2015-2016 commander’s minute officers july.—aug. 2015 2015... · this month’s commander’s...

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Winter Park Memorial Post 112 4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792 www.wppost112.org 407.671.6404 See Bob to sign up! Do you This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences to Com- mander Billy Dover on the recent loss of his mother. Mrs. Vivian Dover, who was called home on June 9th. Our 2014-2015 program year was successful: We achieved our 100% membership goal Attendance at our monthly Pancake Breakfasts has increased and more and more Vets from the Medical Center are attending. We have held a number of very successful events like our Easter Egg Hunt, Memorial Day service, Christmas in July for the Russell Home residents, children’s Hal- loween party, and our Legion family Christmas party, along with two Arts & Crafts and Yard Sale events. Our well attended very first Four Chaplains Memorial Service was held in February. We supported Veteran families in need by providing a holiday food basket. We’ve supported our Auxiliary Unit’s projects like their School Supply and Poppy drives, their coupon, Box Tops for Education and soda can pull tab collections throughout the year. Our newsletter was again named the #1 newsletter in the state for our Post size. Thank you to all of our 2014-2015 officers and all of our members who regularly come out to support all the Post events. And now, as we begin 2015-2016, congratulations go our to our new officers: Billy Dover, Commander Jerry Dress, Vice Commander Bob Colbert, Adjutant Dyke Shannon, Finance Officer Chaplain, Robert Smith Sgt at Arms, Jim Middlekauf Please join us for the installation of officers for our entire Legion Family during our July meeting on 7/14 beginning at 7pm. We are still looking for a Historian. If you enjoy taking pictures and would like to maintain our history this year, please con- tact Billy Dover or Bob Colbert. COMMANDER’S MINUTE 2015-2016 Officers Commander Billy Dover Vice Cmdr. Gerard (Jerry) Dress Adjutant Bob Colbert Finance Officer Dyke Shannon Sgt. at Arms James Middlekauff Judge Advocate Neil Paulson, Sr. Asst. Judge Adv. Terry Brown Service Officer Ted Costello Chaplain Robert Smith Historian James Middlekauff Sons of the Legion Commander Bob Colbert Auxiliary President Marge Berrios Sea Cadet Liaison Gerard (Jerry) Dress Newsletter Editor Nell Colbert Website http:// www.wpflpost112.org July.—Aug. 2015 Volume 8, Issue 1 Inside this Issue: Page 2 From Jerry’s Table Boys State Update Page 3 Happy Birthday Notes From the Adjutant’s Desk Page 4 Advertising Info Page 5 Our Happenin’ Auxiliary Page 6 Job Opportunities for Vets & their Families Page 7 FREE Cell Phone Program Expands to Veterans Page 8 Powers of Attorney-What You Need to Know Page 9 Changes in Long Term Care Benefits Page 10 Changes in Long Term Care Benefits cont’d VA Medical Center Page 11 Powers of Attorney—cont’d from Page 8 July 4th Burgers and Dogs Page 12 Calendar Officers Directory

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Page 1: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

 Winter Park Memorial Post 112

4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792 www.wpflpost112.org

407.671.6404

See Bob to sign up!

Do you

This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant.

First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences to Com-mander Billy Dover on the recent loss of his mother. Mrs. Vivian Dover, who was called home on June 9th.

Our 2014-2015 program year was successful: We achieved our 100% membership goal Attendance at our monthly Pancake Breakfasts has

increased and more and more Vets from the Medical Center are attending.

We have held a number of very successful events like our Easter Egg Hunt, Memorial Day service, Christmas in July for the Russell Home residents, children’s Hal-loween party, and our Legion family Christmas party, along with two Arts & Crafts and Yard Sale events.

Our well attended very first Four Chaplains Memorial Service was held in February.

We supported Veteran families in need by providing a holiday food basket.

We’ve supported our Auxiliary Unit’s projects like their School Supply and Poppy drives, their coupon, Box Tops for Education and soda can pull tab collections throughout the year.

Our newsletter was again named the #1 newsletter in the state for our Post size.

