June 2020 Desert Views Page

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

CalRTA Desert Roadrunner Div. 43 Congratulates 2020 District Teachers of the Year! Palo Verde Unified School District is allowed to choose one.

• Carol Wade from Felix Appleby Elementary School

Coachella Valley Unified School District

• Melinda Gomez from Sea View Elementary School

• Kristie Sauceda from Bobby Duke Middle School

• Krysten Gonda from Desert Mirage High School

Desert Sands Unified School District

• Kathy Olearnick from Harry S. Truman Elementary School

• Terresa Amidei from Desert Ridge Academy Middle School

• Amy Torres from Indio High School

Area IX - Desert Roadrunner – Divis ion 43

calrta.org June 2020 http://div43.calrta.org

Greetings, CalRTA Division 43 Roadrunners! I am John Everett your new President. In 2018, I joined this division and am looking forward to working with all of you. I am a native of San Francisco and lived in the Bay Area until 2013. I received a BA in Sociology

and a teaching credential from the University of San Francisco and Masters in School Administration from St. Mary’s College in Moraga. During my teaching career in Union City, I was a Student Activities Director, a BTSA, GATE and Title 1 coordinator, a CTA site rep and taught math at

Alvarado Middle School and James Logan High School. I met my wife, Susan, at Alvarado Middle School and have been married for 37 years. We enjoy the retired life style the desert has to offer and the amenities of Sun City Shadow Hills. Future travel plans include driving to the coast, visiting mom in the Bay Area and our daughter, Megan, who lives in Portland and is currently pursuing a 4th or 5th grade teaching position.

Leadership Change

For more information contact us at: CalRTA Desert Roadrunner - Division #43 P.O. Box 5691, La Quinta, CA, 92248-5691

CalRTA Desert Views Published in the interest of CalRTA Area IX/Division 43 Educators and the Educational Community

OnlineWebsite: < div43calrta.org >

Email:

Published ten times each year Editor: Joy Bugg Copy reviewers: Maggie Hamilton, Jim Jones, David Lutes

I am Susan Everett, your new Co-1st Vice President from Fremont, my hometown of 57 years before moving to the beautiful Coachella Valley. I began and ended my teaching career of 30 years in New Haven Unified School District located in Union City. For eleven years, I taught and coordinated the 5-8 ESL program at Alvarado Middle School. Eventually, I became the districts ESL mentor teacher in a district with fifty-four different languages and dialects. Yes, you read that correctly! After needing a change, I became an 8th grade English/Reading/History Core teacher. During this time, I organized a yearly trip for four hundred 8th graders and chaperones to Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz

Mountains. We all became soldiers for one day a year during Civil War Reenactment Living History Days, where we attended twelve outdoor classes learning about life during the Civil War. We even learned how to load a cannon which was fired every twenty minutes like a classroom bell so we could march over to our next rotation. The highlight of our day was taking an 1880’s narrow-gauge steam locomotive train through the giant redwood trees and being stopped by Confederate soldiers. Nothing like a good battle before your eyes. So this is how I ended my career, with a bang! I look forward to working with Nancy to coordinate programs for our (possible) upcoming luncheons this year.

All about Sue Everett follows

June 2020 Desert Views Page 2

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

“The Times They Are A Changing”, written and recorded by Bob Dylan, addressed some social issues in the 60’s. This year, we could add another verse. The Coronavirus has and will change life as we know it. Since mid March, we have had to adapt to the “Stay at home” order, social distancing, wearing facial masks and social-izing/attending meetings on Zoom/GoToMeeting. Our scheduled events this year are tentative as we await the Covid-19 guide-lines from Governor Newsom. It is important that our members stay connected and participate in our continuing efforts to re-cruit membership and to promote, protect and advocate the

interests of retired teachers. Please refer to Bettyann’s article for more information on this subject. Our newsletter, email, web-

site and Facebook are important resources to accomplish this goal. Members have access to our newsletter on their devices by email, the website and Facebook. Thanks to Marilynn Smith for

