NEWSLETTER FOR CLAIM VOLUNTEERS

VOL. 5, NO. 1 Winter 2016

Looking Back

John M. Huff

Director of DIFP

Carol Beahan

Director of CLAIM

CBeahan@primaris.org

A note from Carol

During my tenure as director of the department, the state has faced a number of significant challenges while the country was amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Department regulators assisted with guiding the state’s financial industries back from the brink of crisis by working to ensure stability and solvency. Between 2008 and 2012, the department saw 16 banks fail in Missouri, two national banks, one federal thrift and 13 state-chartered

banks. Despite these failures, the department’s team ensured that no Missourians lost any portion of their deposits. In fact, Missourians didn’t even experience interruptions in their banking services as a result of

these failures, which is a testament to the work and dedication of our career regulators.

In addition to the financial uncertainty of the banking industry, Missouri’s infamous mercurial weather presented a number of catastrophic events. Looking back, the first real challenge occurred when a massive ice storm struck parts of Southeast Missouri, causing widespread damage and power outages. In response, the

Along with Open Enrollment, the big event this quarter was “Mystery on the Medicare Express,” the CLAIM and SMP Volunteer Training Conference. For those of you interested in recap of the presentations from the conference, PowerPoints and pictures are available via the Volunteers section of the CLAIM website. We hope you enjoyed the exhibitors and visited with CLAIM community partners that presented poster presentations. While we had a lot of fun during the event, it was also a vital training opportunity for attendees. So, we were thrilled when our evaluations showed the workshops were successful in providing updates regarding Medicare Part D and the Plan Finder, Medicare Advantage Plans and Medigaps, informative websites, public speaking, fraud and abuse, diabetes education, and MO HealthNet.

We are also very grateful we were able to collaborate with our friends at

the Missouri Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), and would like to extend a sincere thank you to John Huff, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration, and Carol Scott with the National Ombudsman Resource Center. We hope you solved some mysteries, connected within someone you didn’t know and enjoy the opportunity to learn in a conference environment.

Annual Open Enrollment ended on Dec. 7, but CLAIM’s work still continues. We are currently assisting baby boomers enrolling into Medicare for the first time and

Medicare Advantage disenrollment is allowed through February. In addition, our counselors are still working on assisting people with low-income subsidy changes and all the other enrollment issues that crop up over the year.

For all of us, Open Enrollment season is very stressful time, but it is also a very rewarding time as we work to help members of our community get the help and assistance they need. We are always on the lookout for your heartwarming stories of how we made a difference in someone’s life, so please take a moment this holiday season to send us your favorite story from this year’s open enrollment! You can find the “Great Story” submission form under the Forms & Worksheets dropdown on the Forms & Guides page in the CLAIM website’s Volunteers section. We know that you made a difference in all that you served during this time

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Winter 2016

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SATELLITE SITES ARE LISTED BELOW THEIR MAIN SITE WITH A * IN FRONT OF THEM.

Partners celebrating CLAIM anniversaries for Oct. – Dec. 2016

17 YearMercy Hospital Washington

14 YearLake Regional Health System

12 YearCitizens Memorial Healthcare* Butterfield Residential Care Center* CMH Health Care Facility* CMH Institute for Pain Man-agement* CMH Senior Health Center* Community Springs Health-care Facility* Humansville Family Medical Center* Pleasant Hope Family Medical Center

9 YearOzark Action Inc.* Ozark Action Inc. - Douglas County* Ozark Action Inc. - Howell County* Ozark Action Inc. - Oregon County* Ozark Action Inc. - Ozark County* Ozark Action Inc. - Texas County* Ozark Action Inc. - Wright County

8 YearImmanuel UCCSeniorAge Area Agency on Ag-ing* Ava Senior Center* Southwest AAA - Gainesville

7 YearBi-Lingual International Assis-tant ServicesDisabled Citizens Alliance for IndependenceAccess II Independent Living Center Inc.

6 YearFirst UMC of WarsawJohn Knox VillageSwope Ridge Geriatric Center

5 YearPalmer CenterHousing Authority of Kansas City, Missouri* Brush Creek Towers* Dunbar Gardens* Pemberton HeightsMonroe City Senior Nutrition Center* Palmyra Nutrition CenterPike County Memorial HospitalShelby County Senior Citizens AssociationTexas County Memorial Hospi-tal

4 YearBirch Tree PlaceSt. Charles City-County Library: Middendorf-Kredell Branch* St. Charles City-County Li-brary - Spencer Road Branch* St. Charles City-County Library: Corporate Parkway Branch

1 YearUniversity City Public LibraryUniversity of Missouri Exten-sion - New Madrid CountyNaturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC)

