Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 02-16-26_MONDAY_8AM

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Part two on PTSD treatment with Dr. Stephanie Johnson, then Where Past Meets Present with Dr. Powers - topic is When Electricity Came to the Valley, Kelly Bates on Open for Business, free Medicare education classes on Tues in CP and Thursday in Medford.

This hour of the Bill Myers Show podcast is proudly sponsored by Klausur drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for more than 50 years. Find out more about them at Klausor drilling.com. Bill Myers Show on 1063 KMED. KMED and KMED HD1 Eagle Point Metford KBXG grants past Dr. Stephanie Johnson, licensed clinical psychologist, summit psychological.net. And we're talking about EMDR. EMDR eye movement desensitization and reprocessing about getting the trauma in someone's brain

kind of refiled in the right place that you're able to get over things and get past the PTSD. So now you've been doing this with veterans and police officers and firefighters, a lot of lay people too here, doctor? Yes, that's correct. Okay. Vicki's here. Vicki, you wanted some clarification. And on...

Hello, doctor. Go ahead. I had a lot of trauma from the age of four, which continued. The first trauma was abandonment. Then it was dealing with people with substance abuse. And then it was, I was abused physically. But anyways, I'm in my 60s now. and about four, I guess it's been about six years ago, I wrote a letter, and it was like a six-page letter to this person.

And I just let every emotion out, everything I felt as a teenager, everything that affected me. And after I wrote this letter, it just was like the biggest weight off of my chest. It was almost like I never went to therapy for any of these issues, but it was almost like the ultimate therapy. Just writing it down, giving it to this person. And then I finally felt like, you know, I said what I had to say. I felt, you know, I told my feelings. But during this time, before the letter, I had anxiety. I had social anxiety.

I've been with my husband 38 years. And he never knew a lot of the stuff. Boy, a long time to hang out of this, huh? Long time. Yeah. But what was really weird was he said, oh, my God, that explains so much about the way the issues I had and the way I dealt with things. And after I wrote this letter, it, like, completely changed my life.

Yeah, do you have a question, though, for the doctor? He's curious. Well, I'm just wondering with that kind of trauma when you hold it in all those decades, Why was it so like freeing when I wrote the letter? Well, one, I am so happy to hear that you had the strength to do that. That's remarkable. I think what happens is a lot of people, one will avoid. And unfortunately, avoidance is a criterion for PTSD.

And avoidance actually increases anxiety. and then we are also storing it in our body and kind of like holding on to something, holding on to something, holding on to something, and that becomes exhausting. And so it sounds like you just had this great emotional cathartic release and just let it go so that you can be happy in the moment with your husband, which congratulations for 38 years. That's pretty impressive. Oh, yeah. Thank you so much for that personal experience here.

I was kind of curious here, doctor, does the EMDR, have you found any use for this in medical trauma? Let's say someone who has gone through massive doses of surgery, chemotherapy, things like that, in which there's a lot of emotional trauma and post-traumatic stress in connection with even just having some big diseases conquered. Do you ever work with that, with people on that? I have, and recently I just worked with the client who had a C-section and she didn't want one. And the C-section was a very traumatic event for her. She processed that and I work with other clients as well that their medical experiences, whether it be surgeries and just having horrible experiences in medical conditions, yes.

So any kind of trauma, EMDR is wonderful and can help you process it. Is this a growing part of the psychological field of treatment these days? I believe so. I know that focusing on trauma is a specialization, and anyone that is focusing on trauma should really know the different types of therapy to provide to clients because every client that comes to your office is unique. So again, I focus on CBT, egosate therapy, internal family systems. But my go-to, my go-to is EMDR.

Is there a type of trauma or therapy that this is best suited for and maybe a different type of person, not so good to try EMDR? What is that? What's that dividing line or how do you choose how to move forward with someone on this? on this? I tailor my treatment towards the individual depending on where they are at emotionally. So if a client is going through untreated severe substance use, EMDR is not going to be used.