making our website, http://div43.calrta.org, more user friendly. I encourage you to also visit the CalRTA website at http://calrta.org. In this newsletter, there is an article about how several of our members, Jenny Braithwaite, Terry Ceja, Maggie Hamilton and Marilynn Smith, reached out to members to update their email. Increasing our membership is an ongoing goal. Please reach out to retired teachers to join our division. If you wish to help with this goal, please contact Susan Golden & Marilynn Smith. Congratulations to our 2020 Scholarship recipients and thank you to the Scholarship Committee led by Ken Blake and Terry Ceja for your excellent work in selecting these recipients. You can learn about our amazing recipients in this newsletter. I am looking forward to working with our outstanding board and the members of CalRTA Division 43 this year. If you’re looking for a way to exercise at home, please visit http://youtu.be/JryMHX4H6mM. Please stay healthy and be safe!

John Everett, President div43.calrta.org/

There was an extra level of excitement for my second-grade class as they were leaving that Friday from Kennedy Ele-mentary School because they all were getting to take their Chromebooks home as well as their own chargers. I gave a final quick reminder to be careful with them and to make sure every-one brought them back on Monday so they could be used in class. That was the last time I got to see my students: Friday, the 13th of March, in the first year of the pandemic. I have been teaching for twenty years primarily at the ele-mentary school level. In 2010, I was selected as my district’s Ele-mentary Teacher of the Year. In the days of the California State Tests, I had twelve students get perfect scores in math and a 2nd grader receive one in language arts. My confidence to effective-ly present material to the class was very high. Experience and reflection trained me to become successful in the multi-tasking, interactive, personal environment that represents a productive classroom. And then suddenly, I returned to feeling like a first-year rookie who isn’t sure of what to do or how to do it. My primary tool for assessing a student’s understanding by walking the room and looking at their work and asking them questions was gone. Most teachers seem to approach this challenge of online teaching by creating lesson plans reflecting a typical day’s worth of lessons. They set up math, language arts, reading assign-ments, vocabulary study, and spelling practice. These students will log in and click on hyperdoc links to access the lessons. The advantages are that the student can access the material at any time during the day, and parents can join them when their schedules permit.

But teachers of a certain age like myself are not profi-cient in such computer manipulation. Instead, I meet my stu-dents every morning in Google Classroom at a set time. We greet each other and then go to that day’s website which could

be Scholastic News, Mystery Sci-ence, or Khan Academy where they will follow my lesson plan of specific issues to read, investiga-tions to explore, or practice to perform. We toggle back and forth between the material and the virtual classroom, interacting with each other with questions, answers, or comments. It has the feel of a real class and something most of us look forward to shar-ing together.

Neither method is effec-tive in the true sense of staying at grade level. The participation rates of the students vary from 50%-80%. Computer issues and parent support vary widely from student to student. Teaching the critical skill of writing to younger students seems impossible without the visual aids needed to communicate the scope of the process. Students cannot ask questions easily as they arise, nor can the teacher give quick examples for clarification. Students are reduced to filling in sentence frames or giving one-sentence answers.

I had turned in my retirement paperwork in February

before the pandemic hit. I fear for the coming years of school

with its multitude of new challenges. Students will be farther

behind than ever, and their self-discipline will be equally lacking.

Sometime down the road next year, I intend to visit my school

and arrange to see my last students during a recess to be able to

officially say good-bye.

