THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 4, 2005
President Clancy Fauntleroy opened the meeting with 172 members present. Membership is 519 with no one waiting. New members Dennis Danelowski, John Steer, and Nick Yanicelli were introduced and welcomed.
Announcements: Dick DePatie announced that Bill Hart died, John Newman was at Waveny, and Phil Toll and Barry McMennamin were home. Bob Shafter told us all to come out and vote, Joe Elmlinger told us all to come out and pay our dues, and Charlie Morris reminded us about the annual Christmas luncheon on 12/9. Bert Liebelt proposed a new cooking club for the SMC lead by Marvin Newman. See Bert or Marvin if interested. Pete Stair said senior metro discount applications were available on the back table. He also had tickets available for this year's Army/Navy game in Philadelphia on 12/3.
Activities: Bridge, racquetball and paddle carry on as usual. 4Fs is off this month, Skyblazers meet at Lapham on 11/14.
Couth: 12/5 we go to Stamford to see the Three Irish Tenors, and 1/18 is a trip to the city to see the off Broadway show "Jewtopia" and dinner at Le Rivage.
Humorist: George Perkins told a story about how an e-mail message went awry falling into the hands of a grieving minister's widow causing great angst.
Speaker: Vice President Dick DePatie introduced Roy Riggio, who along with Bill Emmons and Michael Wong gave us insight into the Medicare part D drug program and the choices involved. Mr. Riggio started off the speech with an overview of the program and was followed by Mr. Emmons who went into more of the details. Mr. Riggio's main points were that you must already be covered by Medicare plan A or B, there is no rush to join because you have until next 5/15, you can join late without penalty if you are already covered by a creditable drug program, and part D is not automatic, you must apply for it and pick out which plan you want to use. He also stressed that the Internet is a good source of information, better than phone, which is greatly dependent on the knowledge of the person at the other end. Mr. Emmons then took over and discussed the various plans of which there are 44 and all vary by different deductibles, coverage, and costs, the most basic being $32.50 a month. There are four important factors when choosing the plan. Most important is does the plan cover the drugs you are taking and the cost of the drugs, which are classified as generic, preferred, and non-preferred. The non-preferred are the most expensive. Second, does the plan cover the area in which you live or travel, third, which pharmacies are covered and is mail order part of that coverage, and finally, what is the cost of the plan given all the various factors? Gentlemen call your local CPA or get out those calculators; your work is definitely cut out for you.
Eric Musa, Sectretary