It was a little disconcerting to sign into our Zoom Rotary meeting this Wednesday. Several unfamiliar faces appeared on the screen which caused me to wonder if I had joined someone else’s meeting by mistake. But further perusal and I sighted President Bob and Dan Firestone patiently awaiting the session.
Over the next 15 minutes, several others, both Rotarians and guests, signed in and the meeting was called to order at 12:15 p.m. Among the guests with local connections were Conor Martin and Beverly Leone while from outposts across the country were our guest speaker, Robert Luisana and his guests, Sal Sinsigalli, Susan Wolf and Sierra Saykeo. A healthy turn out of East Hartford Rotarians were present as well.
District 7890 Installation Next Week
President Bob, smarting at my reference to his previous bell giving off a tinkle rather than a peal, introduced his new acquisition, a “boom bell” from Block Island. Highly effective, well played. Bob lead us in the pledge and provided this week’s invocation. Having no buffet table to send us to, Bob proceeded to some announcements.
To wit:
No noon meeting next week. Instead members are invited to join the District 7890 Installation meeting at 6 p.m. Both newly minted District Governor Marc Glass and two-term President Bob Buettner will be installed along with club presidents from throughout the District. Not too late to sign up for this event. Just go to our home page, East Hartford Rotary.org and click on District 7890 on top bar. Once there, click on the Installation event notice on the right side of the page and follow directions to register. Meeting ID is 847 8152 9475.
Also, on Wednesday, June 17th, EHRC will participate in East Hartford’s census count. Volunteer members will contact East Hartford residents and encourage them to fill out the census forms and submit them online. Not too late to volunteer to help.
On June 24th, EHRC will install our 2020-2021 officers and board members at our regular meeting at noon.
Larry Hangland sent word that the Scholarship Committee has chosen six recipients for our $2,000 scholarships for the coming year: Jamkie Koski, Erina Aguillar, Angelena Alfonso, Megan Orobello and Michelle Zhen.
Bob requested that in absence of the Sergeant at Arms at these Zoom meetings that anyone wanting to contribute for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special events, do so by sending a check directly to George Schoen. Also, we continue to collect lunch money for Covid 19 relief efforts. Again, pass on to George.
In our thoughts
In other business, Bill Saunders reported that Dick McCarthy continues to make slow progress and that Debbie Wood has returned home from an overnight hospital stay. And Laura Floyd requested we sing Happy Birthday to mark her natal anniversary day this Friday. A non-harmonious effort was put forth.
US Healthcare system comes up short
Our guest speaker was introduced by Anwar Hossain today and he is a 1967 graduate of Penney High School by the name of Bob Luisana. Bob has spent his career as a healthcare broker, and he was here to talk about the American healthcare system. He started off by noting that America already has a Universal Health Care system and it is called the “emergency room.” This system is both expensive and inefficient.
In fact, there are between 20 to 40 million Americans who are either uninsured or underinsured in the richest country in the world. While we claim to have the best trained doctors and the best medical equipment in the world, our costs for individual health insurance are more than double on average what any other developed nation pays and our life expectancy in the U.S. ranks between 20 – 30th in the world. And the system of paying medical bills is a black hole that is impossible for most people to understand.
Bob explained there are three options for configuring the American health system. The first is the private insurance option dominated by for profit companies we currently enjoy. The second is to change to a public Medicare option which would allow those with a health care plan to enroll in Medicare which is more efficient and costs considerably less. And third, we could move to a Universal Health Care model where everyone is provided insurance and access to needed health care. Currently the USA is the only first world county (out of 34) to not offer some form of Universal Health Care.
Bob engaged the club in a discussion of these options and provided us with a lot of food for thought. Given the political implications and the money poured into lobbying by both the insurance providers and the medical community, considerable challenges face any attempts to reform our current system. Interesting presentation. Thanks, Anwar.
Remember, no noon meeting next week. Hope to see you at the District Installation Zoom session.