But I’m grateful for all the fun years! Phil Burnett

June 2020 Desert Views Page 3

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

We “older Americans” have been advised to Shelter in Place during this COVID-19 pan-demic. By staying home and keeping healthy we place no additional demands on a poten-tially overburdened health-care system. Characteristically, some CalRTA Desert Roadrunner members have done even more to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have acted as primary caregivers to spouses and loved ones. Some have provided person-al protective equipment to others. Some have gone “outside the box” to help in novel ways. The following members, in alphabetical order by last name, have demonstrated that teachers never stop caring. Jenny Braithwaite mentors two residents at a faith-based shelter in Garden Grove. As a part of Homeless United of Huntington Beach, she influenced the city council to establish a shelter near a hospital for COVID-free home-less people over the age of 65. Terry Ceja and Jim and Linda Jones sewed protective gowns for the CV Mask Project. A delivery/pickup man arrived at their homes on Mondays and Thursdays. He delivered pre-cut gowns in groups of 10 and retrieved stitched together gowns from the prior deliv-ery. As of April 22, this project had provided 12,802 gowns for medical personnel at Eisen-hower Medical Center, over 10% of them

sewn by Desert Roadrunner members! Dolly Dupree began sewing masks for fami-ly and friends. When she noticed the staff at her doctor’s office needed masks, she outfitted them too. Patsy Meister made masks for all the vol-unteers and park workers at the Salton Sea State Park. Kitty Occhino has been pre- paring meals for four seniors in her community. She delivered home- grown roses to a lady who lost her husband. Juliana Diaz has been on the Board of the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition for 18 years. The agency provides affordable rental housing for low-income people, many of them essential workers. From her home Juliana provides the residents information about the COVID-19 virus to help keep them healthy and about financial resources to help them avoid eviction. She also makes sure they have sufficient food. Through the Women’s Club of Indio John and Susan Everett stuffed Easter baskets for Galilee Center, which provides services for low-income residents of Mecca. Diane Franco made 50 masks for family and friends all around the country. Then she proceeded to make masks for Eisenhower Medical Center. She also volunteers with a

bookmobile project which provides books, games and puzzles for three families with elementary-aged children. Maggie Hamilton arranged to have disaster supplies from the Indian Springs HOA donated to the Eisenhower Medical Center COVID unit: gloves, goggles and hand sanitizer. Midge Rodier began making masks for family and friends. Then she expanded pro-duction to include people with whom she came in contact: neighbors, the mailman, the UPS driver, staff in a medical clinic. She topped off the enterprise by donating 30 yards of fabric to others who were making masks to protect against the Coronavirus in the Coachella Valley. Kathryn Schofield has been helping with three-hour food distributions every second Thursday of the month at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (formerly Mormon) in Palm Desert. These CalRTA members, and others too, have managed to help combat the Corona-virus pandemic while conscientiously follow-ing public health guidelines. They deserve many thanks for their energy, resourceful-ness, and ingenuity.

-Helen Smith, Communication Chair

FROM HELEN SMITH, COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR

“Right– John and Susan Everett stuffed Easter baskets for the Galilee Center

Many of you have been diligently respond-ing to the weekly CalRTA Legislative Alerts. Have you ever wondered if they do any good? Well, believe it or not, legislators really do listen. A couple of weeks ago we were asked to phone the members of the Assembly Employment and Retirement Committee to urge them to oppose AB2998. This proposed to eliminate a CalSTRS Defined Benefit pension for all new educators. According to Suzie Dixon, so many of our mem-bers phoned that for the first time in history, the Chair pulled the bill, denying it a hearing. For those of you not yet responding to the weekly alerts or who have been unsuccessful in the past, please check on the new format. One click on the email address, sign your name and send. Easy and effective.

We will be facing a lot of challenges as the financial effect of COVID-19 hits our state and local govern-ments. Pensions will continue to be under attack and will be the whipping boy for all that ails us. The California Supreme Court will be hear-ing/deciding cases concerning the California Rule this summer and into Fall. I have already read a few editorials about cutting Pensions or pay to get through this crisis. So now more than ever we need to stay informed and be ready to advocate for our earned pensions. As we all head off to enjoy our “new and improved” summer plans, I'm going to leave you with the words of my favorite philosopher, Win-nie The Pooh. “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”

-Bettyann Sherrell, Legislation Chair

Legislation News

Keep Calling! From Jim Jones-

Our next Board meeting will be Thursday, September 3 at 10:00. At present we plan to hold the meeting online. Notice of our next Board meeting can also be found on our webpage, div43.calrta.org under “Coming Events”. Any updates will be placed on our webpage. The meeting is open to all our members.