Thank you to all of our 2014-2015 officers and all of our members who regularly come out to support all the Post events.

And now, as we begin 2015-2016, congratulations go our to our new officers: Billy Dover, Commander Jerry Dress, Vice Commander Bob Colbert, Adjutant Dyke Shannon, Finance Officer Chaplain, Robert Smith Sgt at Arms, Jim Middlekauf

Please join us for the installation of officers for our entire Legion Family during our July meeting on 7/14 beginning at 7pm.

We are still looking for a Historian. If you enjoy taking pictures and would like to maintain our history this year, please con-tact Billy Dover or Bob Colbert.

COMMANDER’S MINUTE 2015-2016

Officers

Commander Billy Dover

Vice Cmdr. Gerard (Jerry) Dress

Adjutant Bob Colbert

Finance Officer Dyke Shannon

Sgt. at Arms James Middlekauff

Judge Advocate Neil Paulson, Sr.

Asst. Judge Adv. Terry Brown

Service Officer Ted Costello

Chaplain Robert Smith

Historian James Middlekauff

Sons of the Legion Commander

Bob Colbert

Auxiliary President

Marge Berrios

Sea Cadet Liaison Gerard (Jerry) Dress

Newsletter Editor Nell Colbert

Website http://

www.wpflpost112.org

July.—Aug. 2015

Volume 8, Issue 1

Inside this Issue:

Page 2 From Jerry’s Table Boys State Update Page 3 Happy Birthday Notes From the Adjutant’s

Desk Page 4 Advertising Info Page 5 Our Happenin’ Auxiliary Page 6 Job Opportunities for Vets &

their Families Page 7 FREE Cell Phone Program

Expands to Veterans Page 8 Powers of Attorney-What

You Need to Know Page 9 Changes in Long Term Care

Benefits Page 10 Changes in Long Term Care

Benefits cont’d VA Medical Center Page 11 Powers of Attorney—cont’d

from Page 8 July 4th Burgers and Dogs Page 12 Calendar Officers Directory

Page 2: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

From Jerry’s Table

Page 2 Newsletter Title

We will have July 4th starting with a cookout for Independence Day. This will be held from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM with hamburgers, hot dogs, etc., and a drink.

Our General Meeting will be on July 14 at 7:00 PM. This will be the Installation of new officers by the 6th District officers. This will include the Auxiliary.

The Pancake Breakfast will be on July 25th with the VA members from the VA Hospital.

The end of July will be the “Christmas in July” from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM for the Russell Home for Atypical Children.

Our August meeting on August 11th will be Boys’ State night to let us know how our candidates en-joyed Boys’ State in Tallahassee in the week in July.

The cadets will have Bivouac Nite on August 22nd starting at 4:30 PM until the following day.

The August Pancake Breakfast will be on August 29th from 8:00 AM until 11:00 AM.

For God and Country, Gerard T. Dress, Vice Commander

Boys State: Ted Costello Once again this year turned out to be a wonderful experience. All of our Boys State Participants were able to attend this years session of Boys State. The last alternate was picked-up by a post on the East Coast of Florida two days before the Orientation. This year I spent more time with the boys and their parents because the interest seemed to be greater than in the past. It is always a pleasure to hear the joy and enthusiasm from these young men and their parents. We at Post 112 can be proud of our young men and hopefully they will fill us in on their accomplishments, stories and gen-eral information about their experiences at Boys State 2015. I have scheduled their "debriefing" for Tuesday August 11, 2015 at 7:00 PM, try to be there and support our young men.

Page 3: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Commander Dress is the person who sets up and schedules activities at the Post and if you have an idea, talk to him about getting it on the calendar. Remember, when you come up with an idea, it needs to have TWO parts: The idea, and a plan to implement it! IMPLEMENTATION MEANS THE MANPOWER TO MAKE IT HAPPEN, TOO.