New this periodCommunity Counseling Center

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19 YearRona McNally

18 YearTreva WarrickValerie Sharlin

15 YearJoyce WhiteRichard Priest

12 YearKathleen Eichhorst

11 YearSherrie Poppa

10 YearKathy ChristopheneJim DayJo MastinMarie Tommie

9 YearCarol Johnson

7 YearDon Fues

6 YearBertina MarkworthJoyce WilliamsLarry HouserPaul MazzaraSarah WilliamsHeather DunnLisa HatfieldRosana Williams

5 YearCharlotte OnstottNelson OttoStacey ChildsJanice PiperJudy KesemanLinda Nicoli

4 Year Beverly CraigCindy CarlsonErrica GriffinCarolyn HarrisDiane GollihughJessica SchrimpfJodi LehmanLeticia CollopLois “Jeanette” SparksRosy Lehmer

3 YearStacey GilkesonBetty OrtegaCarolyn PrimCindy CarrJeanne ChambersKaren EdenMiranda WilsonPeggy WalkerTracey Weaver

2 YearDon ChaseElizabeth Swanson

1 YearJeannie LahmanBridget BurkeKerri BowesMary FarmerPamela StoneDi “Christina” Yin

New VolunteersBobby McKeeCheri ChilesCristin BadolatoCynthia KimballJessica MoranJody CockrumMary Pyatt

Volunteers and Staff celebrating CLAIM anniversaries for Oct. - Dec. 2016

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and deeply appreciate the additional time and commitment it takes during this time of year.

Looking forward to the new year, I’m thrilled to announce that CLAIM will be hosting all-day regional conference training and luncheon events throughout the state. These events will feature guest speakers, training and a recognition luncheon. If you have a speaker in mind that you would like to recommend, please let your Regional Liaison know. Region 2 can send suggestions to me at cbeahan@primaris.org. We will keep you posted as plans develop.

As always, outreach is important for awareness and education and many of you enjoy attending the health and community fairs, presenting, and distributing materials. To better coordinate and extend outreach activities regional liaisons will be establishing an outreach team. Watch for more information to come in early 2017.

Do you have a topic you would like more training on? Beginning in April 2017, our trainers will host two webinars each month. One will be for newer volunteers and those who want a refresher course on the basics, while the second one will feature guest

speakers and more in-depth training. If you have ideas or suggestions for our new webinar program, please send them along to your regional liaison.

Finally, on behalf of all of the CLAIM Team, we would like to thank you for all the hard work and dedication you have shown during the past year. Without your assistance and your commitment we would not have been able to make a difference in the lives of so many Missourians. We thank you, and wish you a joyous and happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2017.

A note from Carol continued.

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Winter 2016

Presidential Volunteer Service Award

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The Presidential Volunteer Service Award is part of the Corporation for National & Community Service that engages more than five million Americans in results-driven services each year. CLAIM is proud to be one of the certifying agencies. Being a part of this important calling allows us a way to celebrate you as volunteers making an impact and bettering our communities. We distributed these awards to volunteers in attendance at the 2016 CLAIM/SMP Volunteer Conference October 6th and 7th.

The award package includes a signed letter from President Obama, a certificate, and a lapel pin. For those of you that received the award, wear the pin with pride as you’ve earned it. On behalf of all the staff at CLAIM, thank you for all of your service to your community.

Based on their contribution of time to our program during the 2015 calendar year, the following volunteers qualified for a Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Qualification for this award is for volunteer service. Volunteers that employed by their counseling location are not eligible for this particular award.

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REGION NAME COUNSELINGSITE HOURSSERVED AWARD

1 DianaClarke Primaris/CLAIM 181 Bronze1 JamesDickerson Jack'sSportingGoodsandHardware 127 Bronze1 DonFues Primaris/CLAIM 168 Bronze

1 JoMastin Lebanon-LacledeCountyLibraryandMissouriOzarksCommunityAction,Inc. 434 Silver

1 BobMurray Primaris/CLAIM 266 Silver1 PaulaNichols Primaris/CLAIM 141 Bronze

1 JoshuaWilliams(AmeriCorps) Primaris/CLAIM 225 Silver

2 JuliaAllen(AmeriCorps) O'FallonParkRecreationComplex 548 Gold

2 SandraAshurst LincolnCountyCouncilonAging 217 Bronze2 DianeBradley MarylandHeightsCommunityCenter 181 Bronze2 ChristineBuckley CORPSouthCounty 128 Bronze

2 DeloresClayton(AmeriCorps) ImmanuelUCC 231 Bronze

2 LorettaEllis(AmeriCorps) ChristianHospitalNortheast 212 Bronze

2 DorothyErickson CORPSouthCounty 125 Bronze2 ThomasJaskiewicz St.Anthony'sMedicalCenter 187 Bronze2 JudyLeach BarnesJewishWestCountyHospital 113 Bronze2 PamMuhlenkamp BarnesJewishWestCountyHospital 140 Bronze

4 GlendaHunter(AmeriCorps)

UniversityofMissouriExtension-NewMadridCounty 283 Silver

4 ChristiSitton PharmaxPharmacy–Leadington 114 Bronze

4 MicheleWelker(AmeriCorps) APPLEProject 611 Gold

5 LynnAulbach MercyHospitalSpringfield 101 Bronze5 RuthBarrett AvaSeniorCenter 125 Bronze

5 BelvaIngramFreemanHealthSystem,

MercyFamilyMedicine–Neosho,andMercyHospitalJoplin

109 Bronze

5 MichaelMiller MercyHospitalSpringfield 232 Bronze

5 LindaParsons(AmeriCorps)

FreemanHealthSystemandMercyHospitalSpringfield 766 Gold

5 RamonaTeeter MercyHospitalSpringfield 396 Silver6 PeterBrake Shepherd'sCenterofKansasCityCentral 189 Bronze6 KendallFitzpatrick NorthlandShepherd'sCenter 221 Bronze

