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Sullivan

Medicare in 

Sullivan

County, 

Pennsylvania

Provider Density: 
Medium
Rural
Last updated: 
May 21, 2026
Calm river, running through coverage of medicare, with small sandy islands in the foreground and forested mountains under a partly cloudy sky in the background.

Beneficiaries

2079

# of Cities

1

# of Plans

216

Key Points

  • Sullivan County is one of Pennsylvania s most remote and least populated counties covering approximately 450 square miles of mountainous terrain in the north central.
  • As of 2024, the population stands at approximately 5,888 people — making it the second-smallest county in Pennsylvania by population.
  • Sullivan County s median age of 55 9 years is one of the highest in the entire state reflecting decades of out migration by young.
  • An extraordinary share of the population is at Medicare age roughly 30 35 of residents are 65 or older meaning one in three Sullivan County.
  • The county is 94.6% White, with very small non-White populations.

Demographic Information

Sullivan County is one of Pennsylvania's most remote and least populated counties, covering approximately 450 square miles of mountainous terrain in the north-central part of the state. As of 2024, the population stands at approximately 5,888 people — making it the second-smallest county in Pennsylvania by population. The county seat is Laporte, a borough of only a few hundred people. The community of Dushore serves as a modest commercial center. Sullivan County's median age of 55.9 years is one of the highest in the entire state, reflecting decades of out-migration by young people and the aging of those who remained. An extraordinary share of the population is at Medicare age: roughly 30-35% of residents are 65 or older, meaning one in three Sullivan County residents relies on Medicare for their healthcare coverage. This is among the highest elderly population concentrations of any Pennsylvania county. The county is 94.6% White, with very small non-White populations. The median household income is approximately $69,764, which is modestly below the state average, but the distribution of income is uneven, with a poverty rate of about 11.6%. Many elderly residents live on Social Security and modest fixed incomes. Property values have risen modestly (median $197,100) partly due to recreational property demand in this scenic region. Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help for drug costs are essential for a substantial portion of the county's elderly population. The county's combination of extreme age, rural isolation, and small healthcare infrastructure makes Medicare planning particularly complex and important for residents and their families. Medicare Advantage plan availability is limited in such a rural area, and network adequacy for those plans deserves careful scrutiny. Pennsylvania's APPRISE program estimates that Sullivan County has approximately 1,800 to 2,000 Medicare enrollees — a remarkable figure for a county of under 6,000 people. The 75-and-older cohort, which has the highest per-capita healthcare utilization, represents a growing share of that already-aging population, meaning the demand for home health visits, durable medical equipment, and skilled nursing covered under Medicare will continue climbing even as the overall county population stays flat or declines.

Healthcare Information

Sullivan County has no hospital of its own. This is the essential healthcare reality that shapes everything else. Residents requiring acute care must travel to facilities in neighboring counties, and the distances involved can be substantial — particularly for the county's many elderly residents who may no longer drive. The nearest hospitals are Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre (Bradford County), roughly 40-50 miles to the northeast, and Geisinger Medical Center in Danville (Montour County), roughly 40-50 miles to the south. Both represent major regional facilities — Guthrie Robert Packer is a 254-bed regional referral center affiliated with the Guthrie health system, and Geisinger Danville is a nationally recognized academic medical center. Which facility a Sullivan County resident goes to often depends on their location within the county and which direction the road runs best from their home. UPMC has a presence through its facilities in Wellsboro (Tioga County) and other surrounding areas. The Guthrie system, based in Sayre, has worked to extend its reach into Sullivan County through outreach clinics and telehealth. There are a handful of primary care practices in Sullivan County itself — in Dushore and Laporte — but specialist care of any kind requires travel. For routine follow-ups, telehealth has become important, but spotty broadband coverage in this mountainous county means telehealth is not equally accessible to all residents. Mental health services are extremely limited locally. Residents seeking mental health care typically must travel, or access telepsychiatry if their internet connection supports it. Sullivan County's landscape is dominated by state forest and game land — the Wyoming State Forest covers a large portion of the county — making it a destination for hunting and outdoor recreation, but contributing to its healthcare infrastructure challenges. Guthrie has established a rotating outreach clinic model in Dushore that brings primary care and some specialist visits to Sullivan County on a scheduled basis, reducing the frequency with which residents must make the full 40-plus-mile drive to Sayre for routine appointments. Pennsylvania's rural health funding programs have helped offset some costs of maintaining these outpost services, though the long-term sustainability of outreach care in counties this small depends heavily on continued state and federal support.

Elderly man in hospice care, paid for by medicare coverage, and young boy sitting outdoors on grass with clear blue sky, sharing a peaceful moment.