Finally, just a reminder …. Our Newsletter and events at the Post are sent out by email to the mem-bers. We also send out other Veteran’s events in-cluding things going on at the Veteran’s Administra-tion when we get them. If you are not getting these notices, please send an email from your email ac-count to: [email protected] You will see a response that your request must be approved and we do this to keep out SPAM. In the email, please include your name so that I can ap-prove it without having to look it up in our roster.

As we begin the new membership and Officer’s year (2015-2016), we will have the installation of officers on July 14th starting at 7 p.m. There will be light re-freshments before and after the meeting.

Elsewhere in the newsletter, the Vice Commander, Gerry Dress, will have notes about the 4th of July event and the “Christmas in July” event where we have some of the special children from Russell Home for Atypical Children attending and receiving gifts.

As you will see elsewhere, as well, our membership renewal process started on July 1st! This year, we want to make our 100% membership renewal BE-FORE 31 December.

We are making changes to the Post Home, including re-doing the insulation in the attic to help reduce the electric bill and expanding the outside pavilion for more family oriented activities. We already have Wi-Fi in the building and will be increasing the internet speed to keep up with the Sea Cadets and our mem-bers’ needs.

But, all of the improvements won’t mean a thing if they are not put to use. That is where YOU come in! Vice

Notes From the Adjutant’s Desk

Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear ____. Happy Birthday to YOU!

JULY

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Page 3 Volume 8, Issue 1

AUGUST

7/01  Jester, Norma 

7/03  Yost, Tom 

7/04  Merelo, John 

7/06  Fonseca, David 

7/07  Howell, Gordon 

7/10  Berry, Peter B 

7/12  Furbush, Alan 

7/14  McCollum, Bill 

7/16  Ammon, Jr, Richard 

7/19  Inge, Percy 

7/24  Pinter, Rene 

7/27  Cameron, Suzan 

7/27  Polen, Howard 

7/28  Brown, Terence 

7/31  Messer, Barbara 

8/06  Kauffman, Russell 

8/08  Belcher, Charles R 

8/11  Dress, Gerry 

8/12  Mings, Phillip 

8/13  Bryant, Frederic 

8/16  Montes, Mildred 

8/17  Singleton, Leon 

8/19  Knapp, John 

8/19  Leimer, Sharon 

8/20  Klinger, Staci 

8/20  Knapp, Cheryl 

8/21  Kuhn, Charles 

8/23  Malenofski, Henry 

8/26  Arnold, William 

8/27  Ma eson, Robert 

8/27  Ruiz, Freddie 

8/29  Middlekauff, James 

8/30  Lomax, Daniel 

Page 4: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

Page 4

Copy MUST be emailed to the editor as a jpg or Publisher file but payment MUST be mailed to the Post’s PO Box or hand delivered to the Post by the 15th of the month preceding publication.

COPY DEADLINES: Jan-Feb issue—15December Mar-April issue—15February May-June issue—15April July-August issue—15June September-October issue—15August November-December issue—15October

QUESTIONS—Contact the editor at 407.401.8360 or email [email protected].

Would your business like to advertise in our Post newsletter? This newsletter, with distribu-tion via email and USPS to over 200 members and organizations, is now accepting advertising for our monthly newsletters.

Advertising rates per issue are as follows: Business card size - $ 6.00 (3 3/4"w x 2 1/4"l) 1/4 page - $ 10.00 (3 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l) 1/2 page - $ 18.00 (7 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l or 3 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) Full page - $ 30.00 (7 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) If paid in advance for FIVE ISSUES, THE SIXTH ISSUE IS FREE!

Page 5: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Our Unit was well represented at the June Department Convention and are looking forward to our first official event of the 2015-2016 year, our installation that will be held on July 14th.

Our annual planning conference will be held in September as part of our regular business meeting. We will be starting at 6:30pm so that we can be finished by the end of the regular Post meeting. We’ll be adding dates to our calendar for events like our party at the VA Medical Center, our participation in the Goldenrod Fall Festival.

Looking forward to the 2015-2016 program year!

Wishing everyone a FUN and SAFE Independence Day.

The last couple of months has been a little slower for our Auxilia-ry as we wind down the 2014-2015 program year.

