A study conducted by Impactivo Consulting has confirmed that Hurricane Maria prompted seniors to leave Puerto Rico. Records show a reduction of 11,851 in Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, just during the last month of 2017.

The healthcare consulting organization has spent years monitoring the amount of people enrolled in the Government Health Plan and in Medicare Advantage (Part C). These numbers, up until last year, had always increased along with the aging rate of seniors in Puerto Rico.After Hurricane Maria, the delay in the recovery of basic utilities, such as the electricity service, prompted thousands of Puerto Ricans to move to other cities in the US. The data shows that a significant amount of those who left were senior citizens. 'This is the first time I see a downward trend for this population. Twelve thousand fewer people in less than a year is too much. Most of them left over the last month,' asserted María Fernanda Levis, who conducted the analysis.This is the first time such a trend has been observed since the yearly study was initiated, and it shows that not only the general population is leaving, but also senior citizens, especially due to health-related issues after the catastrophe.The numbers are not enough to determine whether these people have, in fact, abandoned the island permanently, or if they intend to return after the restoration of the basic services whose failure forced them to leave for the time being.If they left temporarily because they required healthcare services, these programs have certain minimum requirements for their return to Puerto Rico.According to Levis, efforts should be made to raise awareness among seniors who left temporarily, that if they wish to return to Puerto Rico, they will need to do it before March, which is the deadline for healthcare plan re-enrollment. If they fail to do so by this deadline, their health needs would force them to stay in the US at least for one more year until the end of their healthcare coverage.'Those are the insurance rules, at least until next year. It is done on a yearly basis, and it will make it more and more difficult to return,' she pointed out.More than 70% of the senior population (over 65 years old) are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.The report from Impactivo Consulting concluded that the tendency for 65% of respondents was that they would leave Puerto Rico and go to the United States to seek better healthcare services. It also shows an uptick in patient registries in the cities that have received the most Puerto Rican migrants after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.