I can't use EMDR for anyone with acute crisis, severe dissociation. I have to actually bring them into the room and make them feel safe. so that they're no longer dissociating. EMGR is not going to be very effective if you're not in the room. Yeah, that's interesting, though. You did mention that if you're in real bad substance abuse, that's probably not the right time, right? It's not the right time.

Emotional regulation and working on stability is first and foremost with those individuals. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm really fascinated that it seems to be having such success and is a relatively, well, it's a physical treatment rather than a necessarily a pharmacological treatment of some sorts. So I'm really fascinated by this. This is why I wanted to bring you on in the first place about this.

And if somebody wanted to find out more, it's summit psychological.net, summit psychological.net. Is there anything else you wanted to add before we take off? Thanks, explain. Sure. I mean, you can Google Dr. Stephanie Johnson, psychologist, California, and my link. will pop up. My group practice website will pop up. But for your listeners, I highly recommend if you're interested in finding a certified clinician that is specializing in EMDR, go to the Andrea.org website. That's EMDRIA.org. It is the gold standard for finding a certified

EMDR clinician, just go to their page, scroll down to the bottom, and it gives you an area where you can actually type in your location, and it'll pop up, it'll show you all of the certified clinicians in your area. That's right. What is your favorite, if somebody were to ask you, kind of like an elevator pitch, right? And they would say, doctor, tell me about one of the most amazing people that most other therapists are looking at saying, hey, there's nothing we can do for this person. We need to do something different.

and you're able to kind of bring this person back into more of a healed position. Anything come to mind? The first thing that pops into my mind is one, I do tend to get those clients that are usually the most resistant or they've been in treatment for many, many, many years. And I consider myself extremely blessed. I get front row seats to watch people heal every single day. I couldn't ask for anything greater than that. Yeah, is there anyone that comes to mind that maybe that you could share without to tell us who they are,

but maybe just an example of what happened to them and how you. Oh, okay. So I do have a client that suffered from molestation from a young age and then other traumas. She came to me for an unrelated issue that happened at work. And she has been, she suffered from anxiety for as long as she could remember. She works, I mean, she would go to sleep at 12 o'clock at night knowing that that would prevent her from waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom because she was scared of the dark. And she's in her 40s. So she came to me.

She processed so many things in EMDR. And I remember her coming in one week and she's like, oh my gosh, Doc, I haven't had anxiety all week. He's like, oh, my goodness. And this is a huge success compared to where she's been, right? I never. Right. And then she told me, she's like, but wait a minute, I prayed, I prayed to God and and ask, God, please, let me, let me experience what it feels like to not have anxiety. And I just side-eyed her and said, look, so you don't think God, God's going to like zap you back up to heaven right now because he gave you one week, right? So then she comes back in two weeks later. Oh my gosh, Doc, it's, it's been two weeks now. in two weeks.

Third week she comes in. Oh, wait, wait, Doc. I had a couple of days of anxiety this week. And of course, I did the math. I was like, well, did you start your period? And she's like, yes. And I was like, hmm, okay, this is life. And I do the up and down kind of curved moments.

This is life. She has gotten off of all of her psychotropic medication. She's no longer taking Ativan. and she's just living life and she's still shocked to this day that, oh, my goodness, I can actually go out and enjoy life. And live a life. Yeah. Yes, it's amazing.

Again, I get front row seats. I am blessed to get to watch people heal every single day. I love stories like that. Boy, especially getting off the drugs, too. That's real. I have a postdoctoral master's in clinical psychopharmacology. And the reason why I did that postdoctoral masters is to increase my knowledge to help people and unprescribe, to actually walk them out of the medications and heal in a natural way.

And EMGR really does help that. EMDRIA.org is kind of like where you can find a treatment standard or a good person for this. I'll put that all up on my website there, including summit, psychological.net. Thanks so much for sharing it. I've never heard of this treatment for now, and it just intrigued me. I'm glad you came on. I really am. Well, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Dr. Stephanie Johnson.