Recently we added another new member, Carole Baker, an active member of the Goldenrod Cham-ber of Commerce. Carole’s hus-band Richard, a Korean War Vet-eran was a member of Post 400 before he passed. Welcome aboard Carole!

We were also saddened to learn of the passing of Unit member Pamela LaPeter. Pamela’s hus-band. Al, is an active member of Post 112. We will be scheduling a Unit service and draping of our charter to honor Pamela.

Our May meeting featured our election of officers for 2015-2016. Congratulations to our newly elect-ed team: President—Marge Berrios Vice President—Karlin Gasthoff Secy-Treas—Nell Colbert Chaplain—Wyvonne Smith Historian—Aunita Padgett Sgt at Arms—Anita Yerkes

A big thank you to our 2014-2015 officers who worked very hard to make our unit successful. Our Unit received a number of accolades at the District Constitutional Conven-tion last month including: 100% Membership Award Americanism Award for our

essay contest Education Award for our

school supply drive VA & R Award for our holiday

gift basket program for Veter-an families in need

May was Poppy month and we are pleased to announce that we again had a very successful Pop-py drive. We raised enough mon-ey to allow us to fully fund four holiday gift food baskets for needy Veterans this holiday season. Thank you to all our Legion family members who supported our Pop-py drive. If you didn’t have the op-portunity to pick up a Poppy and make a donation to our drive, we have a Poppy donation tin that stays year-round on the table next to the podium.

One of the Post featured activi-ties each year is

the annual Memorial

Day Service and again this year, our

Unit members were active partic-ipants.

Our Happenin’ Auxiliary

Page 5

As always, we welcome new ladies who would like to ac-tively support our military, our youth and our communi-ty through our community service projects. To become involved, please call us at 321.578.8612.

Check out our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ALA112FL or our website at: www.AmLegionAux112FL.com to see what we’ve been doing.

Page 6: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Need A Job—Want to Change Careers?

Page 6

library/55 Veterans Administration - http://www.va.gov/jobs/ VA for Vets - jobs - http://vaforvets.va.gov/ My Career at VA - http://mycareeratva.va.gov/ Feds Hire Vets- http://www.fedshirevets.gov/ Join Us! Digital Service at VA - http://www.va.gov/ds/ The City of Lake Mary Currently Has Vacant Positions, Veteran Preference is availa-ble. For more information, to look for positions available in Lake Mary or to apply for a position, please visit: http://www.lakemaryfl.com/human-resources/webforms/job-listings Altamonte Springs invites Veterans to apply for Vacant Positions, Veteran Preference is available. For more information visit http://www.altamonte.org/jobs.aspx

Is it time to make a career change, find a job, or see if you are eligible for an intern-ship? Check-out all the federal, state, and VA jobs in FLORIDA! 1,555 Jobs - Florida Federal Contract Jobs http://www.indeed.com/q-Government-Contract-l-Florida-jobs.html, 598 Jobs "People First" jobs in Florida https://jobs.myflorida.com/joblist.html?dispmode=-1.-5&ERFormID=newjoblist&ERFormCode=2.020010643011867 Click on county to find jobs near you. 603 Jobs "Florida Federal Jobs - Florida Gov-ernment Jobs" http://federalgovernmentjobs.us/job-location/florida-fl.html?email=&ps=100&Sort=LC&dr=a Click on location to find a city near you. 223 Jobs "VA Careers in Florida - Job Search & Apply" http://federalgovernmentjobs.us/job-location/florida-fl.html?email=&ps=100&Sort=LC&dr=a&P=5 Click on the position for additional information. 351 Jobs "USA JOBS in Florida" https://www.usajobs.gov/Search?Key-word=&Location=Florida&search=Search&AutoCompleteSelected=false These sites/employment events are for Ser-vice Members, Veterans, and/or Military Spouses: Internships at the VA - VA offers multiple intern-ship programs for current students, recent grad-uates, VA employees, Veterans, and outside applicants. http://mycareeratva.va.gov/

Page 7: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

VA’s five core values: integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect, and excellence.

