Your medicare experience can be good. You deserve it. You have paid into it all your working career and are ready to enjoy the benefits. Take a few minutes to understand how medicare should work for you. Then contact me and let’s talk about how to assist you in making the right entry decisions to fit your lifestyle. How you start with medicare is important in how you enjoy the benefits.
Category Archives: Randoms
an unexpected service
What should you expect from a a medicare insurance pro?
They are unlike other insurance consultants and agents.
What should you expect from a a medicare insurance professional? They are unlike other insurance consultants and agents.
A medicare insurance professional requires right training and certification from the insurance company or companies they represent, the states they represent and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). You should expect that
A medicare insurance professional is your consultant and educator. Weaving through the decisions in medicare is an important lifetime decision. You deserve right information and access to answers.
A medicare insurance professional is here for you. While they are agents for the insurance companies with whom you may contract, they must also be here for you to assist you in making decisions.
This article does a good job of outlining some items of which you should be aware. Get right service. We are here for you at SOLUM to give you that “unexepected service” that you should expect. Covering Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. Benefiting the membership of National Association for Grandparenting.
Medical Bankrupt Alternatives
The impact of high medical costs incurred from an accident or a debilitating disease can strap your cash for decades even after you recover physically. Doctor bills play a role in 60% of bankruptcy filings. Wow! This researched article below gives some insight.
Having the right insurance protection up front gives you a barrier to disaster financially while dealing with the physical components. Take time to talk. Don’t go this alone. Whether we can help you or someone else, it is always worth talking through openly and honestly and expeditiously. It might be impossible to predict the onslaught of a major medical expense, but there are ways to hedge against them with right insurance and planning.
Give me a call and share your concerns. We can listen and assist you with information you may not have .
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/03/hospital-bills-medical-debt-bankruptcy/584998/
3 things to do this National Consumer Protection Week.
Reposted from the CMS email. Great stuff. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrates all medicare, advantage programs, prescription drug, supplements and more. The insurers and agents and medical providers that work with these must adhere to CMS guidelines. Of course the image is mine.
How to fight Medicare fraud & protect your identity
Happy National Consumer Protection Week! Now’s a great time to brush up on your Medicare rights and protections, and take action to protect your identity.
Here are 3 things to do:
Protect your identity. Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information without your consent to commit fraud or other crimes. Guard your Medicare Number and card, and keep your Social Security Number safe.
Help fight Medicare fraud.Use your MyMedicareaccount to stay on top of your claims. If you find errors or fraud, report it to us. Don’t have a MyMedicare account yet? Sign up for free at MyMedicare.gov today.
Know your rights. You have certain rights and protections designed to make sure you get the health care services the law says you can get.
Sincerely,
The Medicare Team
This message is paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It was created and distributed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. You’re receiving this message because you signed up for email updates from the Medicare Team.
Please contact support@subscriptions.cms.hhs.gov if you have questions or problems with your subscriptions.
This email was sent to phil@solumcommunity.net using GovDelivery Communications Cloud 7500 Security Boulevard · Baltimore MD 21244
The Voice of An Empowered Generation
Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Over the last few days, I have been convened with a little under 1200 grandparents pursuing legacy. There are people of prayer here. There are people of faith here. They have wisdom and they want to be heard. They have a voice. It says. Cherish family. Protect and value life. I will finish strong and loud. God matters. Be prudent and reasonable in government and community and business.
One of the visions cast is to go to national media with the message. This quick video says much of it. Envision a super bowl commercial. Envision bill boards. Envision the magazine. Envisions social media. Envision the message loud and strong and NOW.
Our days are numbered. The countdown to eternal destiny shortens by the day. Our time is now.
This generation of senior adults will live longer than any before. The boomers will be around for a few more decades. In those decades the voice must be heard. The message must be spoken loud and clear.
Cherish family.Protect and value life.I will finish strong and loud.God matters.Be prudent and reasonable in all you do.
grandkidsmatter.org is the core information and training site for the National Association For Grandparenting headed by the chief visionary, Dr. Ken Canfield. For 17 years, Ken and I have worked together in the National Center for Fathering (NCF) (fathers.com) and now the NAFG.
