Club Business
President Dick O’Donnell presided. Pete Beck led the prayer and pledge of allegiance to our flag.
Guests Today:
- Kara Perry is a student at Guilford College who works with our speaker. She was on hand to run the slide show.
- Savannah Bernston is the current president of the Western High School Interact Club. She reported that the club is participating in Christmas Cheer and the Rotary Christmas Packathon.
- Jason Richmond owns Protected PC Services, an IT security company that serves local businesses. Jason informed us of what he considers to be a non-invasive, anonymous, and secure app for our phones that can warn us if we have been exposed to Covid-19. Here is the link – https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/slowcovidnc
- Rob Luisana is a member of the Greensboro Rotary Club and the owner of Luisana Financial Services.
Member Spotlight
Dick introduced our newest member, Tim Hinton, an agent with Thrivent Financial. He is married to Nicky Hinton, a nurse at ARMC. He has a biological son who is 16, three stepsons, and a four-year-old granddaughter. Before joining our club, Tim helped start the Hillsborough Civitan Club. After moving here, he decided that Rotary is more compatible to what he hopes to accomplish in the community. He attended seminary in Indiana, working part time in the financial industry. Upon graduation, he realized he would rather make a career in finances, in which he has done most everything over the last 27 years. He tries to blend a pastor’s heart with expert financial advice to best assist his clients. He is a member of First Baptist Church in Mebane, which is pastored by a former member of our club, Sammy Ballard. Tim is a fan of all things UNC, the Panthers, and the Hurricanes. Attending the third game of the Stanley Cup Finals in a Sky Box was a highlight for him. He loves golf and martial arts. He is a 4th degree black belt. He and his wife instruct others in Karate. Upon learning about Grand Master “Sean” Lee’s proficiency in the sport, Tim cleared the air by saying Lee would definitively win if they squared off. Lee said he would accept that, thus avoiding a potential escalation of the matter. 🙂
Program: Rob Luisana: Healthcare Reform
Rob Luisana has 35 years of experience in healthcare. He is currently a benefits consultant in Greensboro and owner of Luisana Financial Services. His topic today looked at problems in our healthcare system and ways to reform it so that the “greatest nation in the world” will not leave some 40 million people stranded without healthcare / insurance.
Rob said we already have a form of socialized medicine in the form of universal access to emergency room services, the cost of which is passed on those who have insurance. This is not cost effective or a good way to handle this. Many people get in trouble by trying to “tough out” their malady. He remarked that even though we have the world’s best healthcare, we do not see similar attainments in the general health of our citizens. Part of the problem with our healthcare system is that our reimbursement system to doctors and hospitals ends up with payments being “all over the place,” with huge differences based on individual negotiations and whether or not a patient is on Medicare or Medicaid. He said this is very confusing and inefficient, requiring more administrators than physicians.
What is the solution? Rob gave three possibilities.
- Private insurance, which would trust competition in the free market to make things better.
- A buy-in option for medicare.
- Universal health care in some form, at least at a basic level.
He said the three factors that will have to be addressed are costs, waiting times, and choice. Even though cost analysis for universal health care varies tremendously, Rob thinks that a great nation like the USA should be able to figure this out. It might help bring us together.
Conclusion
Dick closed the meeting by leading us in reciting the Four Way Test.