ROTOSCOPE MARCH 17, 2014

50/50 Ticket Sales:  $663. Lee Broad drew the ace of hearts and won $331.50 He donated it to Rotary Polio Plus.

Visiting Rotarians:

·         Julie Pankow, Past President, Amherst South

·         Lee Abell, financial advisor at Merrill Lynch and friend of our speaker.

·         Akhtar Mirza, Past President of the Rotary Club of Grand Island

Guests: Gary Bird, UB professor and friend of our speaker.

Program:

This week’s speaker was David C. Dean, M.D. who will present the Pros and Cons of the Affordable Care Act (“Obama Care”).  The winners and losers of the ACA will be discussed by Dr. Dean, whose specialty is Interventional Cardiology and who is also Board Certified in Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine. He is a graduate of the John Hopkins School of Medicine and had residency at Boston Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital, West Roxbury VA Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital.  He is associated with Millard Fillmore-Suburban Hospital.

The ACA was signed by the President on March 23, 2010 and will change the way all of us will experience health care in the U.S. The legislative bill has had a rough rollout, as it was passed by the House by 5 votes, and survived the challenge in the Supreme Court by 1 vote.

The major goal of ACA is to insure the estimated 50-million Americans who do not presently have health insurance. This group is too rich for Medicaid, too young for Medicare, and not rich enough to afford private health insurance when it is not provided as an employment benefit.

The need for the ACA was prompted by the facts that health care in the U.S. trails far behind the rest of civilized world …. life expectancy is lower (i.e. lower than Cuba), the U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than many countries, and the U.S. per capita expenditure on health care is the highest in the world and continually climbing.

Highlights of his presentation included:

·         Voting history—not one Republican voted in favor of ACA

·         25 states with Republican governors have refused to increase Medicaid or set up exchanges.

·         Reviewed the troubled roll-out of ACA

·         16% of the population of the US is uninsured

·         Many uninsured are covered by other means, e.g., military personnel, veterans, American Indians, and prisoners

·         The ACA has a multi-year timetable

·         Individual mandate tax increases to greater of $695 or 2.5% of AGI to a max. of $2,085

·         2012 Poverty Levels:

o   1 person--$11,170

o   2 people--$15,130

·         20 new taxes:

o   Tanning salons—10%

o   Tax on medical devices

o   New 3.8% unearned income tax

o   40% tax on “Cadillac” health plans

o   Tax on use of HSA to buy OTC drugs

o   Deductibility of medical expenses limited to amount over 10% of AGI, up from 7.5%

New Member Induction

Catherine Dulmus, Professor-Social Work, was inducted this evening. Welcome, Catherine!  

Announcements: 

Club Board Meeting: Thursday, March 20, 2014, 8:00 AM at Amherst IDA offices, 4487 Main Street (corner of Berryman Drive). All Active Club members are invited.

Annual Celebration:  The date is Saturday – March 29, 2014, 7PM-10PM at the Park Country Club.  Tickets for the event have been distributed to members for both the Event tickets at $35.00 each and the Grand Prize Raffle Drawing / Wegmans Groceries for 1-year ($35.00 per raffle ticket).   Mark your calendars to attend this major Club event date.  As Tim would say, to “break even” on the Wegmans prize alone, we need to sell a minimum 148 tickets.”  If each member sold 10 (actually 8, since the member and wife or significant other would be 2 of the 10), the Club would have net proceeds from this alone of $12,250.   This would provide approximately $7,000 for Club donations.   If 15 tickets per member were sold, this would increase to $13,175.  Sponsor donations would further enhance the “donation pool.”  Wegman’s and Global Wines and Spirits are two sponsors to date.  To see the impact of ticket sales, sponsors, etc., see the “What if ….”   Analysis sent by email to all members and the event goal. SELLING ALL 400 PRINTED TICKETS WOULD HAVE A NET $$$ EFFECT FOR CLUB DONATIONS ON THE ORDER IN EXCESS OF $20,000 --- 3X’s the impact of doing just the minimum.   Please, Go Out and Sell Those Tickets!!!!

WINE WALL DONATIONS NEEDED!!!!! Tonight was the last night to bring a bottle of wine or a gift certificate (UP TO $25.00 in value). If you have not done so or If you have any questions, please E-mail Carolyn Leed at Carolyn@cleedlaw.com.  If you would prefer to make a cash donation towards the Wine Wall, Carolyn would be happy to make the purchase of bottles of wine or gift certificate(s) on your behalf.   Thank you for your generosity!

SLAPSHOT Event: For youths aged 15-18.   Do you have an interested candidate?  Since the SLAPSHOT event (April 25-27, 2014) is in Canada, the candidate must have either a current U.S. Passport or a NYS Enhanced Driver’s license for entry into Canada (Ancaster, Ontario) and back into the U.S.  SLAPSHOT = Student Leadership Award Program for Students High On Training. Registrations must be in by 3/31/2014.

Meeting Attendance Option: 

Mark April 28^th on your calendar to attend the Club meeting and learn of an option to Rotary Club meeting attendance.  Liz Kovacs of the Rotary E-Club of SO/WNY (Southern Ontario-Western New York) will present information on how you can “attend” using your computer, while on an island in the South Pacific or at home at 1:30 AM in your pajamas. Learn how you can improve your RI reported meeting attendance.

Also at this meeting (04/28/2014), we will have members of the Rotary Club of Amherst in attendance.  A discussion on potential event collaborations, collaboration on local, regional and international projects will be a focus discussion.

District Assembly:  May 3^rd, 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM at the Conference Center, Niagara Falls, NY (101 Old Falls Street).  Pre-Registration or on-line registration will be required.  Mark your calendar for this event.   See Preliminary 3/6/14 Program, Workshops, Topics sent by Ed S. to all members by email.

RYLA Event: The District’s RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) committee is pleased to announce that RYLA will be taking place June 8-14 at SUNY, Fredonia. Don't miss the opportunity to send a candidate(s) to this exciting week-long leadership program for 19-25 year olds.Ed S. sent out by email the 2014 application form, poster, and a document to provide members with some background information about RYLA. This information can also be found on the District’s website. The fee is $750 and the early bird (April 22, 2014)discounted fee is $675. Former exchange students, Rotaractors, and SLAPSHOT alumni make great candidates for RYLA.  

A few clubs have been creative in funding this program. There are businesses, government organizations and charitable/not-for-profit organizations that have some bright, promising young people on staff demonstrating great leadership potential. Some of these organizations have gladly paid the fee for RYLA. It is an amazing deal for such a fantastic week-long leadership program. Check it out on the District website at www.rotary7090.org, click on New Generations/Youth Services or go to www.ryla7090.com.  

Club Web Site Advertising: Did you know that advertising on the Club’s web site is $100/year, July 1 to June 30?   That’s approximately $0.27 per day, and is seen by everyone visiting the Club’s web page.  Pro-rata is also available.  Interested?  Ask Vern Anderson for the details and join other Club members who are already using this form of advertising ….helping their business and their Club.

Every Rotarian – Every Year (EREY): Wow!!!!   Did you know that for $0.27 per day, less than $2.00 per week, and $8.33 per month you can be an active participant and be recognized in Rotary International’s (RI) EREY Program?  And you can do this with a simple authorization to RI to charge a credit card account for the recurring period (month / quarter / annual ) amount you designate.  This is simple and straightforward.