Be a joiner. Be a supporter. Watch this video and imagine many such with the core underlying message.
Inspiration for Others
Wow. Read through this article. This amazing woman and her friends are taking advantage of their good health and trekking. A cross country trip promises to inspire all of us. After you finish this story, zip over to the notes from Dr. Ken Canfield on modeling a strong and healthy marriage as part of a strong and healthy lifestyle.
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/02/18/77-year-old-called-bike-across-country/2901220002/
Grandkids Need You to Model a Strong & Lasting Marriage
New Days and New Ways
Phil and SOLUM are on a new adventure. After almost two decades of working with Dr. Ken Canfield first at the National Center For Fathering (fathers.com) and now the National Association for Grandparenting (grandkidsmatter.com), we lauched an insurance benefit initiative for you, the grandparents and parents of generations.
Our non-profit outreach SOLUM Community Transformation Initiative is thriving (solumcommunity.net) and fixing fractured families. Now we are here for you to help you build your solid financial foundations, secure important relationships, and launch your legacy into generations through benefits development with NCF and GKM.
Join us on the adventure.
We are leaving all of our blog content on management and wanderings for you to peruse. No use throwing out. We will reorganize a bit to make it easier, but there it is.
Engineering Sanity
As a process engineer this story is just too real to ignore.
My wife gets great service at Big O tires. I appreciate that a lot. So I use them, also. Auto work is always long no matter where you go. Price is normal, but if you take care of my wife, I like you.
I get mediocre to bad service from Big O tires. It is always a hassle of change orders, out of stock surprises, and long waits with a whiney TV in the foyer. So I bring a computer to get work done. But they serve my wife well and I appreciate it.
The biggest frustration has been being told each time for a decade that I don’t exist and have never done business with them before. I have spent thousands of dollars with them. Tires, brakes, alignments and more get done there. But they serve my wife well.
Today, here we go again. I went in a week ago to get warranty on an alignment and two new tires on the front. They as usual are out of stock. I made the appointment for 7:30am for today in hopes I could get on with my day. Two days ago I confirmed with the salesman. It is 11am as I write this. 4 hours for a 30 minute job. They did not have the tires and had them brought from another shop. These are not the tires ordered, but they will work.
As usual each time the told me my truck and I are not in their system. I was rested and ready for the wait, so I thought for a minute. How can they be so lost? So I went out to my truck and got out a past warranty and looked at every identifying field. There was VIN, model, year, date, address, and my wife’s name. All this time, they are looking for my name and I don’t exist. Apparently their system can’t look up all the other identifying information. The adept front desk worker offered to put my name alongside my wife’s so they could find me in the future.
Processes are designed to enable ease and allow you freedom to think versus make the simple decisions. Think. Think. Think. Your customer will appreciate it.
Service still is long and drawn, but they serve my wife well and now I have a name and the next time they might serve me better. I hope it doesn’t affect her being served the next time.
Character is Built in The Night
Psalm 16:7 I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
The hidden man of the heart decides most actions. Among the mental health solutions most recommended for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and both process and substance addictions is a regimen named CBT. CBT stands for Cognitive (Thinking) Behavior Therapy. Address your thoughts and your actions will follow. Follow with your actions. You are what you think. You become that on which you mull and meditate. Your actions come from the inner man, the heart, the soul, the mind, the will, and the emotions.
Character Guides Profit
The product of business is profit. Profit is a good thing unless it is the only thing. Why do I want to profit? Have I built a character base to guide my gain? Two good friends come to mind. Both are wealthy. Both focus all gain/profit on expanding the kingdom. Yes, they live fulfilled lives, but not over spending lives. The amounts they give to kingdom works and benevolence is outstanding as a percentage of profits. Another, “Christian”, friend spends his profits on himself. He travels extensively and posts all over Facebook of his travels and love for family. His gain is his gain. He shares some of the wealth, but his focus that he shares is himself first and God when convenient.