It is 11 minutes after 8. 30 years ago, American industrial doors specialized in industrial doors for warehouses, shops, Barnes, Airport, Hank. Now more with Bill Meyer. If I were talking with Dr. Powers, Dr. Dennis Powers, retired professor of business law tomorrow, chances are he would be snowed in. We'll see how it works out. Today you can still move around. Is that right, Dennis? Welcome back.

That is very, very, very true. And all of us go ahead, based on whether it's going to snow or not, try to take care of different things we need to have done, including for our businesses and business. Are you up in a high hill elevated area? Or are you kind of in the valley? Where do you and Judy live? We're right up actually on the county line up in the hills. And so when the snows come in, it makes it difficult to get down the town. But another event, the good news is, is the fact that we're here in Oregon.

And I'm just thinking also, Bill, think about if we're in Minnesota. I mean, if we could even get through to downtown through the riots. Exactly. That for a conversation for another time. Hey, today, though, we're going to do a pallet cleanser first, though. with where past meets present. And it has to do with when electricity came to our area. And this was the big deal.

We've talked about for years how electricity really is the establishment of civilization, of really a civilized way of working things. And what happened, what, late 1800s is when it first came? Yeah, over 130 years ago. But in putting this scene in perspective, as you're doing, you know, now in our warm house, you know, we should think about what it was like then. I mean, no cars, horse and buggy, candlelight, or whale oil lamps. And, you know, in terms of those of us who like to be warm, just the fact that today is here

shows what our great-grandfathers did then. And, boy, houses in the... Houses in the wintertime in southern Oregon in those days, it was cold in the winter. It's just cold. Oh, definitely cold. Very, very cold, miserable. And also, you couldn't really see when you got up before the sun, especially agriculture. But here, over in 1889, given that perspective, we had a Mr. Tuddle who had presented an electrow show in Ashland, where they hooked up

a two-horspower dynamo to an Ashland flour mill drive belt. Okay. And a carbon light glowed in the dark to everyone's amazement. You know, it was like looking at the Internet today by comparison. That's the way it looked to them, to those folks, I'll bet. Absolutely. And that is an excellent point because to have that light and to think about what it could be would be really amazing. And, you know, Bill, what then happened very quickly was that Ashland Electric

Power and Light came up that built a hydroelectric plant on Lithia Creek. That same year, Grants Pass did the same thing with a diversion dam across the Rogue River, south of the bridge, and that same year. But, you know, Bill, the thing about it is that there were conditions, such as power could only be used then from 6 to 10 p.m. Really? Because of the night. And, you know, you just didn't have the...

capacity. You didn't have the technology, but we were starting. Yeah, it wasn't a big, it wasn't a big grid. And you're telling me here on the notes that there was an ironing hour in which an hour of electricity would come on, so just so you could iron clothes. And 9 to 10 in the morning, right? Yeah, and you see that, apparently, Lynn, this is from Grant's Pass, was that that was one hour on Tuesday mornings from 9 to 10 o'clock in the morning. You know that the liberals that are attacking everything on the grid right now, they'd like us to go back to only maybe four hours or five hours of power a day if they have their way.

And I think, Bill, that we're being generous when we say that because they just don't think about what it would be like. They're just saying, oh, we'll always have everything we need, but we can take out the dams and we can, you know, take care of climate control. We can do, I mean, it's just absolutely nonsensical. Now, you said, though, that the people that really brought power to a wider area, what the Ray brothers, right, like Gold Ray Dam. That was what happened, right?

That's true. And meanwhile, but just before then, other towns followed, Grants Pass and Ashland, in individual types of electrical power facilities, Wyrka, Dunsmere, Medford, had a small woodbrenning plant on Bear Creek. And then, as you're pointing out, the Ray Brothers came in in the very early 1900s. Colonel Ray was vice president of the American Tobacco Company. They raised the money on Wall Street to go ahead and build a 350-foot-long, 17-feet-tall diversion dam, where the impounded river, and this was just at Tolo, four miles above Gold Hill.

