A Special Thank You to the Minneapolis VA Health Care System...

Thank you to the dedicated staff and volunteers of the Minneapolis VA Health Care System for their time, energy, and support for an exceptional 2014 Veterans Day Event.  Here are a few of the highlights!!

Bill Frenzel…a Real Class Act!

November 18, 2014

Bill Frenzel…A Real Class Act

Morning newspapers throughout the country announced the death of former Minnesota Congressman Bill Frenzel yesterday.

If there ever was such a thing as a gentleman and a person you could look up to, Bill epitomized that view in my opinion.  I did not have much contact with him but I remember two things.  One was running across him and his wife outside the White House on a lovely warm day.  We just had some pleasant chatter and this chance meeting was characterized by graciousness.  The other time that sticks with me was many years ago at a political gathering where he introduced VP Nelson Rockefeller in an uncustomary manner.  My guess is that both had been at Dartmouth College.

My brother Bruce and he were both at Brookings and they had set up monthly lunches so I was informed about his doings.  Last month Bill begged off the lunch for health reasons.

Bill was a St. Paul native where attended St. Paul Academy.  He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives before moving on to Congress where he served with distinction.  Bill, thank you; Ruthy, thank you for being the model political wife.

 http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/282955951.html

 http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/282970211.html

Bob Smith, 3rd

P.S. - We did visit the Oasis Café in Stillwater, Minnesota on November 6, 2014

Road Trip...

My daughter and I decide it was a worth a trip to Stillwater to see the Oasis Cafe in person.  We arrived just in time for a late breakfast or early lunch on November 6th.  We were lucky enough to meet the owner Craig Beemer, who was right in the middle of making a bunch of homemade pies. 

We had a great conversation and thanked him for alerting us all to extra fees on many of our bills.  He said he was not trying to make a political statement when he figured out what the additional costs of the minimum wage hike would be for his business.  He was just trying to inform his customers of the added cost.

Thank you Shannon, our server, she is part of the hard-working crew at the restaurant.  They are good, solid working people.  I look forward to a return trip for some more of that delicious pie!

Liz Prokosch,Shannon, Bob Smith

Bob Smith 3^rd

bob333smith3rd@gmail.com

GopherStatePolitics.com

Minimum Wage Hike $.35 cents… $.99 cents… More?

Stillwater, MN

There’s no such thing as a “free lunch”… even when mandated by Government?

In August 2014, there was a flap over a .35 cent minimum wage fee charged at a Stillwater, Minnesota restaurant that went viral nationally and caused quite a furor.  It seems that Craig Beemer, owner of the Oasis Café, figured out that the new minimum wage rate would add an additional expense of .35 cents per customer ticket.  The itemized receipt read a subtotal of the food items, next line Sales Tax, next line Minimum Wage Fee .35 cents, and then the Total that became the New Balance Due.

Minimum Wage Fee - Oasis Cafe

Honesty doesn’t pay. The screams of greed and national TV uproar reverberated across the land.  He could have increased, say, fries by a nickel, burgers by a dime and a few others to cover the business costs of the wage increase but he didn’t, he let his customers know this is what happened in an honest way.  He spelled it out.  He didn’t hide it.

We should congratulate him for telling the truth and more so, for waking us up to review all our bills and receipts.  Please look at yours and see what you find. Here is what I found:

Cell Phone Bill.    All of a sudden a .99 cent, new charge appeared on my cell bill.  They did indicate what it was for… sending me a paper bill.  I reached for my land-line and called them!  They were prepared and offered a trade to cover that fee.  That reminded me of my regular phone bill.  What were all the fees for?

Land-Line Phone Bill.    Down deep was an “access charge”.  In my naiveté, I had assumed (never do so) that it was something like a fee to access long distance service elsewhere.  Stupid me, it’s code for… we’re paying for free cell phones and free minutes for those on certain public assistance programs.  Those that have them, call them “Obama-phones”.  Phone companies, please tell the truth; don’t protect the politicians.  Worse yet that set me off about the Medicare changes, where no one will give you the straight scoop.

Medicare Insurance Changes and Premium Deceptions.       Most of these occurred for the 2014 calendar year, but please check if you are on Medicare for 2015 policy changes.  Especially watch for co-payments, new deductibles and co-insurance.

I was and still am very angry over what happened to my coverage and premiums for 2014.  My “premium” went up about $5-$6 a month to let’s say about $150.  This is with one of the major insurers in Minnesota which shall remain unnamed.  A few dollars increase is not a big deal but Katie, bar the door, as to what they did to the coverage.

I had been paying top dollar for their best plan to avoid co-pays, deductibles and co-insurances as much as practicable and really didn’t have any.  Now, all of a sudden, deductibles occur and co-insurance surfaces.  My premium only went up a few dollars but those of us in this top plan are now subject to $3,000 of out of pocket medical expenses not previously contracted for.

In essence, if an insured had a real bad medical year, they could find themselves paying not $150 per month but an equivalent $400 a month.  To me this is highly deceitful, deceptive and (if they were in the finance business) materially misrepresentative.

What we need is a straight, no-spin, completely honest answer from the insurance company if this is in any way one of the negative effects of the Affordable Care Act.  My experience with the company leads me to believe they are scared to death of the feds who regulate them and that you couldn’t get a bona fide answer out of the company.

When I called to get some explanations of the coverage, at first they gave me some fancy spin.  Later, it became a little better without the spin.  Their changes hurt the self-employed.  The Mom and Pops get the biz.

Conclusion.

Now, back to Mr. Beemer.  He did us all a favor laying it out as it is.  Regardless of where any of us stand on the issue, he brought public attention to the cost of governmental actions no matter what they are.  We all will pay in some form or another for them.  Let’s be honest and open.  There’s no free lunch at the Oasis or elsewhere.  Thank you, Mr. Beemer, we’ll check your menu out one of these days.

Bob Smith 3^rd

bob333smith3rd@gmail.com

GopherStatePolitics.com