ADDITIONALLY- - Adopt-A-Highway cleanups are

on hold until further notice. - The drawing for teacher grant

winners which was to be on April 1 has been postponed until school is back in session. We received 308 teacher registrations for the drawing of 10 $100 grants. All remain eligible for the next drawing.

June 2020 Desert Views Page 4

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

Congratulations to another great group of graduates! We chose seven applicants this year to receive our scholarships for $1,000 each. Our scholarship winners are Katherine Dolan, Kathryn Fisher, Sophia Gonzalez, Emma Ortiz, Jessenia Perez, Greta Tauferner, and Aidan Wilson. We wish the students the best in their college careers. Please read the following bios of each of our senior winners! The Scholarship Committee also thanks all of the CalRTA Division 43 members who have participated throughout the year by donating to our fundraisers. Without your help, we would not be able to award these scholarships.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aidan Wilson, La Quinta High School Parent: Meredith Wilson, Las Palmitas Elementary School

Aidan will be graduating Summa Cum Laude from La Quinta High School this year. In addition to his academic suc-cess, Aidan was a member of the Varsity Swim and Water Polo teams. He partici-pated in “Read Across America” for four years and was president of the Teachers Club, a member of Thespian Society, and the Environmental Club. He plans on getting a degree in the sciences of climate

change, biology, or ecology at the University of California at San-ta Barbara. Aidan wants to make the world a more sustainable place to live. He states, “I would love to advise businesses on alternative methods of production which would have a smaller eco-footprint, and to do research related to our direct impact on the planet and its ecosystem. Some of his teachers have written that he is driven, open-minded, patient, self-motivated, inde-pendent, and creative.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greta Tauferner, La Quinta High School Parent: Meredith Wheeler, La Quinta HS Greta participated in the International Baccalaureate Program, lettered all four years on the honor roll, participated on the dance team, and did community service with the National Charity League in which she volunteered at the Narrow Door, Bianca Rae Foundation, and Safe House of the Desert. Greta wants to continue volun-teering after high school because, as she states, “I found great joy in serving others and the community.” Her mother taught her that being persistent and working hard leads to success. Greta listened and always challenged herself to take the hardest classes and to do her best. She has not yet decided on a major,

but she enjoys mathematical computa-tions and science. Greta thinks maybe a career in engineering like her grandfa-ther, insurance/risk management like her step-father, or a business in which she uses math. She will be attending Oregon State University in the fall.

Jessenia Perez, La Quinta High School Parents: Michele and Jesus Perez, Desert Mirage High School Jessenia not only excels academically, but is involved in many extra-curricular activities as well. She was captain of her volleyball team, a member of the Spirit Club, MEChA Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Interact “Rotary” Club. Jessenia participated in many community service activities through the National Charity League Desert Cities and volunteers with the Young Woman Leaders Program of Coachella Valley. Jessenia’s dream is to become a speech and language pathologist at an elementary school that serves chil-dren in low socio-economic communities. In addition to her bachelor’s degree, Jessenia wants to earn her Masters and per-haps her Doctorate degree so that she can have her own private practice, in which she could offer free speech services. She will be attending University of Hawaii in the fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine Dolan, Palm Desert HS Parent: Mary Dolan, Lincoln Elementary School Katie completed the Capstone Diplo-ma at Palm Desert High School, which demonstrates a student’s commitment to mastering research, argumentation, and communication skills that are at the core of college academic readiness. This College Board program Is a series of two one-year Advanced Placement classes. She has volunteered during her summer at Palm Desert Public Library and two years as a Junior Volunteer at Eisenhower Medical Cen-ter in Rancho Mirage. At EMC, she was the only volunteer as-signed to the Special Procedures Unit. She has also worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center and as a sales associate at Plato’s Closet. While at PDHS, Katie was a member of the varsity swim team and National Honor Society; she also participated in many Rotary Club activities, speech contests, and in the school production of Every Fifteen Minutes. Stephanie Granados, Katie’s school counselor, cited her favorite things about Katie as “her positive attitude and gracious demeanor,” as well as her determination to reach her career goals. Katie wishes to become a physical therapist by studying at the University of New Mexico where she plans to attend in the fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kathryn Fisher, La Quinta High School Parent: Laura Fisher, DSUSD Director of Special Education “In the beginning, school was a means of going to college. Now, school is why I want to go to college.” Kathryn’s words depict her academic goal. From enrolling in and