The first two friends fulfill this proverb of the seventh verse. First, they bless the Lord not just with words, but action. They recognize that God gave them wisdom and access to wealth. In gratefulness, they give back and bless Him and His work. Second, they are extremely prayerful men. They take everything to heart. They are persistent disciples of Christ and run their businesses with compassion and Christian disciplines. Their hearts (mind, will, and emotions) are guided even when they sleep and especially in hard times (night seasons). They do not become a different person under pressure because their heart is secured to His heart.
Character Guides People
The product of a community organization is people. Whether you are the Salvation Army or a church or the local women’s shelter, you are focused on people. You need finances, but that is not your product. The same questions apply. Why do I want to touch people? Have I built a character base to guide community gain? A conversation with the mayor of a community we reach revealed his heart. We spent hours discussing how to develop the hearts of the people in the community alongside all the economic growth and infrastructure changes. Discussions with other community leaders takes the same direction, but not all. Some want to tear down old houses to “clean out the rats” or “take away places for crime”. Others want to tear down old houses to deliver kinder, gentler neighborhoods and encourage growth. There is a difference of heart.
Character Comes in the Night
Struggles reveal the deep meditations of the heart. Profits will be challenged. Our people touch will be challenged. At those moments, we go back to character built in other moments to make our decisions.
Character is built by quieting our fears with faith.
Character is built by quickening our faith in the face of risk.
Character is built by quickness to turn to God when nothing seems solid.
Character is built by quietly meditating on His wisdom in His Word when all is well and our thoughts are clear.
Character is built in the inner man to be exposed by the outer man of actions.
A few years ago, my wife and I had major decisions to make concerning our future contributions to profit and people. For days, we locked ourselves in prayer. Intense hours were spent reading scriptures and prayerfully considering our future lives. Each option in front of us had risks and gains. Today as I look back, the choice was made from a life of handling risks and gains in God’s grace not just the few days of prayer. Our
impact is many fold what it had been. Our finances are nowhere near where they were, but our people impact is exploded. Deep character is built in the night.
Phil 405.388.8037 phil@shepherdok.com
Pleasant Places
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance. Psalms 16:6 NKJV
Know Your Partners
“Everyday your competitor gets up to take away your business.”
A mentor and partner spoke that to me at a critical juncture. Later his competitor nature surfaced and he took away the business. Daily, I served the partnership in expectation of continuing reward. I should have listened more closely. I thought he was talking about someone else. He was warning me of his nature. I was duly warned. My bad.
In Aesop’s fable he tells of the duck and the scorpion. The scorpion convinced the duck to give a ride across the water, promising he would not hurt him. With caution and compassion the duck agreed. As he jumped off the duck’s back at the end of the ride, he stings and kills the duck. The duck astonishingly asked, “Why?”, as he dies. Scorpion replied, “I can’t help it. It is my nature.”
After dealing with such, we find it hard to trust a faithful and good God. He defines a great path for those under His grace and protection. It is His nature. He also has a nature of justice and just retribution, for those who live outside His path. We need to understand both and chose the path of greatness that appeals to His protecting and providing nature. Once we become family, He stays with us.
The beauty of God is His unchanging good nature. We might shift, but He does not shift. He puts us in a world of reward and growth. Our defining lines of strength are given and He does not change. Yes, we choose to live in them or not, but He does not change. When He commits, it is forever.
Know Your Swing
I didn’t learn how to swing a golf club until late in my career. And even though I won all those tournaments, I still struggled with consistency, and I relied on my strengths, which were hitting the ball long and high, and I could chip and putt with the best of ’em. Tom Watson
Watson gives great insight. Gold is not my thing. I play for fun and friendship. When I take out a new ball, I paint a smiley face to remind myself why I am playing. Each has ability and strengths. Weakness is hard to fix. Cover it with strengths. Adjust and play to your best side. Early in my career, I found a ready and excellent skill to fix broken processes and develop others. Those skills serve me every day. I enjoy them. They have served me in retail, print-publishing, discount, non-profit, community, and healthcare concerns. The skills are adaptable. What are your skills?
Three Hats Check this out.
Know Your God
In business and community, God is faithful to give me good. Companies have folded and sold. Partners have shifted and shafted. In all, my contract with God has held solid. We always stay together and the situations always work through to good benefit. My lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. They can for you, also.