Florida veterans just need to bring their ID with them, and they can find a Outreach Repre-sentative at the following loca-tions:

Ocala VA clinic at 1515 E Silver Springs Blvd in Ocala, west entrance, Monday-Friday 8 am-3 pm

Leesburg VA clinic at 711 W. Main St in Leesburg, Tues-days and Thursdays, 9 am-3 pm

Daytona Beach VA clinic at 551 National Health Care Drive, Thursdays 9 am-3 pm

Orlando VAMC at 5201 Ray-mond St, in Baldwin Park, Tuesdays, and Fridays 9 am-3 pm

Miami VAMC at 1201 NW 16th St, Mondays, Wednes-days, and Friday 9 am-3 pm

Sunrise VA clinic at 9800 W Commercial Blvd, Sunrise, FL, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 am-3 pm

SafeLink is glad to be able to host this outreach program and to offer many thanks to all the veterans for their invaluable ser-vice.

SafeLink Wireless has a free cell phone and minutes program for which veterans are welcome to apply. Through the federal Life-

line pro-gram, SafeLink helps en-sure ac-cess to health and

emergency services, and so that everyone can keep in touch with family members. New customers in Florida re-ceive their prepaid phones in the mail, and the phones come with 500 minutes for the first four months, 250 minutes every month after that, and unlimited texting. The cell phones offers in-demand features: voicemail, text, three-way calling, call wait-ing, caller ID and access to 911. This is at no cost at all, no bills, contracts, and no hidden fees. It is completely free.

To offer some background, the federal Lifeline program was cre-ated by the Reagan-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1984. The program was enhanced under the Telecommu-nications Act of 1996, which was supported on a broadly biparti-san basis in Congress. Tradition-ally, the Lifeline program was only available as a discount on a consumer’s landline telephone bill. SafeLink Wireless was creat-ed by TracFone Wireless, Inc. when the Federal Communica-

tions Commission (FCC) ap-proved the company to offer Life-line to ensure telephone service is available for qualifying sub-scribers. SafeLink phones are not paid for by taxpayers or the federal government. TracFone Wireless pays for the phones and also the cost of promoting its SafeLink program to make sure that eligible consumers know about the program.

Last fall, some SafeLink Out-reach Representatives, many of whom are veterans themselves, collaborated on a veterans out-reach program, in which they wanted to help more service-affiliated men and women apply for their free cell phones at VA points of care. We found that Veterans often need a phone to call health care providers, ar-range transportation, and for emergencies in general, such as car troubles or natural disasters. With VA clinics as our host loca-tions, we started this veteran out-reach program to offer them reg-ular locations where they can always go to learn more about SafeLink and to apply for a free phone. The Veteran Administra-tion’s mission is to fulfill Presi-dent Lincoln's promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans. To support the VA in striving towards this goal, Outreach Representatives at the VA clinics embody the

FREE Cell Phone Program Expands to Vets

Page 7

Page 8: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Powers of Attorney: What You Need to Know

Page 8 Newsletter Title

What are the Kinds of Powers of Attorney (POA)

General: A general Power of Attorney form allows your representative to manage all of your property-based and financial affairs. This type of POA grants them general authority.

Specific: A specific Power of Attorney form limits your representative's responsibilities to certain types of decisions. You can choose to allow someone to only make decisions in relation to business, for ex-ample.

Ordinary: An ordinary Power of Attorney is only valid while you, the principal, are capable of making decisions. This type of POA becomes invalid in the event that you become incapacitated.

Durable: An enduring Power of Attorney is when the contract continues even if you, the principal, be-come incapacitated.

When Should You Have a Power of Attorney Form?