June 2020 Desert Views Page 5

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

completing the International Baccalaureate Program at La Quin-ta High School, she is poised to begin the process of completing her doctorate degree in science. Her goal is to help people by deciphering biology’s intricate universe. Suzanne Thornbury, retired science teacher, states, “Katie is intrinsically motivated, an independent learner who is always willing to help others.” Currently she is ranked number one in her class of 582 students. At school she has been involved in the Art Club and Battle of Books, as well as serving as president of the Knots for Tots Club. Kathryn volunteered with her church to help build a house for a homeless family in Guatemala, as well as a church in Nueva Palma, Mexico. In her spare time, she has achieved a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo. Kathryn has applied to the University of California at Davis and the University of Oklahoma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Emma Ortiz, La Quinta High School Parent: Kimberly Ortiz, Mountain Vista Elementary School Emma’s passion for biology has led her to participate in the La Quinta High School Environmental Club, recycling and planting flowers and bushes on campus. In addition to her academic achievements, Emma has been a mem-ber of the LQHS tennis team. She also volunteers at the La Quinta Public Library. Louis Benedetto, Emma’s mathe-

matics teacher, writes that Emma’s “ability to time-manage all her activities have made [her] well equipped to achieve her goals and has proven that through hard work, persistence, and team work, she can accomplish whatever she puts her mind to.” Emma plans to attend the University of California at Santa Bar-bara and earn her degree in biology. She plans to become a phy-sician’s assistant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sophia Gonzalez, Shadow Hills HS Parent: Conrado Gonzalez, Coachella Val-ley Unified School District Sophia juggles her time between her Advanced Placement classes, the water polo team, and Girl Scouts. She also volun-teers to serve at her church, setting up audio visual equipment and assisting with the toddler and pre-school classes. Monika Ujkic, counselor at Shadow Hills High School, states, “In addition to her rigorous class schedule, Sophia has exquisite time-management skills to balance her academics with athletics and extracurricular activities, such as water polo and Girl Scouts.” Sophia will attend the University of California at San Diego to study in the medical program. She aspires to become an endocrinologist and return to the Coachella Valley to help improve people’s lives through their health care. She hopes to create a free wellness

center where people are able to learn about the Latino population’s diseases, especially diabetes. And speaking of Scholarships- We are very fortunate to have two new Co-Chairs for the Scholarship Committee: Cathee Fields and Jon Newman.

Visit our resources old and new. If you need help with Wills, Advanced Health Care Directive, Deeds, etc., check out Desert Legal Documents. There's a link for finding services relat-ed to aging, disabilities, care giving, Alzheimer's and more. Sen-ior Advocates of the Desert serves seniors 60 and older. Office on Aging assists seniors to become more independent. You can find out about Medicare, meals delivered to your home, and many others. Check us out as often as you wish: https://div43.calrta.org/resources/ -- Terry Ceja, Resource Services Chair

