facility actually closed a few years ago, the doctor moved the whole thing out of state. All I could find was an opening with a PA, and it takes 4-6 weeks+ to be able to get in to get seen.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

Can I ask if its the availability of plans for an area or is it the actual availability of doctors offices accepting new medicare patients?
From what I understand, Medicare "short pays" the doctors, and due to marked growth in the area we see a lot of offices that aren't taking any new Medicare patients or new patients at all. Additional job openings for medical personel go unfilled because any doctor or nurse is going to go for a nice place with a pool on their income somewhere else, instead of having to "bid" $750,000 for a 1,100sq/ft fixer home that needs a complete gut.
Despite the growth in my area, my primary care facility actually closed a few years ago, the doctor moved the whole thing out of state. All I could find was an opening with a PA, and it takes 4-6 weeks+ to be able to get in to get seen.

Don't you live in Bellingham? Why are you posting on a Sequim thread?