And at Tolo, they went ahead and built all the facilities because the city of Gold Hill wanted too much money for that power plant and diversion dam. And then the next thing you knew is that this was the Condor Water and Power Company that was furnishing power in 1904, 1905, throughout all southern Oregon bill, Grants Pass, Goadhill, Medford, Jacksonville, Central Point, and Ashland. When did we finally get to the point where there was Copco, which then ended up being Pacific Power at some point? How long did that take? Well, at the same time, you had Wairika that had the Churchill's, that's a very, it's a big name out there in Northern California, that started the same thing. And both the Gold Hill Ray brothers and the Churchill's were. acquiring different small light and power companies so that in 1912 they consolidated all of it

in the name of Copco. And that was the California, Oregon Power Company. And so it controlled power plants throughout Southern Oregon and Northern California. We can fast forward then to where then in the 1960s Pacific Power then bought all of Copco's operations and operate through six specific Northwest States. But two things, Bill, that really came out to me as I go into it is that, first of all, we can take a look that, given the railroad, we have all of our major cities on a river. I mean, whether it's Ashton with Lethia Creek or Medford with Bear Creek or Grants Pass with Rogue River, we have rivers where our major centers are located. And at the same time, you had the the growth of these that were dependent on the ability of their having this power, and that's

exactly what we saw. And it ended up leading to huge growth here in Southern Oregon. Power is always part of it without the energy, nothing else happens, just the way it is, right? It really is, Bill, and that's exactly right. What really hits me, though, is the fact of what people can do if the government stays a heck out of the way and doesn't put on their idiotic types of restrictions. Well, even think about that, well, even think about Gold Ray, rather than Gold Ray Dam.

I would imagine that back in those days, if you just wanted to put the dam up, you put the dam up, didn't you? Not the way it worked in those days? Yeah, and to the extent you had permits, you didn't have the government using that to go ahead and get political contributions by saying, well, you know, slyly, if you want that permit, here's what you. you need to do for us. And you're absolutely right. I fished for quite a bit above Goldray Dam, and I know exactly what that was like and what was doing. And then they removed the dam, what was it, 2012. And the reason, Bill, they removed it was because of, quote, unquote, the fish. Well, I can guarantee you fishing for salmon for almost four decades here in Oregon. It doesn't depend on dams. It depends on a lot of things, including, you know, where the salmon are.

Well, think about what we're going to be looking at now. I can't help but wonder where we're going to be headed here, Doctor, now that up on the Klamath, as an example, all the dams are gone, right? The dams are gone, the reservoirs are gone, and also the rain is gone for a lot of cases. You ever wonder what's going to happen with these salmon runs when you have, you know, relatively dry year and a snow-free year? Well, that's a good point, Bill, because I've kayaked both before and after the dams were removed. And I can say that this was a sop to the environmentalist.

Boy, what an expensive sop, I'll tell you, my friend. Yeah, and that's exactly what it was. And then as you see, you know, every little fake news, climate control and all these things, You know, Bill, I really do think that an uneducated public is the worst problem with democracy because otherwise they wouldn't be relying on fake news to try to get their information on what's common sense. But that's the way it is. All right. Well, I'll post your history from today.

That's great. Great stuff. The story of power here in Southern Oregon. And before we take off, a couple of things I want to talk about. the endangerment ruling coming out of the Trump administration, getting rid of carbon, you know, or of the carbon dioxide being a danger to the environment. What to get your take on that? How do you think that will play?

And also, I have to ask you about Senator Golden bowing out. Okay? Do you mind? Sure. And, yeah, and I've known him for years, and I certainly understand what's going on, so thank you. All right. We'll do that. 828 at KMED.

If you're turning 65 soon, understanding Medicare is crucial. Out of every hour. News Talk 1063, KMED. This is News Talk 1063, KMED. And you're waking up with the Bill Myers Show. Dr. Dennis Power is a retired professor of business law to the present hearing, doctor. And the president's EPA revoking the endangerment finding. This is a big, big deal.