You should consider having a Power Of Attorney form if: You travel out of the country often You are employed in a hazardous work environment You have been diagnosed with a serious illness You have business or property that you would want maintained if you were unavailable You have children that would need to be provided for if you were to become incapacitated You want a specific person to be responsible for your affairs You have rules about how you run your business, property, or life, and you want to ensure they are up-

held You are approaching old age and would like to designate a representative for yourself

Powers You Can Grant Your Attorney-in-Fact

On a Power of Attorney form, the person granting authority to another is the "Principal". The person who is granted authority is called the "Attorney-in-fact" or "Agent". A Power of Attorney document allows you to choose what your personal representative, or attorney-in-fact, will be responsible for by designating certain powers to them. The powers that you can grant your attorney-in-fact include:

Real Estate: To buy, sell, rent, or otherwise manage residential, commercial, and personal real estate.

Business: To invest, trade, and manage any and all business transactions and decisions, as well as handle any claim or litigation matters.

Finance: To control banking, tax, and government and retirement transactions, as well as living trust and estate decisions. Financial powers also allows your representative to control personal insurance policies and to continue donating to any charities in your stead.

Family: To purchase gifts, employ professionals, and to buy, sell or trade any of your person-al property.

General Authority: This grants your personal attorney the authority to make any decisions that you would be able to if you were personally present. Continued on Page 11

Page 9: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Those of us who work with the elderly to qualify them for long-term care benefits through Medi-caid and VA "Pension", also inaccurately referred to as “Aid & Attendance”, received a double whammy in 2015. The news was not good for those facing “Crisis Planning” and trying to qualify for either of these benefits to avoid destroying their entire financial foundation.

Discussion of what is going on in Florida Medicaid planning is for another day. Please call or write if you really want to know. The following is a brief essay on the potential chances in the VA benefit.

Major Proposed Rule Changes in VA Pension: For years the VA has been trying to get changes in rules for their “Improved Pension” program. Proposed changes were presented to Congress but never got out of committee to come to a vote. The program, which is NOT tied to service related injuries, gives financial assistance to those over 65 or totally disabled who require medical care where the costs exceed a veteran’s - or surviving spouse’s - income.

Late in 2014 the VA, obviously frustrated by lack of action for much-needed rules changes by Congress, made its own rules changes. Since they do not have rule-making authority, they re-ferred to them as “policy changes”. That didn’t work very well and these changes are now in negotiation to come up with an all- encompassing improvement.

I’ll try not to get overly specific because these proposed rules are most certainly not in their final form. But here is a general idea of the way things are going, based on the proposed rules:

1. Limiting Net Worth. Presently determining the acceptable net worth for the Claimant and family is about the most vague and nebulous calculation imaginable, being theoretically based upon a claimant’s life expectancy and medical expenses. They are then compared to the claimant’s net worth to see if it’s reasonable to assume the claimant will or will not outlive his or her assets. Very confusing. What makes it even more confusing is that the figure $80,000 keeps showing up. Some people think is a hard and fast limit on Claimant’s assets. This is not true. It has virtually nothing to do with the calculation.

2. New Asset Proposal. The new asset proposal uses an asset limitation to the maximum Medicaid Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA), which in 2015 is $119,220. The rule as proposed would add Claimant’s annual total income to that asset base. If that number exceeds the CSRA number ($119,220), then the claimant is not eligible, no matter his or her age or physical condition. Spend down will be required. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

3. Look Back Period of Three Years. It seems likely that there will be a restriction on transfer of assets. Presently, unlike Medicaid, assets can be freely transferred to anyone, to qualify for these VA benefits. If the proposed rule is adopted, any amount over the CSRA amount that is transferred would be subject to penalty, restricting benefits for up to 10 years. Continued on Page 10

Major Changes for Long Term Care

Page 9

Page 10: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

VA Medical Center: Ted Costello With the opening of the new VA Medical Center at Lake Nona comes a greater need for volunteers. If you don't know, the Lake Baldwin facility will remain open because of the rising population of vet-erans to Central Florida not to mention the logistics for our aging veterans to get to the new facility. In order to best serve the hospital staff and veterans the need for volunteers increases. If you have time on your hands and want to "give back" think about volunteering. If interested call: 407-629-1599 X6940.

There is a website; subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com to get VA updates on a variety of subjects. If interested check out this website.

