Omaha Insurance Solutions - December 2020

Omaha Insurance Solutions - December 2020

Club MED

December 2020

Rediscovering Christmas FROM CEREMONIES TO FAMILY CELEBRATIONS

Christmas has changed for me over time as my life has changed. From the time I was 25 to 42, Christmas was about confessions, services, and decorations. It was an incredibly busy but holy time in the parish. I would spend hours in the confessional. Christmas plays and rehearsals. Battles over whose child would play Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. The rectory was a forest of poinsettias until Christmas Eve when we could decorate the church. Christmas Day was a marathon. The children’s mass on the Eve, then Midnight Mass, an hour or two of sleep, then the day masses on Christmas Day. When it was all done around 2 p.m., I usually spent Christmas Day sleeping. I was always serving in a parish hours away from Omaha, so I could not get home to see my parents that day. After I left active, priestly ministry, my Christmases were more what most would consider normal. My first bachelor Christmas was probably typically bachelor. My only Christmas decoration was a Christmas tree magnet on the fridge. I had put up so many decorations in my time; I was no longer excited about decking out the halls for just me. After I met Bev, my future wife, I was busy working in my business, so I didn’t have the time for the “foofoo” stuff, as I called it. I admit I was a bit of a Scrooge. I had been burned out on Christmas because I was in the Christmas business, remember. My employer was the world’s biggest organization promoting Christmas — the Catholic Church. I ran one of the local branches — a parish. Bev likes to deck the halls. She re-educated me on the Christmas spirit. She also loves to cook. My interests were revived with sugar cookies, crème brulee, pumpkin cheesecake, and cheese grits. I had specific holiday duties. I was under orders to roll dough, cut cookies, and run to the grocery store to fetch ingredients. If I did not comply, she had a blow torch from glazing the crème brulee to incite compliance. The magic of Christmas began to come back. The real spark ignited when my step-granddaughter, Madison, was born. Watching her as she stared at the Christmas tree and the sparkling lights was magical. She would squeal when Santa appeared on TV or when a new present was added under the tree. When she was 2, she would help decorate the sugar cookies and hang ornaments.

I remember how unenthusiastic my parents seemed to be on Christmas morning when we would explode into their bedroom to proclaim Santa had been there. My father would growl humbug and tell us to get out. We were under death threat orders not to touch the presents until my parents arrived. My brothers and I would sit transfixed by the presents under the tree. Since none of us were interested in being beaten on Christmas Day, it was one of the few times we obeyed. We didn’t know our parents were exhausted from wrapping presents into the wee hours of the morning after we had finally gone to sleep. When Madison appeared at the side of our bed Christmas morning, imploring us to come downstairs, I finally realized why my parents had been so grumpy. I heard myself saying, “Humbug!” Eric, my son-in-law, moved up in his company, which resulted in a transfer. He took Rachelle, and the babies — Brooke came two and a half years later — to Orange County, California. We missed the time they lived with us and were in Omaha. When Brooke was 2 and Madison was 5, we had Christmas via FaceTime. At the time, we were in a little apartment in Lawrence, Kansas. We had a pathetic Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It was after the 2008 financial meltdown. Bev fired up the iPad, and we showed up in Eric and Rachelle’s living room a thousand miles away in California. It was a technological marvel. It was as though we were right there. The girls opened their presents, and we watched everything in real time. Madison unwrapped her presents and ran up to the camera to show us each one and thank us for what we got her. Brooke was more selective. She opened one package which contained some lovely underpants. She, however, did not feel the same way. The 2-year-old threw the gift at the camera in disgust, then dove back into the pile of presents to find a toy. She had a good arm. She hit the camera. For a few years, they all lived back in Omaha. It was a wonderful time. The Christmases were some of my best. Bev went crazy on the house decorations for the girls.

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Medicare Insurance Made Easy

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My family is not dissimilar. Eric and Rachelle are not churchgoers. Consequently, the children are not being formally raised in the Christian tradition. That, of course, is disheartening. I’m sure many of you have family members who likewise do not practice the faith tradition in which they were raised. Since I’ve married into the family, directly addressing the issue is off-limits for the most part. My father was pretty much a blunt instrument when it came to matters of the faith. His mother before him had the same stern Irish hand. It is not easy when they are not your blood children and grandchildren and even more so when in-laws are involved. So I pray, try to be a good example, and when they ask where I’m going on Sunday morning, I try to explain briefly. Even with the challenges of being a grandparent, I look forward to Christmas in ways I never have before. I couldn’t be more grateful for how my holidays have transformed over the years. Thank you so much for reading and for your loyal support during this crazy year.