I would imagine that being retired professor of business law, Did you ever talk about that endangerment finding or was that before, or was that after, was that after for that endangerment finding that it came in there? I don't know. Well, you know, this was a very, as you point out so well, a very big deal because in February, the Trump administration repealed this 2009 endangerment finding. And that was, of course, an Obama-abomination that declared Greenland. greenhouse gases, a threat to public health, which allowed, you know, a lot of different things on auto standards, regulating emissions.

Now, if I understand it correctly, it's like there's no proof that carbon dioxide, was it something that it was just kind of created out of ideological aspects of the agency, or where do they end up coming from originally? I'm just kind of curious. Do you know offhand? Yeah, it came from a – the climate control folks was a way in which to go ahead and get environmentally oriented political contributions and to really try to nail the Republican Party's gas and oil contributions. The key thing is tell us about carbon dioxide. And they said that it's the increasing of carbon dioxide that you get from, quote, unquote, greenhouse gases. I mean, even going ahead along the Klamath and saying get rid of the cows.

And what it was was the fact that they were saying that this was an indication of temperature increasing. And yet you and I and others were at a symposium that had to do with scientists who said, that's just debunked because carbon dioxide is needed in photosynthesis. It's elementary biology. Yeah, no photosynthesis means no plants, means... And it means no oxygen. It means no life, you know? Yeah.

And so, you know, Trump, Bill, was so right that this climate control became a mantra, along with the fact that, you know, men can reproduce. along with these types of idiotic type of things. Oh, pregnant people. Pregnant people, in other words. Absolutely. And the whole thing is because it's not only a lack of common sense, it is just so uneducated, but the mantra of those that are following the Piper Lemming of the fake news are saying,

oh, climate control. But basically on the carbon dioxide, it's a vital nutrient for plant life. carbon dioxide. It boosts, you know, as I mentioned, the photosynthesis. It enhances water use efficiency. And beyond agriculture, carbon dioxide is used for food, carbonation, industrial cooling, fire suppression, and in medical applications. What is it, what is this going to mean? What is the real, the real effect of this going to be in your view? It's going to be more lawsuits. Oh. Sorry to hear that.

Yeah, I mean, there's nothing we can do about it. I am absolutely ashamed of the legal profession. I am ashamed of it because of the way that at district courts and in terms of even here in Oregon, the way that judges are just following where they want to get promotion, which will be far-left types of philosophies. I mean, as a matter of fact, Bill, they had climate control. arguments in the judicial handbooks that were given out to federal district court judges. And so the way that this malfeasance has spread means that you're going to have losses coming in on auto regulations. You're going to have it in terms of every single place where Obama,

Biden, were able to get their claws into this country. Okay, well, if it was okay for the EPA to declare this, why is it controversial to D-declare it? You know I'm getting at? Because the only reason why this came out, and it was, of course, through the EPA, that, you know, the EPA we had in Biden and Obama, we'll just put it back in. Oh, okay. I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, it's a political type of thing where, and then, you know, Bill, what's interesting to me

is that there's always a publicity that comes out. So now what's happening is that the news are now running the lead that in Washington, D.C., they're doing some major work to improve the quality of the water. And so there's going to be some restraints on the use in Washington, D.C. at the same time. And I see this all the time, Bill, as you do too so well, is that as soon as you have, have something that comes out that's pro the administration. The far left comes out with something that's negative. And of course, the New York Times and other newspapers that fawn with the AP

over the non-negative administration views. Just go ahead and publish it. We don't need all the newspapers we have. And we've just seen that with those that have gone out of business. All right. What do they ask you here, Doc, where we take? off. Big political news here in southern Oregon is that Senator Jeff Golden ended up announcing late on Friday that he wasn't going to run. It's going to run, not going to run for re-election. It's going to retire at the end of the year here. Do you think it was money? You think he's just kind of tired of the battle? From what I understand, not even the Democratic caucus was a big fan of Senator Golden right now. Do you have any insight there? Yeah, I've always liked Jeff

