Medicare in
Susquehanna
County,
Pennsylvania
Beneficiaries
11239
# of Cities
2
# of Plans
216
Key Points
- The county covers approximately 823 square miles and has a 2024 population of approximately 38 219 a figure that has declined modestly from the 2020.
- The racial composition is predominantly White at over 94% non-Hispanic White, with small but growing Hispanic, multiracial, and other populations.
- About 99.2% of residents are U.S.
- The poverty rate stands at approximately 11 4 slightly below the state average but notable for a rural county where fixed incomes are common among.
- The median household income is approximately $68,487 in 2024, modestly below the statewide median of $77,971.
Demographic Information
Healthcare Information
Barnes-Kasson County Hospital in Susquehanna Depot is the county's primary acute care facility. It is a critical access hospital, ensuring federal support for its operations in recognition of the county's rural character and the population's dependence on this single facility. Barnes-Kasson offers emergency services, surgical care, inpatient medical services, obstetrics, imaging, laboratory, and a range of outpatient clinics. The hospital has maintained its independence and community ownership orientation over the years, serving as a vital institution for a county that would otherwise have no acute care within its borders. Barnes-Kasson has worked to expand its services — including adding outpatient specialty clinics and telehealth options — to reduce the need for residents to travel long distances for routine follow-up care. For more complex specialist care, Susquehanna County residents typically travel to the Greater Scranton area, about 45-60 miles to the south, where Geisinger Community Medical Center and other providers serve the broader northeastern Pennsylvania region. Regional Health System (RHS) hospitals in the Scranton area are another important destination. The Geisinger system has worked to extend its reach into northeastern Pennsylvania, and Susquehanna County falls within Geisinger's broader service area. Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale (Wayne County) is another option for residents in the eastern parts of the county, offering community hospital services within a similar critical access framework. Commonwealth Health, a large health system based in Wilkes-Barre, operates facilities throughout northeastern Pennsylvania that Susquehanna County residents can access for specialist and hospital care. Across the state line in New York, Guthrie Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton and United Health Services hospitals serve the Southern Tier, and some Susquehanna County residents near the New York border have longstanding relationships with those facilities. Telehealth has grown significantly as Barnes-Kasson has worked to expand virtual access to specialist consultations. Rural health clinics and primary care practices operate in Forest City, Montrose, and several other communities, providing important local access points.
Medicare Resources
Susquehanna
County
Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Questions
for
Susquehanna
County
Residents
What am I supposed to do first, second, and third with Medicare?
Do I get a Special Enrollment Period if I lose Medicaid or qualify for Extra Help?
Do rural Utah counties have narrower Medicare Advantage networks?
What if my medication needs prior authorization?
What if I need long-term care and Medicare does not cover it?
Pennsylvania
has
216
Medicare Advantage plans
Medicare Trends and Insights
Susquehanna County has a layered history that includes its role in the early 19th-century development of northern Pennsylvania, an agricultural tradition spanning two centuries, and the more recent upheaval of the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom. The county was formed in 1810 from Luzerne County and took its name from the great river that drains much of central and northern Pennsylvania — a river whose name comes from the Lenape language and reflects the deep Indigenous history of this watershed. In the 19th century, the county was an important corridor for commerce between the Susquehanna River valley and the Southern Tier of New York, with railroads linking the region to larger markets and carrying agricultural products, timber, and manufactured goods in both directions. The county's agricultural heritage — dairy farming, beef cattle, timber — persisted through the 20th century as its defining economic foundation, and farming families in communities like New Milford, Hallstead, and Montrose shaped the county's civic and cultural character for generations. Barnes-Kasson Hospital has served the county for decades and represents the kind of community-owned, mission-driven healthcare institution that has become rarer as consolidation has swept rural hospital markets nationwide. The hospital's continued independence is a point of local pride and practical importance — it means decisions about care and community investment are made locally, not by a distant corporate board. The Marcellus Shale natural gas boom of the 2000s and 2010s profoundly transformed Susquehanna County. Drilling companies moved into the county in force, royalty payments flowed to landowners, the local economy was stimulated, and the population temporarily stabilized or grew in some areas. But the boom also brought serious concerns about water quality from well contamination, heavy truck traffic that damaged rural roads, and broader community disruption as the character of small towns changed with the influx of workers. By the mid-2010s, natural gas prices fell and activity slowed, leaving a more complicated legacy. COVID-19 tested the county's single small hospital and its elderly population as it did similar rural communities across Pennsylvania and the nation.
