When you move to a new city, especially if that new city is in a brand new state, you might push your health toward the wayside in order to focus on other things. What you should consider, however, is that there is nothing more important than your health, and prioritizing your health in your new location is one of the most important things you can do.
Here at AE Lofts, our St. Joseph apartments are pretty centrally located to nearly everything you can imagine, including medical facilities. While it isn’t the most pleasant topic to think about, spending some time to really understand where you are, what is around you, and what you need to do could become more important than you think.
1. Update your health insurance
When you move to a new city, you might need to update your health insurance. While this isn’t always the case, especially if you’re moving into a city within the same state, some local forms of health insurance aren’t valid outside of your city or county. When you move, be sure to research and see if your health insurance provider is one of those.
Moving to a new zip code qualifies you for a special enrollment period with your health insurance provider, so once you are settled into your new home and have started the process of moving everything to your new address, contact your health insurance provider to change your information. If your health insurance provider doesn’t offer insurance in your new area, speak with your employer or visit the healthcare.gov website to find a new plan that will best suit your needs.
2. Do research on local healthcare providers
Our St. Joseph apartments here at AE Lofts are fairly centrally located, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do your research on what is around you. With your new insurance, you might need to do a bit of legwork to see what’s in network and out of network for your plan. In a new location, you might have to do a bit of searching to find something that’s in your insurance’s network.
You should also figure out where your closest Emergency Room location is in case you have some kind of medical emergency. Find out from your neighbors where good eye doctors, dentists, psychiatrists, and other specialty doctors are located. You never know when you might need that information!
3. Transfer your prescriptions
Your prescriptions are eventually going to run out, and you don’t want to be left holding the bag when it’s time to get a refill and you can’t do it. When you move, transfer your prescriptions right away. Sometimes, it will take time for the prescriptions to move in the system, and you never know what kind of errors you may encounter with the move. The earlier you can handle switching everything over, the better. In the meantime, start looking for new healthcare providers who can help you to re-prescribe those medications if you need them to.
4. Update your emergency contacts
Depending on how far away you might have moved, your previous emergency contacts may no longer be the best choice for emergency services to contact in case of an emergency. This is especially true if your new city is in a brand new state, because your previous emergency contacts are likely hours away.
Instead, select new emergency contacts that are closer to your new area. That might be a friend, your roommate, or even your neighbors once you’re able to form friendships with them. While having people like your family members or friends as your emergency contacts is a smart thing to do, having people on the list who are closer to you is just as important.
5. Meet your neighbors
That being said, one of the best things you can do for your health is to meet your neighbors! Your neighbors are likely going to see you day in, day out for the entire time you’re in your new apartment. They’re going to be the first ones to notice if something doesn’t seem right with you, whether that’s not seeing you head to work, go out on your morning run, go grocery shopping, or any of the other daily or weekly habits we may strike up. They’re going to be your first line of defense if something goes wrong and you may need someone to take you to the doctor or check up on you.
This isn’t to say that you need to become best friends with your neighbors. You can if you want to, but you don’t have to. What is important, though, is to let them get to know you so that if an emergency does occur, you have someone literally right next door who can come and help.
Check Out Our St. Joseph Apartments Today!
Here at AE Lofts, we understand how stressful it is to move, especially when you’re making the move to a new city. There’s a lot of changes that occur when you decide to take that step: a new job, a new commute, new neighbors, new routines, and yes – even new healthcare precautions. However, we also understand how important it is to ensure those proper precautions are in place, because if the worst comes to worst, we want you to be protected in every way you can be.
We’re proud to say that our St. Joseph apartments are pretty centrally located, and are right in the middle of plenty of shops, stores, and even medical facilities – just in case. Having everything so close makes it easy for you to get the help you need quickly and efficiently, without having to worry over everything so much.
If you’re interested in making your new home here in our St. Joseph apartments, we’d love to have you. Contact us and schedule a tour with us today!
