Production Department Quotes February 1, 2015

916 Sherwood Drive

Lake Bluff, IL 60044

800.962.8610 Claims

888.872.7954 New Business

800-321-3526 Policy Holder Services

847.295-1145 Fax www.elcomutual.com

Apologies For Our Phone Problems!

Many of you along with some of our policyholders, and Lord knows how many others, were abused by ELCO’s telephone problems earlier in the month. A few callers couldn’t even get through. Some were abruptly disconnected. Many had to wait an agonizingly long time before being connected to the company. We are now assured that we are back on sound footing with our phone service. Our phone company believes that a virus slipped in. Did it or didn’t it? Will we ever know? Regardless, we feel very bad about this entire situation. We hope it will never take place again. 2014 Financial Report We are putting the finishing touches on our 2014 financial statement. So, look forward to seeing our Balance Sheet in the March issue of the PDQ which will have a full disclosure of the financial results. Indications are quite promising.

In this Issue 2 Bits and Pieces 3 Supreme Court Watch List 4 Medicare Changes

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Valentine’s Day

Don’t forget your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day which is February 14th.

Bits and Pieces of Trivia

The next time you have a no-show for one of your children’s birthday parties, send a bill. Apparently this was done in London where a 5 year old British boy was sent a bill by a classmate’s mother after he failed to attend his classmate’s birthday party. It amounted to the equivalent of $24 American dollars. We do not know if it was paid or not. A rather uncollectable bill, wouldn’t you think?

The fastest growing of all 50 U.S. states is North Dakota. It had a 2.2% growth during the period of July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2014. This beats out Texas and Nevada by a wide margin. Texas and Nevada both had 1.7% of growth during this same period of time. Colorado’s growth was 1.6%.

Alex Malarkey gained great notoriety after he survived a car accident and claimed that during his coma he was in heaven but brought back to earth. He thusly became the subject of the book “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven”. It is been revealed now that the whole story was nothing more than a hoax. Sounds like malarkey!

For the year 2015 Illinois prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from asking about a job applicant’s criminal history before conducting a personal interview or making a job offer.

Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their place of birth.

Production Department Quotes February 1, 2015

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s Watch List

The Supreme Court has a very lengthy docket of cases for their current session. Perhaps 4 of the most scrutinized cases will be:

The Affordable Care Act. This barely escaped reversal the last time it came before the High Court. It will now face another test in the case “Jane vs. Martine V. Burwell”. This time the issue is in the form of a challenge to the portion of the law that lets individuals benefit from tax subsidies when purchasing insurance through a federal exchange.

Same sex marriage. It’s been a little over a year since the courts granted same sex couples access to federal benefits. The ambiguity over whether LGBT Americans have the constitutional right to marry may lead the court to revisit the issue. Most federal courts have opted to allow gay marriage, but a handful of states have challenges emanating from their state attorney generals who could force the court’s hand.

Pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination has insured job protection for pregnant women for nearly 3 decades. The levitations of that measure are being tested at United Parcel Service, a case that could determine if women do indeed have the right to lighter or different workloads during pregnancy.

Religious freedom. The Hobby Lobby decision of 2014 established that corporations could have religious leanings. Now it will be seen just how far the Roberts court is willing to go. In Holt vs. Hobbs the court will determine if a muslim prisoner has the right to grow a beard against prison regulations.

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Production Department Quotes February 1, 2015

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Medicare Changes

The 2015 Medicare benefits are as follows:

PART A-Medicare pays all but a $1,260 deductible for the first 60 days in a hospital. From the 61st to the 90th day Medicare pays all but $315 per day and from the 91st to the 150th day, all but $630 per day. Nothing is paid by Medicare after 150 days.

New Employees

We have recently welcomed new employees Chris Kenley and Danette Ustanko to our staff.

Our new computer programmer, Chris Kenley, joined our ELCO IT team on December 8. Chris earned his Master of Science degree from DePaul University in 2012 and has been employed as a java developer since 2010. 2015 should be an exciting year with his input and collaboration in helping to move ELCO to the next level.

Danette Ustanko joined the New Business Department on January 12. She has spent 14 years as an Assistant General Manager of a hotel that is part of a chain in the area. Her customer service background, ability to multi-task and her attention to detail are skills that will make her a big success at ELCO.

February Birthdays

1 Diane Vrabel 3 Stephanie Kraemer 4 Evan Lackie 4 Judy Stultz 6 Aidan McConn 7 Diana Payne Kopatsis 9 Richard Leach 17 Marilyn Payne Gottlieb 19 Linda Barrick 20 David Lackie 24 Addison Leach

Production Department Quotes February 1, 2015

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