Adjacent to
Susquehanna
County
Susquehanna County is bounded by New York State to the north and by five Pennsylvania counties on its other sides, giving it one of the more complex border situations of any Pennsylvania county when it comes to healthcare planning. Across the northern border lie Broome County and Delaware County in New York. Broome County is home to Binghamton, a significant upstate New York city with Guthrie Lourdes Hospital, United Health Services Binghamton General, and Wilson Medical Center, all offering urban hospital services. For Susquehanna County residents who live near the New York line — particularly near Hallstead, Great Bend, or Oakland — these New York facilities are sometimes closer than Pennsylvania alternatives. This creates Medicare Advantage network complexity: a Pennsylvania Medicare Advantage plan may not include New York hospitals in-network, so beneficiaries who regularly cross the state line for care should think carefully about whether a Medicare Advantage plan or Original Medicare with Medigap is a better fit. Delaware County, New York is more rural and borders the eastern part of Susquehanna County; its healthcare resources are limited and residents there look to Binghamton or other centers as well. To the east lies Wayne County, Pennsylvania, home to Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale. Wayne County is also rural and is part of the Greater Northeastern Pennsylvania healthcare market. To the southeast, Susquehanna borders Lackawanna County, where Scranton is the largest city in northeastern Pennsylvania. Scranton's hospitals — Geisinger Community Medical Center, Regional Health System's hospitals, and others — are major referral destinations for Susquehanna County residents. To the south lies Wyoming County (Pennsylvania), which has limited healthcare resources of its own and relies on Scranton-area hospitals. And to the west lies Bradford County, home to Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre — an important regional referral center for the western parts of Susquehanna County.
Noteworthy People
Susquehanna County has produced and been associated with an interesting range of notable figures across American history. B.F. Skinner (1904–1990), the enormously influential psychologist and behaviorist whose work shaped 20th-century psychology, education, and social science, was born in Susquehanna. Skinner's theory of operant conditioning, his Skinner Box experiments, his concept of behavioral reinforcement, and his controversial book Walden Two made him one of the most discussed and debated figures in American intellectual life. Growing up in a small railroad town in this rural Pennsylvania county, he went on to become a Harvard professor and a figure whose influence is still felt in psychology, education, and behavioral economics. Horace Greeley (1811–1872), while born in New Hampshire and associated with New York City (he edited the New York Tribune), had family and personal connections to the Susquehanna County area and represented the broader cultural currents flowing between rural Pennsylvania and New York in the 19th century. His famous exhortation to young men to "Go West" reflected the restless American energy of the era. Jeremiah F. Shanahan (1834–1886), born in Susquehanna County, became the Bishop of Harrisburg, an important figure in the development of the Catholic Church in central Pennsylvania during the Gilded Age. Several early Pennsylvania legislators and judges came from Susquehanna County's agricultural and professional families in the 19th century. The county's railroad history also produced local business leaders whose families built institutions — churches, schools, civic organizations — that endure today. The Susquehanna County Historical Society documents these local stories with care. Congressman Galusha Grow (1823–1907), though born in Connecticut and also associated with other parts of Pennsylvania, had strong connections to Susquehanna County's political community and served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives during the Civil War era, championing the Homestead Act of 1862 — one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in American history. Gene Lamont, a baseball manager who led the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1990s and 2000s, grew up in Susquehanna County, adding a notable athletic figure to the county's roster of accomplished natives.
Key Takeaways
If you're turning 65 or new to Medicare, you have real choices. In your area, about 45 people already have Medicare. Understanding your options matters.
Local median income is $68,487, and 11.4% of residents live in poverty. 94% 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.