by Cristina Sibley, Sibley Insures Medicare Specialist

Now that Halloween is behind us and visions of Thanksgiving are ahead, there’s still one ghoul left to deal with, Medicare Annual Enrollment. As if anyone who is Medicare age or reaching it could ever forget; the reminders are everywhere! There are so many options that people can feel a bit overwhelmed or don’t know where to start. In order to help bring a little clarity to the chaos, here’s few important things to know or consider this season:

Why all the fuss and hype?
Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) lasts only 7 weeks. It opens October 15th and the last day to enroll is December 7th. In other words, it’s here and gone before you can say pass the pumpkin pie and agent/broker schedules can be filled a week or two in advance.
Changes made during this period take effect January 1st and generally last the entire plan year.
This is the only time of the year that most people can make a change in their prescription drug plan (part D).
This is the only time of year that most people on original Medicare can choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan (part C). This is also the time of year most people on a Medicare Advantage choose another Medicare Advantage plan.

What if I like my plan and my needs haven’t changed?
Your existing plan may not be exactly the same from year to year (Really? Yes, really).
When reviewing your plan each year, will all your medications continue to be covered next year? At the same tier level? Are there any increases or decreases in premiums, copays, co-insurance, or deductibles?
Will your advantage plan change or add new benefits/services? Look for documents in the mail from your plan, starting October 1st, that highlight any upcoming plan changes.

Quality takes time, start early!
Have a list of your needs and medications ready and available. Enter and save your medication list to Medicare.gov for easier comparison between plans.
Make an appointment with your agent or broker right away for a face to face, virtual, or a phone meeting. Enrollments can be completed either way in 2020, but schedules can fill up quickly.
A thorough explanation and understanding of your options is important. You will want time to ask questions, get clear answers, decide, and enroll.
You may change your mind about your plan selection later. Now that Halloween is behind us and visions of Thanksgiving are ahead, there’s still one ghoul left to deal with, Medicare Annual Enrollment. As if anyone who is Medicare age or reaching it could ever forget; the reminders are everywhere! There are so many options that people can feel a bit overwhelmed or don’t know where to start. In order to help bring a little clarity to the chaos, here’s few important things to know or consider this season:
Why all the fuss
and hype?

*Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) lasts only 7 weeks. It opens October 15th and the last day to enroll is December 7th. In other words, it’s here and gone before you can say pass the pumpkin pie and agent/broker schedules can be filled a week or two in advance.
*Changes made during this period take effect January 1st and generally last the entire plan year.
*This is the only time of the year that most people can make a change in their prescription drug plan (part D).
*This is the only time of year that most people on original Medicare can choose to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan (part C). This is also the time of year most people on a Medicare Advantage choose another Medicare Advantage plan. (story continues below)

What if I like my plan and my needs
haven’t changed?

*Your existing plan may not be exactly the same from year to year (Really? Yes, really).
*When reviewing your plan each year, will all your medications continue to be covered next year? At the same tier level? Are there any increases or decreases in premiums, copays, co-insurance, or deductibles?
*Will your advantage plan change or add new benefits/services? Look for documents in the mail from your plan, starting October 1st, that highlight any upcoming plan changes.
Quality takes time, start early!

*Have a list of your needs and medications ready and available. Enter and save your medication list to Medicare.gov for easier comparison between plans.
*Make an appointment with your agent or broker right away for a face to face, virtual, or a phone meeting. Enrollments can be completed either way in 2020, but schedules can fill up quickly.
*A thorough explanation and understanding of your options is important. You will want time to ask questions, get clear answers, decide, and enroll.
*You may change your mind about your plan selection later. Meeting early in the season gives you the opportunity and time to make changes before the December 7th deadline.
Know your agent or broker and put
them to work!

