Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 04-20-26_MONDAY_8AM

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Where Past Meets Present with Dr. Powers, Matties Nugget history, the SCOTUS news and More. Kelly Bales with Futurity First on Open for Business - Medicare education talks Tues and Thurs! Emails of Day, too.

This hour of the Bill Meyer Show podcast is proudly sponsored by Klauser Dr. Dilling. 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. Now more with Bill Meyer. Dr. Dennis Powers, retired professor of business law, always happy to have you back here, Dennis. Dennis Powers Books.com. Welcome back. Good morning, sir. Yeah, good morning, my friend.

Let's talk about the history first. And then we'll bring it back to the nonsense and the lawfare of today, all right? But, boy, this time, though, we've been talking a lot about gold and how gold had a lot to do with the founding of many of our towns here in Southern Oregon. And, well, let's talk about Maddie's Nugget, if you don't mind for those who don't know. Well, you know, what's really good about this, especially given the fact of federal debt and the way that gold has had a medium. heroic rise up to, what, it's now 4,000, 850 per ounce, around $5,000 per ounce. But, you know, actually gold was the, as we found up and found out, my friend, on Beaver coins last week, and there were the medium of the exchange up until, gee, the 1930s or so.

Yeah, it was really the Great Depression where people started shifting away from that. but, well, I guess because for, well, frankly, let's just think about what happened. They made it illegal to own gold bullion, right? Yeah, that's right. And you see, Roosevelt then, you know, decreed that the private ownership as a currency that was illegal because the fact that people were not dealing in this worthless currency dollars. And so even before then, you know, gold was used to pay debts. And regardless of who you were, you could buy gold nuggets up until then at any local bank

and then all the way up until when Nixon in 1971 went ahead and disconnected gold from the currency, letting the currency to float, which allowed these massive debts to start. When we take a look, and you know, what occurred to me is that gold was really a big deal not only in Southern Oregon, because before you had the educational requirements for doctors and all these other things, all of us really, if we were going to go ahead and try to earn a living, you were using your hands. And gold was one of the ones where if you came across a fine, my friend, you know, you were able to provide for your family and provide very well. But on Maddie's Nugget, it was there in the Alt House region in Johnson,

Josephine County. Yeah, and I guess Mattie, Maddie Collins, kind of a, what, small, nervous, Irish-type guy, right? Is it what he was, a nervous guy? Yes, he was. Mm-hmm. And what it was is that many had already left of the miners because the major discoveries had been already really depleted. But Mattie was ever hopeful. This was in 1859.

and so he looked up the bank, saw a large stump with exposed roots, and pulled out a 17-pound gold nugget, the largest reportedly ever discovered in Southern Oregon. Now, I just want to make sure it stuck in the roots of a tree that had fallen over, right? Yeah, yeah, and actually, you know, with the, you know, for those of us who are out hiking, you know, creeks and washed out creeks are general places where you can look, although they have been really picked over quite a bit by all the hikers before us. So what did he do with that 17-pound nugget?

Well, it'd be worth about a million and a quarter today. Wow. Unbelievable. But he was able, with a companion, was able to get it up to a San Francisco bank, and he sold it for $3,500. But he was frugal. And the story, which really, to me, is so much about life, Maddie was so frugal that he kept that money in the San Francisco Bank, worked for wages, poured everything into that bank, and then when he decided he had retired at age 65, Maddie fell in love. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Okay. This, oh, Maddie. And I got to tell you, he was 65. He retired at 65, right? And so he falls in love with a younger woman. woman and something tells me it didn't end well. He fleeced him and Collins died near penniless.

Oh, you're kidding me. Good fortune and years of hard work, which is kind of like life itself. It has ups and downs and, you know, especially we look at today with all of the divisiveness. But at that time, you know, prospectors would come to town and, you know, they would exchange their gold or the nuggets for whiskey, clothing, food, women, whatever they wanted. And then when they needed something like the tall Rotin brothers that we had talked about, maybe we might bring that in next week, but in any event, they were incredible at finding the gold with stories continuing through. But as you and I, my friend, have talked about for a long time, the ones who actually own the general

stores and sold provisions to the miners were the ones who became prosperous and Peter Britt was one of those. Oh, I know. The people that supplied the miners, generally speaking, made out much better than the miners themselves. But, you know, did anybody, were you able to, back to Maddie's, though, the treacherous young woman that ended up fleecing him, did she ever pay for her crimes or did he just kind of give it to her all, you know, voluntarily, that sort of thing?

and then she ended up jolting him, I guess. She disappeared with all the money. Oh, man. That goes to show, though, is that here it is someone. He worked enslaved. He put it all in the bank. He should have lived a little bit between now and then a little bit of the time instead of just leaving it all to the very end.

