Club MED
May 2020
A Partner in His Life and Career
Chris on Being Married to a Physical Therapist
One of the most important partners in my life and my career is my wife, Beverli Jane (but I call her Bev). We got married in February, so it’s been a real shame to see so many weddings canceled during this prime wedding season. I hope the nation heals soon so that we can all celebrate these profound relationships in our lives together. My wife has had an incredible personal and professional journey, and getting her insights into the medical field has been so helpful and eye-opening for me. I’ll give you an example. We were watching a movie once — it might’ve been a docudrama on the First Battle of Fallujah — and in one scene, a Humvee (an armored Jeep combat vehicle with a machine gun strapped to the top) was traversing along a very rough road and stopping and starting again during one battle. The young man gunning the machine gun kept hitting his back against the cover rim of the armored truck.
Here’s another example: Once, my wife showed up to a PT appointment in the hospital and the patient was in a coma. Of course, coma patients still need exercise, though they can’t do it themselves. A nurse will often move their joints and limbs on a daily basis, just to keep their body and muscles from completely deteriorating. But a PT doctor doesn’t need to be hired to do that. Not only does it increase the medical bill, but it also keeps Bev from patients that need her services. These days, my wife doesn’t do much physical therapy, though. Her hospital has dedicated an entire wing to treating COVID-19 patients. Bev’s main duty is scanning temperatures and checking everybody who walks through the door for coronavirus symptoms. It’s not easy work. Because of it, she makes sure that I use Purell before and after all of my meetings. Bev does a lot for others, and she’s done so much for me over the years — and to think, we almost missed out on each other! We met when were both on the same corner, waiting for our blind dates. I tried talking to her a few different ways, but each time, she’d ignore me. It became clear after a while that we were both waiting for dates. So, I said, “I’ll tell you what. Maybe your blind date will work out, but if it doesn’t, maybe we can go out sometime.” You should’ve seen her face. She looked at me like I was clueless! But it did pay off. She wrote her number on my hand, and eventually, we did connect and go out. I couldn’t feel more blessed to have her in my life. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, but, most importantly, connected with the people they care about. Until next month, friends! –Chris Grimmond CFP ® 402-614-3389 • 1
Bev turns to me and says, “That’s the most common injury I see.”
That might sound crazy at first. However, she has a doctorate in physical therapy, and she sees a lot of veterans. When you’re young, repeated, intense impact injuries like that may not leave you feeling much more than a little soreness. However, as a person ages, they have real, life-altering consequences. It’s not just military jobs that are physically challenging for a young person. Many kinds of physical work have similar consequences later on. People don’t pick that up right away, even in the medical field. That’s not the only thing I’ve learned from Bev, though. I’ve also learned about other things from Bev’s unique perspective, such as how hospitals really work. For example, since doctors (whether they’re inexperienced or experienced) want to avoid being sued, they will often overcompensate for an injury by prescribing unnecessary medications and treatments. At times, insurance companies may look like the bad guys for denying coverage for prescribed services, but there are many instances where doctors are simply protecting themselves through overprescribing. “I’ve also learned about other things from Bev’s unique perspective, such as how hospitals really work.”