We have seen how the Coronavirus has affected people in so many ways. The Galilee Center, in Mecca, provides a way to assist peo-ple, especially the children in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Before the 20/21 school year begins, The Gali-lee Center will conduct their annual Back to School Backpack program where they will be distributing backpacks filled with school supplies to more than eight hundred K-12 students. The items include backpacks, pencils, erasers, pens, glue sticks, sharpeners, writing paper, notebooks scissors, highlighters and composition books. Please consider donating these items to the Galilee Center to help make this program a continued success. Students will need these supplies whether they attend school or continue distance learning. For more information, google Our Events-Galilee Center.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks from Maggie Hamilton, outgoing President: I want to thank the Board for this beautiful engraved letter opener. I'm so proud of what we all have accom-plished in my four years as president. I will stay on in the position of past presi-dent and will assume the duties of cor-responding secretary. I am looking for-ward to working with our incoming president, John Everett. . Also from Maggie: To the members of our retired educator communi-ty: I hope you are all safe and well. Upon reflecting on the welfare of our family, friends, and neighbors in this uncertain time, I see how many people are facing very difficult challenges. If you are able to help our neighbors in need, here are a few local organizations that could use monetary support:

FIND Food Bank www.findfoodbank.org 83775 Citrus Ave., Indio, CA 92201 Galilee Center https://galileecenter.org P.O. Box 308, Mecca, CA 92254 Coachella Valley Rescue Mission www.cvrm.org P.O. Box 10660, Indio

June 2020 Desert Views Page 6

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH !

County Buildings to be Lit Lime Green for Mental Health Month County buildings in Riverside and Indio will be illuminated lime green, the official color of mental health awareness, as part of Riverside County’s month-long observance of May as Mental Health Month. The green-lighting will last through May 31. Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, a former student of Matt and Joy Bugg, notes that this comes at a crucial time as many people

who may be stressed or anxious are able to find support and hope in the services provided by Riverside County’s behavioral health department. Riverside County is joining with other loca-tions in California that are participating in the Lime Green City Lights Activation, an initiative sponsored by Each Mind Matters/SanaMente. The aim of this initiative is to reduce stigma and introduce a safe place to start a discussion about mental health. Anyone experiencing a behavioral health crisis should imme-diately call Behavioral Health CARES line at 800-706-7500 or call 2-1-1.

with GoToMeeting

-Jenny Braithwaite, CalRTA Division 43 Publicity Chair

Our CalRTA Board made the decision last month to send newsletters only by email because of the current pandemic. For this reason, a group of board members reached out to our mem-bers who have no email address on file. The purpose was first and foremost to ensure that our members are safe and need no assistance at this time. Our webmaster, Marilynn Smith, helped greatly by providing us with a list of members with no email and helped provide contact phone numbers and addresses. Calls were made by Maggie Hamilton, Terry Ceja, Jenny Braithwaite, John and Sue Everett and Helen Smith. Jenny followed up with written notes to many people that we were unable to contact by phone. The result has been personal contact with at least 60 people, the ability to update contact information, and the addi-tion of around 30 email addresses to the information we have on file. This was a fun and very worthwhile project. Thank you to those who helped with the effort. We are very happy to welcome some recent new members: Our latest new member is Annette Kitagawa Keebler, who joined at the end of March.

Another new member is Cynthia Kern, who retired from Crossett School District in Arkansas and has recently moved to our area. We are happy to have you join us!! We wish to offer condolences to the families and friends of the following members we have learned have passed away: • Charles Flatt, a local retired educator who has been a mem-

ber since July, 2001. He most recently lived in Spring Valley. • Barbara Gibson, a life member since April, 1990. The

Gibsons most recently have traveled between homes in Cali-fornia and Oklahoma.

• Marion Krause, a member since May, 1983. She was a com-munity college educator in the Health Education field who most recently lived in Palm Desert.

• Mary Jane Van De Mark, a life member since August, 1985. She was an educator in Santa Barbara for over 30 years and most recently lived in Palm Desert.

