Cynthia Gentleman is a District Director and James Westfall is an Assistant Scout Executive with the Northeast Illinois Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Cynthia serves the North Shore area which includes the communities of Winnetka, Wilmette, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Skokie, Evanston, Golf, Glenview, Northbrook, and Northfield. She works with over 1,000 scouting volunteers providing a program to 3,000 scouts and their families.
Cynthia is a Rotarian with the Glenview Noon Club and James is a Rotarian with the Gurnee Rotary Club.
Announcements: Tom Nash reminded everyone that we have no meeting on Thanksgiving Day and that our December 7th meeting will feature the New Trier Swing Choir. Brooke reminded everyone that November 30 is the deadline for our community grants applications. Barb said that we need 7 or 8 more volunteers to help the Glenview Youth Service organization wrap gifts for needy children on December 8th. This service would be needed from 2:00-3:00 and volunteers should contact Barb for the details.
Happy Bucks were given by Ned Misner for his successful presentation on planned giving before the Northbrook Rotary—which, by the way, added a 5th “four-way test” which is to “have fun” as a Rotarian. Rich Lalley contributed due to the help received by Tom Nash and Fred Schwimmer in delivering coats for kids. David Birkenstein contributed because the Club’s recent get- well card to his wife, Mary, meant so much to both Mary and David.
SPEAKER: Peter W. Butler, Professor and Chairman, Department of Health Systems Management at Rush University (Chicago). Mr. Butler was introduced by David to give us an update on this Country’s evolving health policy landscape. He pointed out that the tax reform effort has involved the individual mandate under ACA. Revoking the requirement that everyone buy health insurance would save the government about 300 billion dollars. He said that health insurance is becoming the most important issue, as evidenced in Virginia where 37% of the recent voters said that it was their number one priority. Even states that opted out of extending Medicaid due to the potential cost are now rethinking that decision—Maine residents recently voted in a ballot initiative to have the state extend such coverage. Recent surveys show 60% of our population think that health insurance coverage is the responsibility of the government and 66% think that ACA should be amended, not repealed. These issues along with spending caps, DACA resolution, border wall funding and hurricane relief will all be part of the upcoming government funding bill which needs to be resolved by December 8th.
Mr. Butler’s power point indicated that there are 55 million people on Medicare; 74 million on Medicaid; 155 million that have employer-based insurance; 18 million who get insurance on the exchanges (about 6% of the total); and 30 million don’t have any coverage. He said that ACA works for most everyone except the 6% that use the exchanges, which is the part provided by private insurance companies. He said that the Republican bills to get rid of the individual mandate would save about 300 billion by not paying subsidies and that they would argue that that would cut the cost of the proposed tax reductions in their tax reform bills. He said that eliminating the mandate would result in the number of current uninsured of 30 million to increase to 43 million immediately and to 49 million in the next 10 years. This would also raise the premiums paid by those using the exchanges by at least 10%.
Surveys show that healthcare costs in the U.S. are double those in other developed countries, but that out health outcomes (life expectancy, infant mortality and safety during childbirth, asthma and diabetes) are 30% or less effective than such countries as Switzerland, Iceland, Italy and Poland. The reason for our high costs is that our hospitals pay higher salaries for doctors, nurses and other professionals, and spend more for capital improvements, medical devices and drugs. Our Medicare program pays the market rates for drugs, which is much higher than what our Medicaid and VA programs, and other countries pay. (One of our Club members mentioned that she was able to reduce the cost of her employer plan by buying drugs in Canada which were 1/6 of the cost in the U.S.) Mr. Butler said it takes too long for generic drugs to be available to the public and that virtually everyone wants to reduce drug costs, except for the pharma industry and their lobbyists!
Mr. Butler then mentioned that our citizens’ life expectancies and personal health are determined more by environmental factors such as diet, jobs and education than by the availability of healthcare services and street violence. He said you can predict expectancy based on zip codes even though they may be adjacent areas in the same city. For example, there is up to a 16 year difference in expectancy between people living in the Chicago Loop and near-West neighborhoods, where Rush is located.
Mr. Butler predicted that the 2018 national elections will have a lot to do with where the country goes with these problems. He reviewed the number of Republicans and Democrats up for re-election in the Senate and the Republican majority in the House and said that it will be another close vote. In Illinois, he thought Pritzker had the edge to win the governor’s spot. He ended his presentation by saying that he hoped that we didn’t give back to the states the money and responsibility to run their Medicaid programs and that the ACA should be revised, not repealed.
Mr. Butler’s power point presentation is available by clicking the following link:
Nearly one in five American children live in poverty. More than 400,000 in the Chicago metro area.
For these families, deciding between food, rent, heat and medicine takes priority. Many children have to go without a coat during the cold Chicago winter.
You can help to bring hope,happiness and warmth to children living in need in Chicagoland with the gift of a brand-new winter coat. Your gift will help to improve a child's self-esteem, school attendance and overall wellness.
Our Goal is to Give 500 Children Brand-New Winter Coats Give today at www.operationwarm.org/wnrotary Or send a check payable to WNRCF to Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield 620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka IL 60093
We partner with schools and non-profits serving disadvantaged children, including Inner City Impact in Cicero, Holy Family Ministries school in Chicago, Hope Community Church in Chicago, Open Arms Mission in Antioch, Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook (holiday gift program), Jewish Council for Youth Services in Highwood and Family Promise Chicago North Shore.
This year, we are also partnering with the Chicago Public Library on an innovative program that gives a new coat at the libratry, bringing children into a library of the first time.
Your donation will go to Operation Warm, our partner since 2009. They provide us with brand-new, high-quality, warm winter coats for our children. Operation Warm is a GuideStar Platinum-rated nonprofit and has helped over 2 million children since 1998.
The video below was sent to us last winter as a gesture of THANKS from Holy Family Ministries.
How many children can you help keep warm this winter?
Our Rotary Club's Charitable Foundation is now accepting tax deductible donations for our Hurricane Relief Fund. Donations may be made by credit card here:
Our Foundation's Board will take direction from Rotary Leaders regarding where to direct our funds. Here is a letter received from our represntative on Rotary International's Board of Directors Robb Knuepfer:
Dear District and Zone Leaders:
As you have been reading in the news, severe rainfall has caused historic flooding along the Texas coast, including in Houston, the fourth largest city by population in the United States. Deluged towns in the region are in desperate need of aid as thousands of residents were forced to flee their homes. About 6.8 million people have been affected by the hurricane, which made landfall on 25 August.
Late last week, Presidential Aide Don Mebus and Past RI Director Greg Podd hosted a strategy conference call with governors from Districts 5930, 5840, 5890, 5910 and 6200 in Texas and Louisiana to develop a cohesive response.
A Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Donor Advised Fund (DAF) has been established by Greg Podd and President-Elect Barry Rassin through The Rotary Foundation to collect relief contributions. Don and Greg are working with leaders from the affected districts to create a process for disbursing DAF funds to their respective district foundations or local 501c3 organizations to support local relief efforts.
Updated information about contributing to the Gulf Coast DAF is available on the Rotary website. This page will continue to be updated as needed. Contribution information is also attached to this email.
ShelterBox, Rotary’s partner for disaster relief, is providing tents for use as ‘privacy tents’ to be pitched within the convention centers housing families that have been evacuated.
Please circulate the news about Rotary’s relief efforts to Rotarians in your district. Please direct inquiring Rotarians to the web story on Rotary.org for the most up-to-date information or to contact RI by writing to relief@rotary.org.
