Remote worker migration: Don't overlook the geographic differences in health care
The pandemic drove a mass exodus of New Yorkers to the warm, sunny shores of Florida. But the lower cost of living came with a notable tradeoff.
The pandemic forced many employers to rethink their stance on remote work, and many workers, now untethered from the office, have been setting their sights on new locales. They’re seeking lower cost of living, shorter commutes, better work/life balance… but how many are taking a look at health care access and prices before they pack up the moving van?
Between September 2020 and March 2021, more than 33,500 New Yorkers moved to Florida, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The cost of living is lower, the weather is warmer and working remotely is now the norm. But is the health care system in Florida similar to that in New York? To find out, insurtech company HealthCareInsider.com recently compared 28 metrics in both states — covering quality, access, providers, and cost.
Related: Virtual primary care: Relational care without geographic boundaries
The startling results of the company’s analysis might encourage some New Yorkers to rethink their move, and serves as a cautionary tale for other workers considering a major geographical change. Florida has fewer doctors, nurses, mental health providers, and hospital beds than New York. Floridians also live farther from hospitals than New Yorkers, and the costs of common medical procedures in the Sunshine State are substantially higher than they are in the Empire State.
For example, removal of a gallbladder in Florida ($53,232) costs nearly twice as much as the same surgery in New York ($30,980). The story is similar for hip or knee replacements ($49,303 for Floridians compared to $28,347 for New Yorkers).
On the other hand, in New York hospital costs per day are higher than in Florida ($3,070 vs. $2,366), childbirth medical expenses are higher ($9,880 vs. $8,800), and average insurance premiums are higher ($18,134 vs. $16,785).
Patients in both states gave their hospitals high marks in such categories as discharge planning, communication with doctors, and responsiveness of staff. The analysis included an assessment conducted for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that asked patients to rate their overall hospital experience on a scale of 1 to 100. The average rating from New Yorkers was 64, while the average rating from Floridians was 69.
The data also indicates that 76% of New Yorkers were given appropriate antibiotics compared to 74% of Floridians, while 42% of New Yorkers received age-appropriate vaccines compared to just 34% of Florida residents.
Individuals migrating from New York to Florida also might want to investigate their health insurance options before departing. Jeff Smedsrud, co-founder of HealthCare.com (which owns HealthCareInsider.com), notes that “people moving states should remember that in most instances they can’t bring their insurance with them and will have to enroll in a new plan in their destination state. The exception is a life-threatening emergency, in which case plans cover all hospitals, regardless of whether the hospital is in-network.”
The analysis concludes that a southern migration might not be for everyone: “The biggest beneficiaries of a move from New York to Florida may be healthy, younger remote workers who are able to bring their high New York salaries with them while taking advantage of Florida’s low cost of living and their low health care needs.”
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