Please enjoy the latest edition of our Newsletter!
LYN’S LEDGER
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
APRIL 2020
We Help You With Medicare.
ROSA WILL HAVE TOWAIT HOW LYN & KATHY GET TO KNOW LOCAL PHYSICIANS
two-day reduction in post-knee-replacement-operation hospital stays. Knee replacements still require the cutting of flesh and bone but are getting close to being a same- day surgery. Simply amazing! While supervised by the surgeon, ROSA does most of the work, with the result being a more precise and less traumatic surgery with more rapid recovery. About 30 of these procedures have been completed by Dr. Golden’s team at Ojai Hospital. So while I wait in line, I continue using my arthritic, misaligned original equipment. I understand the delay, and I’m looking forward to a rescheduled surgery. Not elective, however, and still on the Community Memorial Hospital surgery schedule is Kathy’s hysterectomy for removal of stage 1 endometrial cancer. We’ve come to know several more doctors — and support staff — along the way of her journey. Kathy is now where I was on March 16: preoperative appointments completed, ready for the operation, and waiting with hope that the surgery will go ahead as planned. Many of my readers are likely smiling by now and ready to offer some hard-won advice from having experienced these surgeries before us. Living in the days of COVID-19 as we are, delays and complications add layers of complexity to what previously was routine. We appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and advice.
Over the dozen years I’ve been representing Medicare health plans in Ventura County, the provider directories for the plans I represent are familiar territory as I review my clients’ health providers. I’ve come to know the names of primary care physicians and specialists throughout Ventura County. Now that my wife and I have turned a fresh-faced 60, physicians’ names are beginning to turn into real, live people. We are starting to have appointments! A slight blip on my presurgery EKG detoured the approach of my right knee replacement to Cardiology Associates and Dr. Fatimi. However, the resulting treadmill and echocardiogram report made no mention of my heart’s purported “right branch bundle block.” This is a very pleasing result for everyone, especially me! With my preoperative tests, X-rays, and appointments completed, my date with ROSA, the robotic knee replacement machine, was set for March 19. Dr. Thomas Golden, orthopedic surgeon, was to be chaperone for my not-quite-romantic encounter with ROSA at the Ojai Valley Community Hospital. Coronavirus considerations brought the Community Memorial Health System to the decision on Monday, March 16 to cancel all elective surgeries. So I’ll have to wait a while to meet the lady with the sharp instruments.
Blessings,
The first of its kind in California, ROSA has quickly proven its mettle. Surgery planners have seen a one- to
–Lyn Thomas
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www.LT-ins.com
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Published by The NewsletterPro • www.NewsletterPro.com
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
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.
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.
MEDICARE ADVANTAGE CORNER
• Some Advantage plans have Telehealth/Teladoc service (does not replace the primary care physician). Video and audio capability via computer or smartphone is required. Members may talk with a physician, who upon visual observation may be able to prescribe a short-term medication or other remedy. • Some plans have an over-the-counter product mail order service. The member has a monthly allowance to use with these items shipped at no cost.
• Some plans have a no-cost transportation benefit for scheduled medical appointments.
The current shelter-at-home directives from government agencies add value to the Medicare Advantage plans that have additional benefits.
Due to Medicare marketing guidelines, we are not able to list company-specific benefits in this format. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding the benefits of your plan.
• All Medicare Advantage plans have 24-hour nurse hotlines,
which members may use to call and consult with a registered nurse about current health concerns.
2 216-B E. Matilija St., Ojai, CA 93023
CA# 0D96309
www.LT-ins.com
We Help You With Medicare.
IT’S NOT THE IRS CALLING YOU!
Your experience is like mine, I’m sure. The scam phone calls never let up. Having your number on the “Do Not Call List” doesn’t seem to help. You can fortify yourself against the scammers by keeping this rule in mind. The Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services, aka “Medicare,” make any needed initial contact with taxpayers and beneficiaries by mail, not by telephone. If you take a telephone call — no matter how urgent — from anyone claiming to be from these agencies or a supposed contractor, it is a scam! These agencies send initial contacts by mail. For example, you receive in the mail each year your annual Social Security statement of benefit that also lists the amount deducted each month for Medicare Part B. If these agencies need to contact you regarding these benefits, they will do so by mail, not telephone.
Instead of robbing banks, the smart criminals are on the phone and online. With tax filing and the coronavirus providing a double stress, you can fortify yourself against the scammers by keeping this rule in mind.
SUDOKU
ORANGE GLAZED SALMON
Keep dinner light, simple, and easy with this paleo-friendly recipe.
Ingredients
• • • •
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• • • •
2 salmon fillets (10 oz total)
Zest from 1 orange
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp tapioca starch
1 tbsp garlic, minced
Directions
1. Heat oven to 425 F, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 2. Salt each fillet with 1/2 tsp salt. Bake for 6–8 minutes. 3. In a saucepan, combine ghee and garlic and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. 4. Add rosemary, zest, and juice. Cook for another 3 minutes. 5. Stir in tapioca starch until lumps disappear and mixture thickens. 6. Plate salmon and top with orange sauce.
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CA# 0D96309
805-646-6409
Inspired by RealFoodWithJessica.com
Lyndon Thomas Insurance
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
PO Box 207 Ojai, CA 93024
INSIDE
CA# 0D96309 | www.LT-ins.com | 805-646-6409
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How Lyn & Kathy Get to Know Local Physicians
Stay Connected With These Helpful Resources
Medicare Advantage Corner
It’s Not the IRS Calling You! Orange Glazed Salmon
The History of Libraries in America
THE OLDEST LIBRARIES IN AMERICA What’s the oldest library in America? It’s an easy question to ask, but it has an unexpectedly complicated answer. Before the Industrial Revolution generated greater interest in public services, a library’s function and purpose varied widely. Several libraries in the United States claim to be the country’s “first,” but for different reasons.
A STORY OF MANY FIRSTS
could pay to buy books or borrow them for free. In 1757, 60 men founded the Library Company of Burlington in New Jersey, and Thomas Rodman received a charter from King George II to operate the business in 1758. The library still operates under that charter today. The Library of Burlington was the first library to operate out of its own building after a prominent resident donated the land in 1789.
COLLEGES AND THE CLERGY
BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE
Some believe Harvard University hosted the first library in the United States. Harvard was the first university in the United States, founded in 1636, and clergyman John Harvard seeded the library with a 400-book collection. Soon after, however, Thomas Bray, another clergyman, began establishing the first free lending libraries throughout the colonies to encourage the spread of the Anglican Church. Not surprisingly, most of the libraries’ holdings were theological.
In 1833, just as the Industrial Revolution was picking up steam, the Peterborough Town Library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire, at a town meeting. It was the first tax-supported free public library in the United States and in the world. Not long after that, the Boston Public Library, known as the “palace for the people,” became the first municipal public library in the country. The Boston Public Library was also the first library to have a space specifically for children. Out of all the “first” libraries in the country, these are the most probable progenitors of most libraries today — even if they weren’t exactly “first.”
A FEW MORE FIRSTS
During the 1700s, a few more “first” libraries were established. In 1731, Ben Franklin and a few others started the first subscription library in the United States. Members of subscription libraries
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216-B E. Matilija St., Ojai, CA 93023
Published by The Newsletter Pro • www.NewsletterPro.com
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