Thank you to these four educators and their families for all of your years of service to education and to our organization. To all: Please stay safe and take care of yourselves and your families. Sincerely,

-Susan Golden- 2nd Vice President, Membership

Patricia Krause and Carol Hallinan are co-chairs for this term, taking over from Cathee Fields, to whom we give a big thanks (Dora Lange served as Co-Chair for Hospitality). They started their teaching career as part-ners. They taught Kindergarten together for thirteen years at Martin Van Buren Elementary School. Pat con-tinued teaching at Van Buren until she retired in 2010. Carol transferred to Andrew Jackson and taught there until she also retired in 2010. After retiring, Pat volunteered in Marilyn Brook’s classroom. Carol did substitute teaching after retir-ing. She also worked as a consultant for the District administering different test to students, TK to second

grade. They have now come full circle. Pat and Carol are working as co-chairs for Hospitality. They are excit-ed about the next chapter in their lives.

June 2020 Desert Views Page 7

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

Checking Account Balance - 03/13/20: $17,844.40

Income: $1,222.24

Expenditures: $6,075.52

Scholarship Account Balance $3,524.97

Teacher Grant Account Balance: $1,695.09

Teacher Longevity Award Account $355.43

Free Lunch Account Balance $93.46

Scholarship CD Balance $25,374.64

Medicare and COVID-19 Latest Information –May 12, 2020 Information on Medicare related to the coronavirus can change as needed. For further information, please press Ctrl + click to follow link on the highlighted items. Enrollment

Medicare is providing a special enrollment opportunity for peo-ple who missed their chance to enroll in a Medicare health or drug plan due to COVID-19.

Medicare is providing COVID-19 enrollment flexibilities for Medicare Parts A & B.

Testing Medicare covers the lab tests for COVID-19. You pay no out-of-

pocket costs. Medicare covers FDA-authorized COVID-19 antibody tests. Whenever a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available, it will be

covered Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries can now get tested for

the coronavirus without a written order from a physician. Coronavirus tests will be available for Medicare beneficiaries

who cannot leave their homes, and testing will increase in nursing homes according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, Seema Verna.

The FDA granted an emergency use authorization to the first at-home coronavirus test kit that confirms an infection with a sample of saliva. Patients collect their sample then they return the prescription-only test in sealed package for analysis.

Hospitalization/Skilled Nursing Homes Medicare covers all medically necessary hospitalizations

including if you're diagnosed with COVID-19 and might have been discharged from the hospital after an inpatient stay, but instead you need to stay in the hospital under quarantine.

Hospitals can now provide hospital services in other healthcare facilities and sites that aren’t currently considered part of a

healthcare facility in in order to address the urgent need to increase capacity to care for patients. This includes off-site screenings. Medicare covers medically necessary care for these facilities and sites.

CMS recommends that nonessential, elective surgeries and other medical procedures be postponed during the coronavirus outbreak. CMS also asks that nonessential dental exams and procedures be postponed.

Certain requirements are being waived for skilled nursing facility care. Nursing homes and hospitals are being instructed to review

their infection control procedures, which they're required to maintain at all times.

Communities that are in phase 1 of the administration’s re-opening plan can begin to provide non COVID-19 treat-ments and elective procedures that have been curtailed since the coronavirus outbreak.

Medicare Advantage Plans If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you

have access to these same benefits. Medicare allows these plans to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 lab tests. Many plans offer additional telehealth benefits and expanded benefits, like meal delivery or medical transport ser-vices. Check with your plan about your coverage and costs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare Advantage Plans and Prescription Drug Plans may waive or relax prior au-thorization requirements. Check with your plan for more information.

CMS tells Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans they can relax copays and other cost sharing when it comes to testing for the coronavirus

Telehealth Medicare has temporarily expanded its coverage of telehealth

services to respond to the current Public Health Emergency. Beneficiaries can have access from more places (including your

home), with a wider range of communication tools

HERE COMES THE MEDICARE ARTICLE FROM HELL:

Continued next page

June 2020 Desert Views Page 8

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

(including smartphones), to interact with a range of providers (like doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, physical therapists, occupa-tional therapists, and speech language pathologists). This will help ensure that you and others are not at risk of expo-sure to COVID-19.