Decorating sugar cookies became a standard family tradition, and Samantha was born. She is as sweet as the sugar cookies. Sam would never throw underwear at us. This year will be a challenge. Eric got another promotion a year ago, and they are now down in Bentonville, Arkansas. With COVID-19, we’re not sure what we will be doing. They also have Eric’s side of the family, who are in Texas. It will kill us not to spend Christmas with them. The fourth and newest member of the crew is Jake. Finally, a boy! He is a year and a half old. Jake likes football and other guy-related stuff even though the girls keep dressing him in pink and putting tiaras on his head. Jake rightly cries when they do that. As for gifts, he is probably too young for a shotgun or a 9 mm glock, but I’ll make sure he gets some Cornhusker stuff and at least one football. His poor, misguided father, unfortunately, is a University of Texas and Cowboys fan. I pray for him that he may see the light. Christmas also brings with it some disappointment. When I was in the parish, people would come out of the woodwork on Christmas Day. The church was beyond packed. We tried to do everything to make seasonal Catholics welcome and encourage them to practice their faith more actively, but attendance would quickly fall off after Christmas.

From everyone at Omaha Insurance Solutions, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

–Christopher J. Grimmond

How Did Medicare Become So Complicated? THE INCEPTION OF MEDICARE, PART II Both Medicare and the health care

determined a schedule of fees for different services and hospitals or providers who accepted Medicare were paid a set fee for their service. While Medicare pays much of the cost, it does not cover the full cost of all services. Certain deductibles and coinsurance provisions were established and are still used today. This has prompted insurance companies to design insurance products to fill in coverage gaps. Thus, Medigap policies and Medicare supplements were born. The Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Act of 1973 In the 1970s, health care started to evolve. Health maintenance organizations (HMO) were developed to keep health costs down. HMOs manage and coordinate care between a network of medical professionals and institutions. Patients who join an HMO pay a monthly fee, and all their health care procedures occur

within the HMO network. This approach soon became known as managed care, which emphasizes coordinating an individual’s health care services in order to maximize benefits and minimize costs. In 1973, Congress authorized Medicare to pay HMOs a monthly, per-person fee to provide care to Medicare beneficiaries. Out of those funds, an HMO was to provide health coverage to Medicare recipients. The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 strengthened that relationship. Since then, Medicare has entered into business with private companies to provide health care. As a result of this major shift, doctors and hospitals began billing insurance companies directly instead of Medicare. In future editions of this newsletter, you’ll see how this changes— and complicates — Medicare as we know it today.

industry have changed and gotten more complicated over the years. Here’s a look at some of those changes: The Original Plan: Parts A and B Medicare was originally divided into Part A for the hospital and Part B for doctor and outpatient procedures. Part A is designed like Social Security as a “pay ahead” program. It’s funded by payroll taxes, which are collected in the Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund, which citizens pay into during their working years. Part B is a voluntary program. Those who elect to participate in Part B pay a monthly premium, though most of the cost comes out of general tax revenues. Medicare Based on Fee for Service (FFS) The original payment structure for Medicare was fee for service — Medicare

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Testimonial

How Did ‘Home Alone’ Become a Christmas Classic?

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Its Release!

“Chris knows his stuff.” –Lenny M.

