Pledge/Prayer: President Gerri
Song: Bill McLaughlin
Brents Card Game Winner: Andy Anderson
Sergeants Report: Keith
Raffle Winners: Jess, Joy King, Ted, Marty
Happy Bucks
Announcements:
Jess spoke about the Bio Sand Project which our club has committed to participation in. We have budgeted $1000 but Jess suggested that if we raise the amount to $3500, it is possible that through matching funds from the district, we could leverage $3500 to $12,500. It wouldn't be guaranteed but possible. It will be up to our membership and the Board to approve the increase and once that happens, Jess will attempt to gain the matching funds. Keith will be traveling to India where the project is based to check on its progress which is a requirement.
Ted announced that a bank account at the Liberty Bank has been opened for the purposes of donating money for the Thanksgiving food drive. Lets all chip in.
Marty spoke on the Wine Tasting. He spoke on the importance of pre-selling as many tickets as possible and that almost everyone has received an allocation of 6 tickets. That means, everyone is responsible for $150 in ticket sales. We need to get an approximate head count so we know how much food to order. We also need items to auction off. You may drop things off at Northeast Medical or call Mike Velgouse and he can pick the items up. The sooner we have the items, the easier the job of setting up and cataloging the items goes. Mike emailed the form to everyone and it will also be made available online thru our website. Marty left flyers for everyone and there are more where they came from. There is some concern that because the Saybrook Stroll is the same night, we may lose some business. Just tell your friends to "Stroll on over to our Wine Tasting". It should be a fun evening so lets pull together and make it a success!
Gerri talked about our holiday party Dec. 20 at Frankie's Restaurant. A list is being passed around.
Ran introduced the new Superintendent of Westbrook Schools, Pat Charles
Bill McLaughlin spoke about the meeting next week in which 12 club members are attending. You will leave by 8am. The rest of us will have a regular meeting and we will discuss the Wine Tasting.
Program: Rob Charnes and Wendy McMurthy
Rob's topic was Long Term Care and the challenges we Americans face in the coming years. The numbers are cause for concern. Presently, there are 13 million people in the medical entitlement system (Medicare, Medicaid) with 75 million baby boomers coming up. 15 cents of every dollar in state taxes goes to Medicaid also known as Title 19. Loopholes have been closed that allowed people in the past to hide assets in order to qualify for T19. People are living longer and surviving what illnesses that used to be fatal adding to the crisis. Today, people live 20-30 years post retirement as opposed to 2 years. The consequences of long term care is most serious to the family costing $100,000 per year and growing. What happens to the spouce of an institutionalized person? They could move in with the children, rely on Medicare or health insurance (which is only good for 100 days after hospitalization), or be enrolled in a government program such as Medicaid which requires spending down all assets. You could be self-insured which costs $100-200K per year or transfer the risk to an insurance company but for most that isn't an option due to existing health problems.
There is now the Connecticut Partnership for Long Term Care which enables one to keep their assets and still qualify for Medicaid. If you use up your policy value and suffer a catastrophic event, you can get T19 benefits without spending down your assets. Most LTC programs will go through businesses offered to employees.
For more information, you can contact Rob and Wendy at 860-365-0200
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