The early bird this morning was Dick Anderson (again).
President Tony Rubin started us off with moment of silence, ring of the bell, and a Doctor joke.
Guests: Nick Verani, Merrill Lynch found us online and stopped in. Joy Erickson was brought by Jim Erickson, and Erika Peterson, DePaul Staffing was brought by Jerry Olson.
Honorary Members in attendance were Mark Simon, Ron Britz, and Tom Donnelly.
Announcements:
- The 2019 Craft Talk Schedule is available for signup. Let Craig Blixrud know your date preference.
- Chuck Shreffler will be exhibiting some of his wood turning at the St. Paul Art Crawl coming up October 12-14. Contact him for more info.
- Julius Webster updated us on honorary member, Don Schroden, who had a heart valve replaced and he is doing great.
- There is a Board meeting next week.
- Robbie Danko announced that members, the St Paul Saints and DJ Kranz were named in a “Best of” issue in the Minnesota Business and Finance magazine.
- Dave Goodwyne, Club VP, is looking for candidates to serve on the board and/or our next club president after him.
Business Networking: Need employees, referrals for business services, etc, Bring them up at the club.
Business Exchange: Tom Ashbaugh, Robbie Danko, Julius Webster, Paul Ralles, Ed Crandall, Dick Anderson, and Randy Korn all had something to share.
Business Updates: Scott Wiyninger brought up the education event that Success Computer is hosting. Tony Rubin mentioned he had followed up with Scott W after last weeks craft talk and updated his computer security.
Table Introductions: John Winston had Table #3 members introduce the member sitting to their left or right (this was not a political statement).
Sock Challenge: Kelsey Wolter was today’s winner.
Pot of Gold: Jim Erickson drew 5 cards and the winner was Robert Sandberg.
Craft Talk:
Tony Rubin introduced today’s guest speaker, Gina DeMarco of LifeStream Insurance Solutions. He had heard her speak at a Boulay event and thought she had a lot of great information.
Gina gave us a presentation on Medicare. She gave us an overview of Medicare and what is changing this year.
Medicare is a government benefit program for all citizens 65 years of age and older. It consists of Part A (Hospitalization Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance). It does not cover 100% of the costs and therefore consumers have a cost sharing responsibility.
The insurance industry has created insurance products to cover the “holes” in the Medicare coverage and the Government (Federal and State) regulate this products.
Medicare Part C (Cost or Medicare Advantage), Medicare Part D (Prescription Drug Coverage), and Medicare Part E (Medicare Supplemental Insurance) are private insurance products you can purchase. Gina covered these in detail for us in terms of out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, and coverage limitations.
Of note, is that in Minnesota, Medicare Part C (cost program) is being eliminated in many counties and thousands of people must move to a Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) program or a Medicare Part E program. This probably will result in changing doctors, clinics, and pharmacies for consumers.
If you are 65 or older you should get a checkup by reviewing your Medical Supplemental insurance programs and/or make sure family members are reviewing their options in coverage and costs.
Register to Tom Ashbaugh at tlashbaugh@gmail.com or 952-201-5433
Looking ahead:
October 17th will be AAA at the Edina CC.
October 24th will be Berger Transfer at the Edina CC.
October 31st there will not be a meeting.