No holiday movie marathon is complete without “Home Alone,” the 1990 classic featuring Kevin McCallister whose family forgets him when they go on their Christmas vacation, which forces him on a whimsical quest to defend his home against two burglars. But how did the holiday classic come to be? After the failure of his movie “Heartbreak Hotel,” director Chris Columbus looked over a couple of scripts from John Hughes. He was immediately drawn to “Home Alone,” telling Entertainment Weekly in 2015, “Christmas is a time when people are at their happiest or at the most emotionally low place in their lives.” He added that that’s what made for such a “great backdrop” for the movie. Finding the kid wasn’t any trouble because Hughes wrote the script with Macaulay Culkin specifically in mind. Columbus still auditioned hundreds of kids, but when Culkin arrived, he knew Hughes was right. He later explained to EW, “He doesn’t look like one of these Hollywood-perfect kids. His ear is bent a little bit. He had a great voice that was not annoying; it was just charming, and he was really funny.” The house in “Home Alone” — located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois — has also become famous over the years, turning it into a tourist attraction. But it took the director a while to agree to use the home in the film. It was crucial that the house fit the gags of the movie, had great stunt potential, and showed well on film. It needed to look both “warm and menacing,” said Columbus. “It’s the kind of house, if you were a kid, it would be fun to be left home alone in.” The actual shooting was a lot of fun, of course. There were plenty of notable improvisations, like the famous aftershave scream and John Candy’s hilarious story about leaving his kid at a funeral home. However, the stunts were nerve- wracking! Columbus says that the crew never laughed until they saw that the stuntpeople were “absolutely fine.” Once they got up, the crew was relaxed enough to laugh.

Nothing pulls together a salad quite like a delicious Caesar dressing. This easy vegan recipe takes just five minutes to make and keeps for 5–7 days in the fridge. Simple Vegan Caesar Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup hummus • 5 cloves garlic, minced • 1 tsp spicy mustard • 1 tbsp lemon juice • 1/2 tsp lemon zest • 2 tsp capers, minced

• 3 tsp caper brining juice • 1 tbsp olive oil • Salt and pepper, to taste • Hot water, as needed

“Home Alone” was released on Nov. 16, 1990, to mixed reviews by critics but was an instant hit with audiences. It broke box office records and was the highest- grossing film of the year, making over $17 million. It even earned a Guinness World Record as the highest-grossing live-action comedy. From everyone at Omaha Insurance Solutions, we hope you get to enjoy it this Christmas season! Happy holidays!

Directions

1. In a small bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine. 2. If needed, add a bit of hot water to thin the dressing until it will pour. 3. Serve with salad or refrigerate for later!

Inspired by MinimalistBaker.com

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INSIDE This Issue

1

Rediscovering Christmas

2

How Did Medicare Become So Complicated?

3

How Did ‘Home Alone’ Become a Christmas Classic?

3

Simple Vegan Caesar Dressing

4

The Surprising History of the Snowman

THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF THE SNOWMAN Not Just a Corn Cob Pipe and Button Nose

The Schenectady Massacre Not all snowmen have an innocent history. In 1690, former Fort Schenectady in upstate New York was home to a remote Dutch settlement, which was under the constant threat of attack. Soldiers guarded the gates at all times because they were frozen open, but during a blizzard, they left a pair of snowmen to protect the gates while they sought shelter. That’s when 200

Building a snowman is one of the most picturesque winter activities, which is why snowmen have become a wintertime cultural icon. A snowman appeared on the very first postcards, was the subject of some of the earliest photos, and even starred in silent movies. Frosty may be a happy snowman now, but his ancestors have a much more varied — and sometimes dark — history. The Middle Ages Snowmen were a phenomenon in the Middle Ages. They were constructed with deep thought and great skill because, during a time of limited means of expression, snow was a free art supply that literally fell from the sky. These artistic feats were popular winter attractions for well-to-do couples who wanted to get their fix of temporary art. Snowmen were often

created by famous artists, including 19-year-old Michelangelo who, in 1494, was commissioned by the ruler of Florence to sculpt a snowman in his mansion’s courtyard. The Miracle of 1511 In Brussels in 1511, during six weeks of subzero temperatures called the Winter of Death, the city was

miraculously adorned with hundreds of snowmen. The spectacle told stories on every street corner — some political and some demonstrating anger with the church, many too risque to speak of. For the

French Canadian soldiers and Native Americans approached. Naturally, they were unfazed by the snowmen and ruthlessly invaded the settlement.

Building a snowman seems like a simple and charming activity, but after learning about its surprising history, you might find those piles of snow seem a little more complicated and a lot more meaningful than before.

people of Brussels, this Miracle of 1511 was a defining moment of artistic freedom. But when spring came and the snow thawed, the Belgians were left with damaging floods.

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