- April 23, 2024
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Florida Hospital Care Advantage will offer health plans including Medicare to 10 Florida counties.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
Florida Hospital Care Advantage, a new company which will provide health insurance products to Medicare and commercial patients, opened its retail sales office at 1425 W. Granada Blvd. this month.
Florida Hospital Care Advantage is a partnership between Florida Hospital Volusia-Flagler and Health First Health Plans of Brevard County. It will offer health insurance across 10 counties in Central Florida.
John Yarian, director of Medicare sales for Florida Hospital Care Advantage, said the company offers insurance plans that include Medicare through a contract with the government. It’s an alternative to having Medicare alone, which only pays 80% of costs, or Medicare with a supplemental plan.
Daryl Tol, CEO of Florida Hospital Volusia-Flagler, said Care Advantage is an “integrated delivery system.” He explained that in health care, the facilities, doctors and insurance are separate entities and the patient is left to navigate between them. Care Advantage incorporates the three entities.
“The integrated system focuses on the needs of the patient,” he said.
Care Advantage will offer two plans and people may stop in the office to discuss their health care needs.
“We have a very friendly, welcoming place,” Yarian said. “We’ll help you learn your options. It’s for people 65 and over throughout Volusia and Flagler counties.”
One of the main benefits in Care Advantage, Yarian said, is that references are not needed to see a specialist.
Yarlan said the providers will be within the Florida Hospital network, but there is an available plan where the patient can go out of network.
Steve Johnson, Health First president and CEO, said the company was “thrilled” to partner with Florida Hospital.
“We’ve been doing business in Brevard since 1996 and have been very successful,” he said. “We wanted to work with a hospital, and Florida Hospital was an easy choice. We like their commitment to the community, and we will bring locally controlled health care to the Volusia-Flagler community.”
Tol said the partnership brings two strong systems together.
“We serve 60% of Volusia-Flagler residents and we feel responsible to the community,” he said. “We want to address their health care issues. This is a huge step for us.”
The office is currently open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The partnership between Florida Hospital and Health First was announced in January. Florida Hospital Care Advantage will be administered by Health First with the five Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties providing infrastructure, as well as clinical and physician support.
Health First Health Plans brings more than 15 years of experience, a 4.5-star Medicare Advantage Rating and more than 60,000 members to the partnership.