During this time, you will be able to receive a specific set of services through telehealth including evaluation and man-agement visits (common office visits), mental health coun-seling and preventive health screenings without a copay-ment if you have Original Medicare.

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers virtual check-ins (also called “brief communication technology-based ser-vices”) with your doctors and certain other practitioners.

Medicare also covers E-visits .This allows you to talk to your doctor using an online patient portal without going to the doctor’s office. You pay your usual Medicare coinsurance and deductible for these services for virtual check-ins and E-Visits.

CMS is also waiving the requirement that telehealth sessions must be conducted using video technology, meaning Medi-care will pay for telephone-only visits, allowing beneficiar-ies who do not have access to the internet to still com-municate with their medical professionals.

If you live in a rural area, you may use communication technol-ogy to have full visits with your doctors. Also, you can get these visits at rural health clinics and federally qualified health clinics. Medicare pays for many medical visits through this telehealth benefit.

Medicare expands telehealth options so more patients espe-cially older adults can get medical advice and care while remaining in their homes and stemming the spread of the coronavirus.

Pharmacies Some pharmacy chains (CVS, Rite Aid,

Walgreens and Albertsons/Safeway) were waiving delivery fees for prescription drugs until May 1, 2020. They might have extended the waiver beyond that date. Check with your pharmacy to see if they are still waiving delivery fees. They were doing this to discourage older customers and those with underlying health conditions from visiting stores during this coronavirus outbreak.

Scammers/Fraud Medicare has issued an alert to all beneficiaries that scam-

mers may try to us this coronavirus crisis as an opportuni-ty to steal their identities and commit Medicare fraud. CMS remind enrollees that Medicare will never call them to ask for their Medicare Number.

Treat and guard your Medicare card just like a credit card.! Medicare will never call you to sell you anything. If you get a call, email or visit from someone telling you that you can get a free test, medical device or service; if you give them your Medicare number. Do NOT do it! Never give your Medicare Number to anyone but a trusted medical person. Also, Medicare will never visit you at home.

Check your Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs), statement of you recent claims by health providers for services, proce-

dures or devices you did not receive. Let CMS know if there are any discrepancies.

Stay safe and wear your mask! References: https://www.medicare.gov/

Bunis, Dena. “CMS Loosens Rules for Corona-virus Testing.” AARP Bulletin, May 1,2020, aarp.org https://www.aarp.org/

-Frank T. Encinias - Insurance

Look! CalRTA on your phone! Email Marilynn Smith 4 how to!

June 2020 Desert Views Page 9

CalRTA: Your Partner in Pension Protection CalRTA Desert Roadrunners– Division 43

California Retired Teachers Association

Desert Roadrunner Division # 43

PO Box 5691

La Quinta, CA 92248-5691

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

US POSTAGE PAID

PALM DESERT, CA PERMIT NO. 408

Current Resident or

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If you would prefer to save CalRTA Division 43 the cost of a postage stamp, you may contact us to have the newsletter sent electronically to you. Save

paper- Save trees- Show you care for the earth!

Name _______________________________________________________ Division # 43

Address:________________________________________________________________________________________

City ___________________________________ State______________ Zip:__________________________________

Phone: _________________________________ Email __________________________________________________

Year of Retirement: ________________ District Retired from _____________________________________________

Please check your selected payment method:

□ Cash: $66 annually per person

□ Dues Deduction $5.50 (self) $11.00 (self and spouse) Spouse name

____________________________

Social Security # (ONLY if signing up for dues deduction) Self

_______________________________________

I authorize the California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS) to deduct my association dues. Should the amount

of dues be adjusted as deemed necessary by CalRTA, I authorize that the adjusted deductions shall continue unless I notify

the CalRTA business office in writing to the contrary.

Signature ._________________________________________________________

Date________________________________

Return to: CA Retired Teachers Association

Desert Roadrunner Division # 43

PO Box 5691 La Quinta, CA 92248-5691