A Day at the Beach

Selecting a Domicile – It’s All about Counties (Part 2.6)

Updated: 8/4/2016

The following is for RVers under age 65 who purchase health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) exchange . . .

It’s been about three months since I published my post on how the county you live in affects your health care coverage (Selecting a Domicile – It’s All about Counties).

In a nutshell, what I said was is that for the health care plans offered on the ACA exchange, an RVer’s domicile county, not the state, determines the number, types, and cost of health care plans.

For RVers, the “Holy Grail” of health plans is a plan with a nationwide network that allows an RVer to use doctors and hospitals in every state. Typically, this means a Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) PPO health plan.

After the ACA, PPO plans disappeared from Texas, South Dakota, and Florida — the “Big Three”. These are the favorite domicile states for full time RVers mainly because of no state taxes and the Escapees Mail Forwarding Service.

However, because health care costs can be a significant full timer expense (believe me, I know), the Big Three states have lost much of their allure.

Anyway, for dealing with the new ACA reality, I thought my It’s All about Counties blog provided a viable strategy — move to a county with a BCBS PPO plan. Unlike folks stuck in a house, RVers are mobile . . . we’re meant to move!

Sure, there’s more to it than just driving to a different place. However, if it could save a person hundreds or thousands of dollars in health care expenses, isn’t it worth a hard look?

Let’s just say the response to this idea reminded me of this scene from the 1986 movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” . . .

What bothered me the most was the lack of response from those “in the know” — companies and individuals providing health care and other services to full time RVers.

Regardless, here is an update to my November 2015 blog.

NOTE: Not every PPO plan is supported by a national healthcare network. For example, SD Avera PPO plans only offer in-network health care in SD itself. Outside of SD you would probably have to pay out-of-network fees. Make sure to check the network coverage of a potential PPO plan, even a BCBS PPO plan.

Splendid(e) Deconstruction

Splendide 2000 Washer/Dryer

The Splendide 2000 washer/dryer that came with our RV finally gave up the ghost last summer.

We didn’t use it much, but occasionally the little washer/dryer came in handy . . . if you didn’t mind incredibly small loads — a towel or two or several pairs of socks. Not much more, really.

I used it in cold weather to warm up my shower towel. Very nice.

The Splendide was at least as old as our RV (~ 15 years old), so it certainly came as no surprise when the tiny washer/dryer stopped working.

Well, it worked, but not automatically — you had to be around to manually advance the washer controller through each cycle. Also, the Spendide had the bad habit of just stopping with a full load of water.

It was time to retire the washer/dryer.

However, it took me several months to work up the gumption to take it out of our RV. My main de-motivator was the Splendide’s weight — about 300 pounds. I didn’t know how I’d wrestle it out of the RV, and I certainly couldn’t lift it.

Solution: De-construction. I took it apart.

Many, many parts

Some pretty heavy parts

But after a few hours . . .

Using a Hopper 3 with the Winegard Travler

After about two months of testing, it looks like DISH’s new 16-tuner Hopper 3 will work with the automatic rooftop Winegard Travler dish.

Though a standard DISH Travler will have to be modified, this allows a game-changing satellite DVR system to be used in an RV.

As of today, it looks like I am the only person to test DISH’s new Hopper 3 with a modified Winegard Travler. Though I claim bragging rights, consider this . . . you may want to wait until other folks report their success (or failure) with this system before doing it yourself.

For details, see Hopper 3 & the Winegard Travler.

Also, Hopper 3 Feature Sheet (PDF)

Katie & Flirt – New Pals

Katie & Flirt

Each Havasu Winter these two girls meet again and catch up on dog things.