*If you work with an agent or broker let them do the hard stuff, that’s what you have them for. Let them do the research and bring several choices, that fit your situation, back to you. Once your decision is made, they fill out the paperwork or do the computer work, so you can relax. Many will also serve as your advisor and liaison with your plan through the year. They’ll help you handle questions on the phone or even in person, whenever you need them.
*An agent/broker has a state license and specialized Medicare training and testing over regulations and products, updated annually. They are professionals who are there to help you make sense of it all. If you have an agent/broker, ask for several cards and/or ask them to program their phone number into your cell phone.
*A broker is contracted with multiple insurance companies. They service their client across companies and can directly compare companies for the client. If their client decides to change insurance companies or have a drug plan with one company and a supplement with another, for example, they can stay with the same broker.
Last, but not least, protect your interests and information!

*Be wary of unsolicited Medicare phone calls.
*Don’t give sensitive personal information, such as your social security number, over the phone. Social security numbers are not required or allowed for Medicare drug plan or Advantage plan enrollments.
*It is perfectly fine and should be welcomed to have a trusted friend or family member at your appointment with an agent/broker. If you don’t have an agent/broker, ask a friend or family member to refer you to one they know and trust.
*Remember, ethical and regulation compliant agents/brokers will NOT use high pressure or scare tactics.

https://www.sibleyinsures.com/

Still Going Strong

photo by Vickie Jenkins

It all began in San Coulee, Montana when a precious baby girl was born on October 21, 1920 and was given her first gift, the name June Rose. At age four, June’s family moved to St. Louis, Missouri and lived there until June’s marriage to Robert Lee Ranney in 1942. A beautiful woman, inside and out, June turned one hundred years old on October 21, 2020. A friendly individual that always has a smile, the love she has for others shines bright!
Staying active keeps June feeling young and staying healthy. She is a member of Central Presbyterian Church where she has been an active member since 1957, serving as trustee and literalist. A charter member of Metro Camera Club since 1977, and still going strong, June was honored with the June Ranney Gallery in the Will Rogers Rose Center, highlighting outstanding Metro Camera Club photographs. June is also a member of SeniorNet Computer Club, which she joined in the mid eighties. Her volunteer work includes: Girl Scout leader, serving at the Red Andrews Christmas Dinner, helping with the archives of the Oklahoma City National Monument where she received an award in her name plus serving as past president of the American Business Women’s Association. (story continues below)

The mother of five children and widowed in 1967, June still lives in the house where she captured heartfelt memories with her family. “I think the one thing that surprises most people is the fact that I have lived in this house since 1957 and I still take care of everything myself,” June said. “That includes house-pick-up on a weekly room by room schedule, washing, ironing and mending when needed,” she added. “Plus, I have plenty of desk work; mail and email to keep me busy in my office,” she said with a smile.
Asking June what she contributes her good health to, she replied, “Proper diet, dwelling on the positives and never the negatives. I have never been one to smoke or drink and I can say that is over a lifetime. My number one hobby is flower gardening which I have been doing since fourth grade. My gardening gets excessive in season but I do it all myself and I love every minute of it. The garden is full of beautiful flowers in the spring.” I could tell she was very proud of her garden when she spoke of it. ”I also enjoy crossword puzzles, and I have done knitting and sewing in the past,” June added. June is a very talented horticulturist as well and an avid railroad enthusiast and collector.
June attended Beaumont High School. “My first job in St. Louis after college was at a community center teaching crafts to youngsters In the summertime. I taught games, crafts and dancing to youngsters in a summer program setup on the school grounds,” June said. “There was always a pageant with acting and dancing at the end of summer. I was so fortunate to be assigned to the school across the street from my home. It was a fun time working with them.”
“Shortly after my marriage, my husband and I moved to Davenport, Iowa. After Beaumont, I attended Harris Teacher’s College and graduated from there in 1942. I never did teach there. However, it was during war times, and I found a well paying job working for the War Department in the inspection office of a tank factory,” June commented.
“I lived here in Oklahoma City and was working for Dr. Jack Hough of the Otological Medical Center where I worked for fourteen years. I assisted the doctor in the examining rooms, did X-rays, counseled with patients about their particular hearing problems and did Electronystagmography, which was an extensive two hour test.”
“For several years I had an in-home candy making business for the Christmas trade only, working several months only to produce June Ranney’s Brown Pecan Fudge. I hired two women working in the mornings only. There were many local orders and they shipped to twenty-three states and Puerto Rico. I once was told that an order had been parachute dropped in Vietnam,” June commented.
June Rose Ranney, born on October 21, 1920, is an outstanding individual of Oklahoma City, OK. Whereas, it is fitting and proper that the Oklahoma House of Representatives, acting on behalf of the citizens of the Great State of Oklahoma, does hereby send best wishes to June Ranney upon the auspicious occasion of her 100th birthday.