Medicare Insurance Made Easy
Maintaining Health While Homebound Stay Connected With These Helpful Resources Due to the growing concerns about COVID-19, getting the resources you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle is more challenging. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) request for social distancing makes it harder to get food and maintain social norms. So, to help maintain your well-being in these uncertain times, here are a few resources that will make getting food and keeping tabs on your family a breeze. Social Media Utilizing social media is a great way to keep in contact with your loved ones. Facebook is
very
popular with older people — 1 out of 3 older adults already uses the platform because it’s easy to use. Facebook and other social media platforms can help you stay connected with friends, family, and groups of people with similar interests to avoid feeling so isolated at home. You can also continue to share photos and videos so you don’t miss a day in your loved ones’ lives. Video chat apps like Skype, Zoom, and Apple FaceTime enable you to have those essential face-to-face conversations when you can’t be with other people. If you’re unfamiliar with the applications, they are easy to download for free on your phone or computer, and they allow you to see and verbally chat if you have a webcam and microphone. (If you use a phone or laptop, this equipment is already built-in.) A video chat app also lets you be a part of important life moments like birthdays and anniversaries if a shelter-in-place order prevents you from celebrating in person. Ensure you’re up to date on the best ways to keep you and your family safe during these uncertain times by visiting CDC. gov for more information. schools and two physical therapy schools), health care remains the biggest employing industry in the area. People who work at the Mayo Clinic in other areas, like Sioux Falls, are fantastic because they’ve trained here. I know this from personal experience because my nephew Joey struggled with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and looked for doctors all over Nebraska. Now, he’s much healthier and studying to get into medical school. My other niece, Jessica, just completed her first year at UNMC. Having medical schools in the area does make a difference. Often, this results in more local efforts to push the medical field forward, and it attracts new, experimental business models. For example, Think Whole Person Healthcare is a unique doctor-led primary care clinic in Omaha, which not only has impressive architecture but is also creating a new, compassionate image of primary care clinics and their providers’ services for patients. Now researchers across the board are collaborating to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and a study was released in late March that documented the contamination rate and how the virus has spread around the world. Everyone is working hard to get through this time together, and you can count on Omaha Insurance Solutions as another advisor and advocate to get you through this.
Food Delivery Because COVID-19 is easily transmitted, getting food at a grocery store is riskier. If you don’t prefer mobile apps like Postmates or Instacart, local food kitchens, municipalities, and senior centers may offer food delivery. Using a delivery service limits the number of people you interact with to the delivery person. For an added measure of safety, put a note on delivery instructions requesting they leave the bags at the door. If you have trusted family or friends nearby, reach out to them. They can pick up what you need when they’re already getting groceries, which is especially convenient if you don’t want to deal with mobile apps. Regardless of your method, you should become familiar with getting food delivered because you don’t know how long the situation will last.
Let’s be real: Omaha doesn’t have just good health care. It has some of the best in the world.
Newsweek’s first-ever World’s Best Hospitals 2019 ranking put the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) among the most elite and highest-rated hospitals in the world. The list included hospitals from Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, and more. Many other nationally acclaimed hospitals and health care facilities, like the Omaha Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, the Creighton University Medical Center, and the Methodist
Women’s Hospital, also add prestige to Omaha’s health care offerings.
With medical schools for nearly all fields (two dental
2 • OmahaInsuranceSolutions.com
Hear What Our Clients Have to Say
A Brief History of Skilled Nursing And Chris Grimmond on His Personal Experience
“Chris showed up when he said
Skilled nursing care is amazingly complex and also terribly confusing. So much so that a lawsuit involving skilled care went all the way up to the federal courts. Jimmo v. Sebelius was a class-action lawsuit that challenged the interpretation of the “improvement stand” that many used to interpret Medicare’s rules of care. This one hit home for me because of how it affected my mother and our family. My mother was in the last stages of ovarian cancer. It became clear that no treatments were going to work. She was on palliative care and during one of her episodes, she was in extreme pain. She was admitted to the hospital because the only way to get her pain under control was by using intravenously administered pain killers. After that, she was supposed to come home. But her condition was such that we were not going to be able to care for her adequately at home. We talked about a nursing home — skilled nursing — but one of the criteria at the time was that the patient must be able to improve. Because she was terminal, improvement was definitely not in the cards. We were initially told that Medicare would not pay for her stay in a skilled nursing facility. However, the people who told us this were operating off outdated information that was not accurate. On Jan. 24, 2013, the class-action lawsuit Jimmo v. Sebelius was settled in favor of the patient, and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified its policy and broadened the criteria, allowing for skilled nursing care to be prescribed for patients to maintain the status of their condition, slow the deterioration of a condition, or to improve the condition. As a result of this decision, my mother was admitted to skilled nursing, even though she was terminal, to help slow the deterioration of her health. As it turned out, she passed away within two weeks of her admittance. The personnel at her skilled nursing facility were outstanding! They made her last days as bearable as the situation would allow. Health care is very expensive and involves many conflicting groups and interests. The rules, policies, and mechanisms are complex, and it can be frustrating to deal with some of the people in this system. I encounter this daily as I talk with clients and deal with issues that arise. It’s important to be aware of the rules and regulations around Medicare or ask someone who knows them to help. If you need help, then give us a call at Omaha Insurance Solutions. We’re more than happy to get you and your loved ones through this.