Medicare Resources

Given Sullivan County's tiny population and remote character, APPRISE counseling is coordinated regionally through the North Central Pennsylvania Commission Area Agency on Aging, which serves multiple counties including Sullivan, Potter, Cameron, Tioga, Lycoming, Clinton, and Centre. This regional structure is necessary because no single county in this group has the population to support a standalone aging services infrastructure efficiently. APPRISE counselors serve Sullivan County residents by phone, video, and periodic in-person sessions at local senior centers and community gathering points. The Area Agency on Aging's services include Meals on Wheels, case management, homemaker services, caregiver support, and benefit enrollment assistance including Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help applications. The Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) is critical in Sullivan County — with no hospital in the county and all medical appointments requiring a drive of 30 miles or more, transportation assistance can mean the difference between getting care and going without. The County Shared Ride program also provides reduced-cost transportation for seniors. Sullivan County has a senior center that provides congregate meals and social programming, a lifeline in a county where rural isolation is a serious quality-of-life and health issue. There is no PACE site in or near Sullivan County — the extreme rurality makes such a model impractical. Pennsylvania's home-based alternative to PACE, the OPTIONS program administered through the Area Agency on Aging, provides some in-home services for eligible seniors. The county's small size means that community members often know each other well, which can be a social support advantage, but also means that the professional service infrastructure is thin. Connecting with the Area Agency on Aging early — before a health crisis hits — is particularly important for Sullivan County seniors and their families. APPRISE counselors working with Sullivan County residents pay particular attention to Medicare Advantage plan network adequacy, since plans that look attractive on paper may have thin provider networks in a county this remote — leaving enrollees with limited in-network options when they need specialist care 40 or more miles away. The OPTIONS program, Pennsylvania's non-Medicaid home and community-based care initiative, can bridge some gaps for seniors who do not qualify for Medical Assistance but need help with daily living tasks to remain safely at home rather than entering institutional care.

Sullivan

 County 

Medicare Advantage Plans 

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Sullivan

 County 

Residents

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Medicare Trends and Insights

Sullivan County was formed in 1847 from Lycoming County and named after Major General John Sullivan, the Continental Army officer who led the Sullivan-Clinton campaign against the Iroquois Confederacy in 1779. The county's terrain — steep hills, dense forest, rapid streams — has always made large-scale settlement difficult, and the population has been small for most of its history. Logging and tanning were the dominant industries in the 19th and early 20th centuries, drawing workers into the forests and small mill towns. When these industries faded, so did the economic rationale for dense settlement, and the county's population declined steadily. Throughout the 20th century, Sullivan County was served by small community hospitals that have since closed or consolidated. The loss of local acute care facilities — a pattern affecting dozens of rural Pennsylvania counties — left Sullivan County with the challenging situation it faces today: no hospital within its borders. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the precarity of this situation. When residents needed hospital-level care during COVID surges, the drive to Sayre or Danville was their only option. Vaccine distribution in the county was complicated by the scattered population and limited public health infrastructure. The county health department operates on minimal resources and depends heavily on state support for disease surveillance and public health programming. Population aging will continue and likely accelerate. As people in their 40s and 50s leave for opportunities elsewhere and those in their 60s, 70s, and 80s remain, the ratio of elderly residents will keep climbing. State and federal programs focused on rural health access — including the Rural Health Care Program, Rural Health Clinics, and federal broadband expansion initiatives — are critical for a county like Sullivan. Recent broadband expansion grants have begun to improve connectivity in some parts of the county, which should improve telehealth access over time.

Adjacent to  

Sullivan

 County 

Sullivan County is bordered by five Pennsylvania counties, and those borders define where its residents must go for virtually all significant healthcare needs. To the north lies Bradford County, home to Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. Bradford County is Sullivan County's most important healthcare neighbor for northern residents, as Sayre is accessible via Route 220 and provides a full-service regional hospital with a wide range of specialist services. The Guthrie health system's presence in Bradford County also includes outreach clinics that sometimes rotate to Sullivan County communities. To the east lies Wyoming County, another small and rural county. Wyoming County has some healthcare resources in Tunkhannock, including the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center connection, but Wyoming County residents themselves often travel for specialist care. To the southeast, Sullivan borders Lycoming County, which is considerably larger and home to Williamsport. Williamsport is the regional city for north-central Pennsylvania and offers Geisinger and UPMC facilities. The drive from Laporte to Williamsport is roughly 45-55 miles depending on your starting point, but the road quality and winding mountain terrain make this a more demanding drive than the mileage alone suggests. To the south lies Columbia County, with healthcare resources in Bloomsburg including Geisinger Bloomsburg. For Sullivan County residents in the southern townships, Bloomsburg may be more accessible than either Sayre or Danville. And to the west, Sullivan borders Lycoming County again and also touches on the edge of the Lycoming-Clinton border region. For all of its neighbors, Sullivan County is a small, high-need provider of recreational land and a recipient of healthcare services. The common thread across these border relationships is the fundamental challenge of getting care: traveling out of the county is not a choice but a necessity for virtually every significant medical service. Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Sullivan County should verify that their plan's network includes facilities in Bradford, Lycoming, and Columbia counties, since residents in different parts of the county naturally gravitate toward different border facilities depending on which route is shortest and most passable in winter conditions. The mountainous terrain that makes Sullivan County beautiful in summer can make the 40-mile drives to Sayre or Danville genuinely hazardous during ice and snowstorms, adding urgency to the case for robust telehealth options wherever broadband permits.