personally. I've liked Jeff personally, too. I just vehemently disagree with him on many things. I don't agree with, like you, I don't agree with his politics. I mean, he does so many different things well. And his withdrawal was really based on the fact of he put, and this is just my thought, because it just sits on terms of the way that he came up on the fire. map that hit everyone, especially in southern Oregon, where, you know, you had to go ahead and do

certain types of remedial work, you know, take down trees if you could. There was just white-hot anger and hatred over Senate Bill 762. Do you think that was the main deciding factor because he decided to get back into it? And then I guess then he, of course, now he comes out with that, you know, on a, Another, you know, climate slush fund bill is trying to get that in. I guess that would be his final parting shot if it ends up getting past. And part of the reason is we have the old warrior who is constantly defeated because of our views being Denise Krause that is planning to run, you know, is going to run against Jeff Godin in the primary for Senate.

and she, of course, ran twice for Jackson County, Commissioner, and she has, if we think that Jeff's views are skewed, we can certainly see that her views are even skewed past his in terms of on the political left spectrum. This is a big, big race, though, and I wondered if it had to do with maybe Jeff's not good at raising money. Any thoughts on that? No, I think these are all good questions, and this is just my supposition, because the fact that Jeff has always, because he has been, he has stood out in a number of different things. You know, he had a TV program, for example, that was very well received before he ran for state Senate. And the thing about it, he did have money, but he's also 75.

And also it would be a very hard fight against Denise Krause and her people as to, now the question would be how much would we even learn about this? Well, you didn't- One newspaper in Southern Oregon. Well, now it is what we're talking about now is a battle on the Democratic side between Mr. Stein, Medford City Counselor, And Denise Krauss, that's going to be the battle. Yeah, that's true. But then we come in on the Republican side where you have, you know, this Brad Hicks. And Brad was a former CEO of the Chamber of Medford and Jackson County. And Brad is a very smart, experienced person who has been doing this.

I wonder, do you think it could be where, Jeff thinking that, you know, maybe it is because of Brad. You think it's because of Brad Hicks that made him second guess it? Well, these are all good questions. And my personal feeling is I don't think it has to do with the political battle. I'm wondering between you and I and our listeners is whether or not there's something physical, whether there's something where, you know, when you get into your mid-70s and you're really, I mean, Trump is unbelievable. But if you get into your mid-70s, there are little things that happen that are problematic over when you were 50 and 60. And I'm just wondering out loud if there isn't some medical, and that's not to start a rumor.

Yeah, but just getting tired. Getting tired, in other words. But just the fact that your priorities, he's also, I mean, I've seen him, for example, in a play, judgment at Nuremberg where he told me, Dennis, you ought to come and take a look at this one. And I was just fascinated at the way that he played the role of the prosecutor. So I can go ahead, and even though like you, I disagree very much on the politics because it's just totally with all the Democrats, Californicated. And we could see that even in terms of soft and crime.

Yeah, I think part of that, I think part of that, honestly. was probably due to damage from Senate Bill 762 because that was a bipartisan white-hot anger to it wasn't just coming from the right from the right wing on that in my view. I think you're right, Bill, and also part of it is that that's what the courier had put in its news on Jeff Golden retiring from the race for Oregon Senate District 3. and in any event, I think you could be quite right, which would mean that, okay, so maybe his odds of winning my friend would be 50, 50, whereas before, you know, there were more like 2 to 1. Oh, yeah. Honestly, yeah, there's not even close.