he would. He answered the questions I asked. He did what he said he would do.” – Perry & Nancy T
Rhubarb Cake Nature’s favorite tart vegetable — yes, rhubarb is a vegetable! — is in season once again. Celebrate rhubarb season with this simple, delicious cake.
Ingredients
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar, divided • 1 tsp baking soda • 1/2 tsp salt • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 eggs, beaten • 1 cup sour cream • 3 cups rhubarb stalks, diced • 1/4 cup butter, softened
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking dish. 2. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, salt, and 2 cups flour. 3. Stir in eggs and sour cream until smooth. 4. Fold in rhubarb and add mixture to the prepared baking dish. 5. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup sugar and butter until smooth. 6. Stir in 1/4 cup flour until mixture is crumbly. 7. Sprinkle mixture on top of cake batter and bake for 45 minutes. 8. Let cake cool for 5–10 minutes and serve.
Inspired by AllRecipes.com
402-614-3389 • 3
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
11414 W Center Rd, Suite 250 Omaha, NE 68144 402-614-3389 OmahaInsuranceSolutions.com
Return Service Requested
INSIDE This Issue
1
Chris Grimmond on Being Married to a Physical Therapist
2
Stay Connected With These Helpful Resources
2
Why Omaha Is a National Health Care Treasure
3
Skilled Nursing: What You Need To Know
3
Rhubarb Cake
4
Minimalist Living for Seniors
The Benefits of Minimalism A Perfect Lifestyle for Seniors As we get older, we tend to hang on to mementos that brought some type of meaning to our lives, even after time
thousands of memories is a daunting task, so it is best to start by removing things that might not require emotional or physical strain, like old magazines, broken items, or clutter in the junk drawer. Once you’ve taken this first step, move on to something bigger. Soon, you’ll find yourself making steady and rewarding progress throughout the rest of your home. In the process, pay attention to what you want to keep. Carefully select which objects mean the most to you and which ones are still useful. These are the belongings you should surround yourself with. The Benefit of Minimalism Minimalism will help you feel more comfortable in your home and open up other possibilities. You will have more room to invite guests and family over, and you’ll have a sense of space and freedom. Additionally, this lifestyle can also help with your finances. You’ll be less tempted to buy
has diminished their value. Though we may be emotionally attached, this clutter can eventually overwhelm us, especially as seniors. If you find yourself drowning in items you no longer need or want, consider a minimalist lifestyle to free up your space — and your mind. Minimalism Before taking on a minimalist lifestyle, it’s important to understand what it entails. When someone hears the word “minimalism,” they might think it means getting rid of their possessions one by one, but that’s not entirely true. Instead, minimalist living focuses on having less clutter in our lives but still keeping the things we truly value and enjoy. The idea is to get rid of things we no longer use or need. Minimalist Living To embark on a minimalist lifestyle, focus more on the present and consider the value your personal belongings have in your life now . Sorting through hundreds of items with 4 • OmahaInsuranceSolutions.com
what you don’t need, and you may even rearrange spending priorities or downsize your living space (less rent!). If you surround yourself with meaningful and useful items, you will feel more at peace. Ultimately, minimalism encourages us to free ourselves from the many things that own us as much as we own them. Don’t allow accumulated objects to clutter up your home and life. Take the leap and start living a carefree, minimalist lifestyle.
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online