What is it about Thanksgiving that causes my heart to beat more rapidly as the day draws closer?
This doesn’t happen with other holidays; even if the Amazon delivery person failed to arrive on Christmas Eve with all the gifts I’d purchased for my family, I’d be fine. On Christmas morning, I would just announce that their gifts will be “arriving soon” and then happily open my gifts while they watched.
But Thanksgiving? Four years ago, I wrote about my desire to cancel it, so entrenched was this country in the Trump vs. Hillary debate. In 2018, to keep dinner conversations calm and civil, I suggested infusing all food items with CBD, the trendiest over-the-counter chemical compound at the time. Since then, 11 states have legalized recreational marijuana, greatly increasing the odds that at least one relative at your holiday table comes prepared and can sprinkle “something a little stronger” into the turkey if civility is your only goal. Plus, it might be fun to watch your rigid aunt giggle uncontrollably and then be unable to answer when you ask her, “What is so funny?”
Last year I doled out advice to those with extended families who might have to endure two Thanksgiving dinners in order to keep peace and harmony intact. My suggestion? Serve lasagna containing ground turkey at one of the meals. You’re still having turkey, technically, and cleanup will be much easier.
Which brings us to 2020, a cesspool of a year even if it didn’t contain the presidential election. Dr. Anthony Fauci, everybody’s favorite medical advisor unless you’re a diehard Trump supporter, suggested in a recent CBS interview that families consider canceling the holiday to ward off the spread of coronavirus. Too many people from too many locations gathered in a single household is exactly what this country doesn’t need now.
“You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering,” Fauci told CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell.
Considering that nobody took my 2016 advice to cancel Thanksgiving, I’m confident Fauci’s suggestion will fall on deaf ears. But I have an alternative proposal; one that will allow Americans to remain festive while still heeding all of Fauci’s suggestions for staying virus free.
Combine Halloween with Thanksgiving.
Fauci wants everyone to continue wearing face coverings, correct? Well, arrive for Thanksgiving wearing your scariest, most blood curdling mask. Just make sure the mouth opening is wide enough for turkey and sweet potatoes to pass through. Also, make the rest of your attire as horrifying as possible, thereby encouraging social distancing. Who would want to hug a family member with an axe in his shoulder or hands that resemble claws?
Once all ghouls are seated at the table, serve the plates and then wait for somebody to realize there is no silverware to be found. Announce that all food must be consumed by hand, including the gravy-laden mashed potatoes and the orange Jell-O mold with marshmallows. Everyone will immediately excuse themselves in order to wash their hands. And they will do it again once the meal is over. Somewhere, Fauci will be smiling, just knowing this simple act of hygiene is finally occurring.
Thanksgiving hosts, here’s where it gets really good. After the meal, you’ll be left with guests who are feeling bloated, with hands still vaguely smelling of giblets and struggling to breathe normally due to their masks. As a result, most, if not all, will opt to leave your house early, ripping their masks off as they throw their cars into reverse and peel out of your driveway. Now you can enjoy some peace and quiet on the couch while the dishwasher hums in the background. Cleanup, incidentally, will be easier than a lasagna meal, due to the lack of silverware.
If this works, I have another suggestion: Combine Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. At the least, it will mean we can end 2020 one week earlier.
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)