I figured that at this point, remember there was that famous picture, that famous meme of Barack Obama around, and he was pictured within a, like a burned out husk of a city, or something I got. He says, finally, my work here is through. This is that he was leaving office. I couldn't help but think a little bit of that with Jeff. Just saying. That is a great analogy. All right. I'll tell you what. You take care yourself, Dennis. We will talk next week, and there will be certainly more illegal news to talk about at that time, all right? You'd be well. All the best of you. You'd be well, and my pleasure. All right. And keep the driveway clear for tonight and tomorrow night, okay? See you that. That's good. Dr. Dennis Powers retired professor,

of business law. It is 843. Your outdoor adventure starts. At the 26th annual sportsmen's and outdoor recreation show at the Expo, February 20th through 22nd. Shop your outdoor recreation needs from fine exhibitors. See the amazing wild eagle encounter. See the new nature's

provisions vendors and sign up to win the Great Main Lobster Hunt. Enter the photo contest with thousands in prizes. Don't miss the Seven Feathers Big Game Trophy Room. Sponsored by Lithia Body and Paint on Bullock Road in Medford. This is the Bill Myers Show on 1063. KMED. Great having you here. It is now time for Open for Business and we keep you in the loop of

people who have some really interesting things going on. And in this particular case, we have Kelly Bales at Futurity First in Medford. Kelly, how are you doing this morning? Doing great. Great to have you here. And you also have your partner here. Misty, is it DeVos? Is that how you pronounce that? It's DeVos. DeVos. Okay, DeVos. DeVos. It will be. And what we want to make sure that people know about here is if you're getting ready to turn 65. I am. So I'm one of the people. Are you, I'd be like, would I be considered the target then for you? Definitely. Yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So you're turning 65, Medicare is coming for you. Oh, man, I got to tell you. I can't believe, you know, I look at my, my mailbox and my mailbox is now filling up. It's like, they know. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And that's

definitely a thing that happens. When you're getting close to turning 65, you're going to be getting all kinds of stuff in the mail. There's all kinds of information out there. So it's really important to educate yourself and learn the facts about Medicare because it's not the easiest thing to understand. Yeah. I'm even trying to take care of some Medicare issues for my mother, who was 86. And I'm sitting here. My eyes are glazing over sometimes. I'm looking, okay, so this person says that you can save me money or whatever it is. So this is what you're trying to educate people about. So what is going on tomorrow? And I don't, Misty, do you want to pick up what's going on tomorrow? Well, when you're navigating Medicare, like Kelly said, it's a lot to go, you know, process.

And so at our, we are big on education. And we offer Medicare educational classes. We try to do a couple each month. And these classes last about an hour. And we try to put a time of day where people can make it. It'll be a, tomorrow night we'll have one. and Central Point, Parks and Rec, and it's going to start at 530, and that's located at 235 Haskell Street there in Central Point. And it starts at 530. And it starts at 530. All right. Now, and then there's going to be another one, which will be, what, Thursday?

Yeah, it'll be Thursday. Again, that'll start at 530 as well. We're going to have it at our office at 516 Crater Lake Avenue here in Medford. and it's about an hour-long class. We've got it down. We have a great slide show we present. We'll help you with any questions that you have. And if you want a little more information, we can meet up with you as well.

All right. Kelly, what is probably the biggest misunderstanding or misconception about signing up for Medicare? By the way, do you have to sign up for Medicare? So, I mean, everyone's situation is different. But most people especially want to sign up for Medicare. part A because that's what you've been paying into all the years that you've been working. Part B is optional. So if you're still employed and you have coverage through your employer, you don't have to get

part B. Because I plan on working past age 65. I'm not planning on. Yeah. So if you're still working, you don't have to get part B. You still can. So just when you're 65, you're eligible for Part B also. All right.

What does that actually mean, though, to be just on regular Medicare and have a regular employer provided care too? How does that work? Yeah, so if you have both Medicare and employer coverage, they'll bill the employer coverage first, and the Medicare is secondary. Okay, all right. What is the biggest misconception then, or the biggest question that I think either of you have to deal with as you're conducting these classes? What are people confused about most often? I think one of the biggest misconceptions is what, I mean, really what is the best plan for me?

