Close to twenty percent of Florida’s population is over age 65. This is the highest percentage of all states, and almost 50% higher than the U.S. average. Consequently, there are over 200 community hospitals in Florida, some of which are regarded as being among the best in the nation. You can be assured that there are cutting edge facilities close by, no matter which part of the state you move to.
Florida does a great job of supplying its residents with the information they want to know. Nowhere perhaps is this information more important than in the field of healthcare. Be sure to check out the following websites.
MyFloridaRx.com
Prescription drugs can account for a large portion of your health care bills, especially if you do not have insurance, are not old enough for Medicare, and are not poor enough for Medicaid. This site, developed by the Florida Attorney General and the Agency for Health Care Administration, lets you compare prices for the 100 most commonly used prescription drugs. MyFloridaRx.com lets you see which pharmacy in your area has the best drug prices.
FloridaHealthStat.com and FloridaCompareCare.gov
Two more sites dedicated to providing information to Florida’s health care consumers are FloridaHealthStat.com and FloridaCompareCare.gov. These sites go several steps beyond comparing prescription drug prices. At these two sites you can compare hospitals, pharmacies, physicians, nursing homes, even health care plans, based on different criteria important to each.
For example, at FloridaCompareCare.gov you can investigate the mortality rates of hospitals in your area. If you have elderly parents who may need a nursing home soon, check the Nursing Home Watch List at FloridaHealthStat.com before sending them.
http://www.floridahealthstat.com
http://www.floridacomparecare.gov
Hospitals
Most Florida retirement communities have hospitals close by. According to U.S. News and World Report’s 2006 List of America’s Best Hospitals, eight can be found in Florida. These include:
Gainesville
Shands at the University of Florida
http://www.shands.org/hospitals/uf/
Jacksonville
St. Vincent’s Medical Center
*Note that Jacksonville is also home to a world renowned Mayo clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.org/jacksonville/
Miami
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
http://www.bpei.med.miami.edu/site/default.asp
University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital
Orlando
Florida Hospital
http://www.floridahospital.org/locations/fhsouth/index.htm
Sarasota
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Tampa
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Tampa General Hospital
VA Medical Facilities
A high percentage of people moving to Florida have served in the military and are entitled to health care benefits from the Veteran’s Administration. There are several VA Hospitals and Clinics throughout the state as well as VA Outpatient facilities located near most major cities.
For a complete list of VA hospitals, clinics, and outpatient facilities visit http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/allstate.asp