Long Term Care Changes cont’d from Page 9

Page 10

4. Wiping Out the “Annuity Play”. One of the saddest, most maddening aspects of assisting Veterans and their Spouses qualify for Pension is the misuse of Annuities to “help” a Claim-ant qualify. This abuse may be the #1 moving force to change the rules. Changes should eliminate this practice.

5. Other Provisions. There are several other areas covered by this proposal, such as how resi-dences and personal effects are treated, a re-definition of “Dependent Child”, and how the penalty for transfer of assets works. It’s good to know that the penalty can be cured by re-transfer.

There are always changes and we must constantly adapt. And we will. But when the final rules are written, it’s clear that benefits will be even more restricted to those veterans and their spouses who are truly needy and cannot pay for their crushing expenses of Long Term Care, as Pension was originally intended.

Those who have saved for their “Golden Years” will have to spend down their Nest Eggs - unless they have pre-planned for the almost certain event of Long Term Care. One more reason to FO-CUS NOW on how YOU will pay for Long Term Care if YOU are among the 70% who are anticipat-ed to need it.

ONE LAST NOTE: I have come up with SEVEN (7) ways to pay for Long Term Care. They include (1) traditional LTC Insurance, (2) Medicaid, and (3) VA Pension and other benefits. But there are FOUR (4) more. And NOT ONE OF THEM requires OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE – just a shifting of saved assets to solutions designed to help with Long Term Care. Call or write me to learn more.

Tom Willoughby * 407-977-9171 * [email protected]

Page 11: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

Page 11 Volume 8, Issue 1

Powers of Attorney—cont’d from Page 8 Can a Notary Give You Advice About Your Documents?

In a word NO; unless that Notary is also a licensed Attorney.

I am often asked to provide blank Power of Attorney, affidavit or acknowledgment forms and many times the client asking for a form doesn’t really understand why I can’t give them what they want. Because there are so many different uses for Powers of Attorney, there are a number of different kinds of Powers of Attorney, from one that gives broad powers to the person named to more limited documents that allows the named Attorney in Fact to perform more limited roles. As a non-Attorney Notary Public, I cannot legally help you determine which kind of Power of Attorney you should use as this would be practicing law without a license. If you need help in determining which form you need to use, be sure to contact your attorney so you’ll have the correct form. Article provided by Nell Colbert, CommuniMatics Mobile Notary Services

Page 12: 2015-2016 COMMANDER’S MINUTE Officers July.—Aug. 2015 2015... · This month’s Commander’s Minute was written by Bob Colbert, Adjutant. First, Our Legion Family sends its condolences

 Winter Park Memorial Post 112

4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792

www.flpost112.org

Winter Park Memorial Post 112 PO Box 910

Goldenrod, FL 32733

CALENDAR

JULY: 4 Independence Day Burgers & Dogs – 11 AM – 3 PM 6 S A L Meeting – 6 PM 6 Executive Board Meeting – 7 PM 14 Post & Auxiliary Meetings – 7 PM – Installation of Officers 25 Pancake Breakfast – 8 AM – 11 AM 26 “Christmas in July” for the Russell Home – 1 PM – 3 PM AUGUST: 3 S A L Meeting – 6 PM 3 Executive Board Meeting – 7 PM 11 Post & Auxiliary Meeting – 7 PM – Boys’ State/Girls’ State Debriefing 22 Sea Cadet Basic Training Overnight – 4 PM – 8 AM 28 Pancake Breakfast – 8 AM – 11 AM 31 S A L Meeting – 6 PM 31 Executive Board Meeting – 7 PM

OFFICER’S DIRECTORY

Commander: Billy Dover 407-383-9455 – [email protected]

Vice Cmdr.: Gerard (Jerry) Dress 407-671-8616 – [email protected]

Adjutant: Bob Colbert 407-619-9611 – [email protected]

Finance Officer: Dyke Shannon 407-322-6126 – [email protected]

Chaplain: Robert L. Smith 407-678-4517—[email protected]

Sgt. At Arms: James Middlekauff 407-977-0521—[email protected]

Newsletter Editor: Nell Colbert 321.303.7445— [email protected]