6 LarryHouser NorthlandShepherd'sCenterandWestportCooperativeServices 166 Bronze

6 SherriePoppa InterfaithCommunityServices 270 Silver6 JohnVivian NorthlandShepherd'sCenter 202 Bronze6 LanaWattenbarger WestportCooperativeServices 239 Bronze6 TerryWickham InterfaithCommunityServices 356 Silver6 JoyceWilliams Shepherd'sCenterofKansasCityCentral 103 Bronze7 LouiseLemen MonroeCitySeniorNutritionCenter 129 Bronze7 CindyThompson HeartlandRSVP 132 Bronze

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Winter 2016

Volunteers and Staff celebrating birthdays for Oct. — Dec. 2016

OctoberAmber HoneyfieldAnneliese StoeverBrian HenningCarolyn HarrisDan DildineDenise SchimwegJames DickersonJean MitchellJeffrey BrickJoyce WilliamsJudy LeachKaren EdenKathy ChristopheneKaye FairKumar TirwaLiz McClellandLori RethornLouise LemenLynn AulbachMary FarmerMichael MillerMitchell UrePamela StonePaul VillhardRona McNallyRonald McLaughlinSandy WilliamsShanna BakerTamieka LewisTammie MartinVerna DanielsYvonne Almore

NovemberBarbara RogersCathy WaldrepChristi SittonChristina JonesChristine WilsonEvelyn “Darlene” Orn-burneGary LoarGesina BingamanJamie GillmoreJohn “Dennis” MeyersJohn HoboldJohn TaliaferroJulia AllenKelly HookKevin McDonoughLana WattenbargerLinda JohnstonLinda NicoliMartha MillardMeagan BrazerRichard MuellerRobin WilloughbyRochelle HendricksonSusan Wahl-ArnoldValentina Adams

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DecemberAimee WatsonAlexandrea HomerAndrew BrackenBonnie ThomasChristi DykstraDan WeinbergDaphne AlcornDarrell HendricksonDeborah EllisDiana HatcherDiana HendrixDorothy CrooksEdward HardenburgHoma ZaferJamie JamesJamie SaundersJean GoodenJeanette LangtonJessica DrosteJohn HellerKathleen RoachKay BarbeeLiz YokleyMary NorwoodMichele ColemanMike NilgesNorma CollinsRamona TeeterRandy BarronRuth BarrettSamantha SchnellSherilyn BenderStacey GilkesonThinh NguyenToni DetwilerTreva Warrick

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Also, check out the new look of our website at

Please “like” and follow us at

The volunteer section also has been updated.

missouriclaim.org

facebook.com/missouriclaim

is published quarterly by CLAIM and the Missouri Department of Insurance for CLAIM volunteers throughout Missouri. If you have suggestions for the newsletter, email Jason Tyler at jtyler@primaris.org or call 800-735-6776, extension 227.

State Health Insurance Assistance Program

DIFPDepartment of Insurance,Financial Institutions &Professional Registration

state health insuranceassistance programs

LOCAL HELP FOR PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE

NATIONALNETWORK

department dispatched a number of representatives to the area to discuss impending claims with the impacted policyholders in person. It’s an approach the department implemented as part of its ongoing consumer outreach mission of educating Missouri consumers and letting them know that they are not alone during times of need.

It goes without saying that 2011 was a year against which all future years will be measured. On May 22, 2011, Joplin was devastated by a tornado that claimed the lives of 161 people. As the community began its recovery efforts, it became apparent that the state was facing the largest insurance event in its history. As part of the state’s response, I accompanied Gov. Nixon to survey the damage. I also met one-on-one with major insurers at their designated response centers to monitor the situation on the

ground. In addition to ensuring that consumers’ claims were paid, the department was tasked with making sure insurance companies remained solvent amid the influx of claims. The department’s Division of Consumer Affairs maintained a strong local presence following the tornado, helping victims locate and understand their insurance policies and assisting them as they worked through the claims and recovery processes. Without question, the insurance industry fueled Joplin’s recovery, paying more than $1 billion in claims within the first 100 days following the tornado.

I also very much appreciate the volunteer counseling services offered by CLAIM during my tenure. You play a key role in helping Medicare beneficiaries and their families make good choices and avoid a stressful time during open enrollment. When

I am asked questions about Medicare, I always point them to CLAIM for its free, unbiased service. Thank you again for your service to Missourians.

The department and the CLAIM program and its volunteers have a bright future. We have been working on the orderly transition of government over the last several months, and while it has been my privilege to serve, the great work of career regulators will continue. The department is looking forward to working with new administrations at both state and federal levels.

Looking Back continued.

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