Medicare Help in St. Helena Island, SC

About St. Helena Island

St. Helena Island is the largest Sea Island in the Beaufort area, about 64 square miles of land reached from Beaufort by U.S. Highway 21. It has no ocean frontage, only marsh and tidal creek, and local rules bar condominiums and gated communities to protect its rural and cultural character. It is one of the most important centers of Gullah Geechee culture in the country, with a community history that reaches back through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Frogmore is the island's commercial center, and the community at Lands End sits at the southern tip.

Things to do

• Visit the Penn Center, the historic Penn School founded to educate formerly enslaved people, and learn about the island's Gullah Geechee heritage
• Explore Fort Fremont at Lands End, a former battery that guarded the entrance to the Beaufort River
• See the Indian Hill Site, an archaeological site on the National Register of Historic Places
• Continue down U.S. 21 to Hunting Island State Park

Local food and culture

Gullah cooking, with dishes like red rice and okra stew, is part of island life, and Frogmore stew, the Lowcountry boil of shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes, is named for the island's Frogmore community. The spiritual Michael Row the Boat Ashore is said to have originated here in the 1860s.

Medicare on St. Helena Island

The island is rural, so most routine and hospital care means a drive to Beaufort, where Beaufort Memorial Hospital is the main facility. When you compare plans, check the networks for primary care and specialists in Beaufort, and ask about the cost of out-of-network care if you ever travel to Savannah or Charleston for specialists. Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are approved county by county, and Abilla Advisors can compare Beaufort County options against your doctors and prescriptions at no cost to you. Call 843-284-6815.