Noteworthy People

Sullivan County's tiny population and long history of rural isolation have not prevented some notable figures from being associated with this remote Pennsylvania community. The county is named for Major General John Sullivan (1740–1795), a New Hampshire-born general who commanded the 1779 Sullivan-Clinton Expedition that devastated Iroquois villages across central and western New York in retaliation for raids on frontier settlements along the Pennsylvania-New York frontier during the Revolutionary War. The campaign remains a subject of historical debate — militarily effective in disrupting the Iroquois Confederacy's capacity to raid colonial settlements, but also a source of enormous suffering for the Haudenosaunee people. Sullivan himself never lived in the county that bears his name, but his role in the Revolution ties this remote place to the larger national story. Colonel Hartley, the Continental Army commander who led earlier campaigns in the Susquehanna Valley, is another figure whose activities touched this region during the same era of frontier warfare. Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) has no direct Sullivan County connection, but 19th-century literary and cultural figures regularly toured the forests of northern Pennsylvania during the era when hunting and fishing tourism drew the wealthy and prominent to the region's remote waterways and game-rich woodlands. The coming of the railroad made this possible and briefly gave counties like Sullivan a broader cultural visibility. Local historical figures of note include 19th-century legislators, loggers-turned-community-leaders, and founders of the county's early civic institutions including churches, schools, and fraternal organizations that served as the social fabric of isolated communities. The tradition of self-reliance and community mutual aid has produced generations of people who built volunteer fire companies, historical societies, and local governance structures with almost no outside resources. In more recent history, the county has attracted artists, writers, craftspeople, and back-to-the-land settlers drawn by its beauty and quiet, a small counter-cultural stream that has added modest diversity to the community since the 1970s. The Sullivan County Historical Society carefully preserves local records and stories.

Key Takeaways

If you're turning 65 or new to Medicare, you have real choices. In your area, about 40 people already have Medicare. Understanding your options matters.

Local median income is $69,764,, and 11.6% of residents live in poverty. 35% of your neighbors are 65 or older. Ask about Extra Help for prescriptions and Medicare Savings Programs if money is tight. Review your plan every year—your needs and available options change.

Free Medicare counseling is available. A counselor can walk you through Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D options without pressure.

Decision area Tool What it answers
Enrollment Initial Enrollment Period Calculator When your 7-month Medicare eligibility window begins and ends based on your 65th birthday
Enrollment When Should I Sign Up for Medicare? The best time to enroll based on your work status, other coverage, and age
Enrollment Special Enrollment Period Checker Whether a life event qualifies you for enrollment outside the standard windows
Enrollment Late Enrollment Penalty Checker How much extra you'll pay monthly if you missed your enrollment window
Enrollment Part B Penalty Calculator The exact 10%-per-year premium increase for delayed Part B enrollment
Enrollment Part D Penalty Calculator The 1%-per-month premium increase for gaps in creditable drug coverage
Costs Cost Scenario Planner Estimated annual spending across plan types at different health utilization levels
Costs Advantage vs. Medigap Cost Comparison True cost difference between Medicare Advantage and Original Medicare with Medigap
Costs IRMAA Calculator Whether your income triggers higher Part B and Part D premiums
Costs Part A Premium Estimator Your monthly Part A premium based on work history and quarters of coverage
Costs M3P Calculator How the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan smooths your drug costs into monthly payments
Coverage Doctor & Drug Assessment Whether your providers and prescriptions are covered by a specific plan
Coverage Part D Shopping Tool Which Part D plan has the lowest total annual cost for your specific medications
Coverage Travel & Network Risk Assessment How your coverage works outside your home area and which plan types travel best
Employer/COBRA COBRA vs. Medicare Why COBRA can trigger permanent Medicare penalties and how costs compare
Employer/COBRA Employer Coverage vs. Medicare Whether your employer plan or Medicare is primary and when to transition
Employer/COBRA HSA & Medicare Compatibility How Medicare enrollment affects HSA eligibility and what to do before enrolling
Planning Caregiver Readiness Checklist Whether you have everything in place to help a loved one with Medicare decisions
Planning Document Gatherer Which documents you need to have ready before enrolling or changing plans
Planning Medigap Fit Assessment Whether Medigap or Medicare Advantage is the better fit for how you use healthcare
Planning Medigap Open Enrollment Window Whether you're inside your one-time guaranteed issue window for Medigap
Planning Medicare Savings Program Eligibility Whether your income qualifies you for help paying Medicare premiums and cost-sharing

‍CMS TPMO Compliance Disclaimer: We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.

Participating sales agencies represent Medicare Advantage [HMO, PPO, PFFS, and PDP] organizations that are contracted with Medicare. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal.

Not Government Affiliated: Resting Sycamore Advisors is a licensed Medicare insurance agency. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.

‍Data & Methodology for Research Articles: All provider, facility, quality star ratings, and enrollment data is sourced from primary CMS records (cms.gov), including the December 2025 CPSC Enrollment files and the January 2026 Provider Data Catalog. Calculations for patient-to-provider ratios are performed using indexed clinician and facility data. Everything on restingsycamore.com is for educational purposes and does not constitute an endorsement of any specific plan or provider.

Non-CMS Data Sources: Some  specific data was obtained from https://opendata.gov