Because everybody has a different situation, and so Medicare is definitely not a one-size-fits-all. So what's best for your friend that you've been talking to is not necessarily the best plan for you. So it's really understanding the differences between Medicare supplements and Medicare advantages and then finding which plan works best in your particular situation. If you don't mind, Missy, what about the, what is the basic difference between like a Medicare Advantage plan and the other ones that you were just talking? Medicare supplement? Is there a way you can, you know, just briefly explain? It's like one kind of a CCO sort of thing, coordinated care kind of thing, where you get all the care through a place. I didn't know if it's a network or one. Medicare supplements, they, it's, Kelly can probably answer us a little bit better, but it's separate.

You'd have your health plan and then a separate prescription drug plan, whereas a Medicare advantage, they usually call those plan C's because Medicare's have different letters. but with the advantage is everything in one, kind of like the whole package still. Oh, okay. It almost reminds me of an HMO. Is that kind of what they used to have? There are HMOs with Medicare Advantage and PPO's. Yeah, so Medicare advantages are network-based, so they have PPO's and HMOs. And they're more of a pay-as-you-go plan.

So there are plans that are zero to low premiums available here in the Valley, whereas Medicare supplements, you're paying the premium up front in exchange for having no responsibility. So it's more similar to like car insurance. Got it. Okay. All right. I think I understand that a little bit better. But like you're saying, though, there are so many different options, and this is why people's

eyes glaze over. Yes. Yeah. And there's so many different parts and plan letters. So that's why it's very important to educate yourself so you understand how Medicare works. And that's really the goal of our Medicare 101 classes is that you can educate yourself so that you're able to make the best decision.

So when I ask the dumb question, is going to be a lot of other people asking that same dumb question, right? Yeah. It's not a dumb question. It's not a dumb question. It's no dumb questions. But I'm feeling dumb as I ask. It's, you know, that sort of thing. Now, how many different plans are there? There are so many different plans. So Medicare supplement, there's many different companies available. And one thing to understand about Medicare supplements is that they're organized in different letter plans, but each letter plan is the exact same, no matter which company you go with. So, A plan G is the exact same, no matter if you're with Cigna, Mutual-V Omaha, any company that you're with. And here in Oregon, we actually- But the only difference might be the rate that they would charge. That's right. And they're solely price-driven. So here in Oregon, we have the birthday rule.

So anybody who's on a Medicare supplement, 30 days before their birthday to 30 days after, have the opportunity to change to a different, the same letter plan but different company without having to answer any health questions. So you're able to switch to a different company that offers a lower price. So if that's something we do for our clients around your birthday, we'll run the quotes and see if we're able to save you money with a different company. Kelly and Misty once again with a futurity first. And tomorrow we want to make sure because this is, like I said, we're down to just 24 hours for the next one. It's going to happen to be 530 tomorrow. Tomorrow night's class is going to be at Central Point Parks and Recreation, 235 South Haskell Street, 530. Do you have to pre-register for these?

We'd like it. If you could, you can go to Medicare madefor-you.org to sign up for the class or if you'd like to call our office. Okay. And I'll get all your office information up on the website trying to give a phone number sometimes on the air. It doesn't necessarily work all that well. But we'll be happy if anyone just walks in as well. Okay. All right.

We take walk-ins too, for sure. Okay. So this is tomorrow. Tomorrow once again in Central Point. And then there's going to be the Thursday one. And this is at 516 Crater Lake Avenue in Medford. So that's your office, your main office. I know I drive past you all the time.

I'm all this. Hi, Melissa. Hi, everybody there. You know, that sort of thing. And one more time, what is that website? I guess that's a big one. It's Medicare madefor you.org. Okay.

Medicare madefor you.org. If you're turning 65 soon, would you go to this if you are already in Medicare and you just need some changes done or is this only for Medicare new enrollees? No, you definitely can come if you're already on Medicare. because a lot of people sign up for things and they don't really understand it yet. So we would love for anyone to come. Okay. Yeah.

You got the questions on the Medicare. You know where to go. I'll get all that information up. I appreciate you coming in, all right? Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks for explaining it and putting up with my dumb question.

All right. All right. It's 857 and change. Stephen Westfall roofing is growing. Now proudly serving Brookings.