Tuesday was a Red-Letter Day! Our first official, in-person, Board meeting in over two and a half years was held last Tuesday and it felt wonderful to be in a room with colleagues to discuss the operation of the Association and other things as well. Not all the Board members and chairs were present but many were and paraphrasing Kevin Costner, “If you hold it they will come”.

Board meeting notes

• Jan Shore, Scholarship Chair, reported that the scholarship for next year has been posted. She also reported that her contact in the Scholarship Office has moved on but she has a temporary contact until a permanent replacement is assigned.
• Barry McNeill, Video History Project Chair, reported that Don Doerres agreed to join the production crew, replacing John McIntosh who retired after ten good years of service. Barry also reported that Helene Ossipov agreed to try her hand at video editing and has been set up with Premier Pro. Mark Henderson has also agreed to begin adding metadata to the interviews that need it.
• Tara Roesler, Health Insurance Liaison, very briefly outlined the cost changes in the ADOA and ASRS plans. This prompted a discussion about the complexities of choosing a plan. Rojann Alpers said her review of the ASRS plan showed it had pitifully little help for in home care. Paul Harper said he had used an agent to help him sort through his options. Pat Schneider, Seminar Chair, said the Seminar Committee has received feedback that there needs to be a deeper discussion of these various Medicare Advantage / Supplement plans and the committee is considering how best to address this.
• Carl Cross, Membership Chair, reported there are currently 803 members of which 303 are Introductory. The really good news is that the number of recent members (0 to 2 years excluding Introductory Members) had increased by almost 50% over last year at this time.
• Will Stasi, ASURA President, closed the meeting pointing out the progress made in the past five months in getting Association tasks spread around so that more members are helping operate the Association. This effort is far from complete and ASURA needs more volunteers in a number of areas, including being on the Board.

Board nominations

As mentioned above we will soon be looking for a fresh crop of new Board members and this could be you. Each year ASURA holds a February election for five new members of the ASURA Board of Directors. The Board manages the affairs of the Association and establishes policies as needed to carry out its mission. Members of the Board are elected for a term of three years and meet monthly during the academic year.

We encourge members to offer the names of current ASURA members or your own name as a potential Board member by notifying the Nominating Committee chair of your nomination(s). To be sure that your nominee’s name gets on the ballot, you can (as mandated by ASURA Bylaws) submit a petition of nomination bearing the signatures of at least ten current ASURA members. All nominating petitions must be received by January 3, 2023.

Send your suggestions or self-nomination to:

Tara Roesler (troes7718@msn.com)

Chair of 2023 ASURA Board Nominating Committee

Committee of the month – Health Insurance Liaisons

Who are these Health Insurance Liaisons? They are our health insurance wonks. As you know, health insurance is one of your more important recurring expenses. It also often turns out to be one of the more complicated aspects of retirement what with changing Federal and State Policies and an annual open enrollment period. To address these health issues the ASURA Bylaws created the Health Insurance Liaisons to:

• monitor existing health insurance programs for University retirees,
• propose improvements in insurance programs, and
• suggest actions that should be taken by the Association to provide the best possible health insurance coverage for its members.

Historically there have been two liaisons, one for the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) health insurance and one for the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) health insurance. These two liaisons make up the Health Insurance Council. The two liaisons work together to help ensure our members have the latest health insurance information.

Occasionally there will be legislation which impacts ASRS / ADOA Health Insurance. In such situations the Government and Health Insurance Councils work together and support or oppose the legislation as directed by the Board.

The council can always use more members to:

• collect and read the Open Enrollment Information from ADOA and ASRS each October,
• help members with Open Enrollment issues during the Open Enrollment period
• gather information from various resources pertaining to current developments and trends in health insurance for retirees to share with the members
• influence the plans being offered by ASRS and maybe ADOA

This council needs your help. If interested, please contact  one of the council's chairs.

Prime Times

You should all soon receive the fall edition of Prime Times, edited by Jeannette Robson. This edition is just another in the long line of interesting material. We all owe Jeannette a round of applause for her volunteer service. If you cannot wait until you get your copy, the color version is available on our website.

AROHE Webinar – Don’t let your memories fade

What role can pictures play in impacting cognitive decline and dementia? This seems like a rather interesting topic. The webinar is free but you do need to register. If you watch the webinar you might let our Seminar Committee Chair know what you thought.

ASU Gammage – Gridiron to ASU Gammage

For those of you who love opera singing quarterbacks, this event is for you. At 7:30 on Friday, November 4, Gammage is presenting a musical celebration of the Sun Devil Sprit featuring Gus Farwell. Gus is a former ASU Quarterback who turned opera singer and was featured during the pandemic singing from his balcony in Barcelona Spain. The event is free but does require registration.