But that's just me. Just me. Absolutely right, because the quote when you post this, that really means it all to me about what that life was like for all of us who had been tempted, was a local prospector who wrote, after 17 years, I'm a little weary, hungry, I'm reduced to Spartan austerity, have a depressed feeling, I'm on a diet of beans. I love this one. After 17 years, my pockets average $2.30 a year, excluding expenses, but including frostbite, flybite, and rattlesnake.

bite with bleeding fingers and aching back, a frosted lung, and pain. Because you're out there in the middle of the winter. You know, I keep remember the old stories in terms of being in a cabin during the winter, whether it was here or back east, and not having much food and just trying to make it through with eight other unbathed prospectors waiting for the first thaw spring. The point being, though, is that the life of a prospector and a gold miner like that was very tough quite often. And these were tough people. Had to be. And you know, Bill, they were.

You know, when we think about our grandparents and think about, you know, what they did to earn a living, to provide, especially during the Great Depression. And then we see these riots by kids who are 20 who are living at home with their parents on food stamps. You know, he'd just say, well, okay, life was better then. Sorry. All righty. 22 minutes after eight, of course, where past meets present, Dr. Dennis Powers. Let's take it back to the modern day here in just a moment, if you don't mind, Doc. All right?

Sure. Sounds like a winner. Now, if you have discovered a 17-pound nugget, how wonderful for you, all right? Okay, see, 17-pound, yeah, $1.25 million at about what that would be worth here. But honestly, though, if you are digging up gold, silver, whatever it is, might like that, where do you take it? Where would you go? Well, I'd just say the recognized experts, Jay Austin and company, gold and silver buyers.

Call them at 482, 3715. They have been doing the selling and the buying of gold and silver and platinum and various other precious metals and stones forever and ever down here in southern Oregon. Call 482 3715 and get your appointment. I just dropped by them, talked to them a few days ago. It's always an enjoyable talk. It really is because you'll find out that the people running Jay Austin are friends. They truly are friends.

And they'll give you an honest deal. And they'll talk about the news. And you don't have to worry about CNN. It's not CNN thinking that goes on over at Jay Austin. We're talking about real pure capitalism, all right? Jay Austin brokers. And, of course, it's 1632 Ashland Street in Ashland, 6th and G in downtown Grants Pass.

482 3715, fortune reserve.com. That's fortune reserve.com. Do you remember as a kid writing, Wash me in the dust on the back of your parents' car? If you can do the same on your solar panels, call Max Energy Solar Cleaning. Dirty solar panels can reduce efficiency by up to 30%, which means less energy and higher utility bills.

Dust, pollen, ash from forest fires, it doesn't come off in the rain and block sunlight. Give Max Energy Solar Cleaning a call and get your solar panels back to optimal performance this season. They perform rooftop moss removal and gutter cleaning too. Online at maxenergysc.com. Water is life. And for over four generations,

Clauser drilling has been dedicated to delivering it with expertise, integrity, and professionalism. When it comes to your water, trust the experts. Clouser drilling. Serving Southern Oregon and Northern California with quality you can count on. Call us today and drill with confidence. Ready to upgrade your roof to a durable, sleek metal option? Look no further than Stephen Westfall Roofing, Inc.

With our state-of-the-art snap lock machines, we bring precision and efficiency right to your doorstep. No need to worry about transporting materials. We come directly to your project property and discover the ease in quality of metal roofing done right. Transform your home with Stephen Westfall Roofing, Inc. Call today to get an estimate tomorrow. 541-941-3736.

C-CB number 250730. It's the Bill Myers Show on KMED, Southern Oregon's place to talk. Dr. Dennis Powers here. We were talking about Maddie's nugget before we go on to the news here, Doc. We have Greg from Gold Hill. Greg, you actually know where Maddie found that nugget. You wanted to clarify that a bit?

Go ahead. Well, it was over here by Gold Hill. I believe it was Cain Creek. It might have been Gulles Creek. Uh-huh. Or one of them other little cricks there. But anyway, the story is the guy was walking along. on a trail, and he had a pack animal or some kind.

And he saw a little glimmer through the leaves, and he looked down and scraped it away, and there was a 17-pound nugget. There was the size of a small briefcase as the description I read. Wow. And it was just a pocket. They looked all around, couldn't find hardly nothing else. There was a little more. And then those guys that he was talking about that was good at finding.

in gold. They were giant for their time. The oldest brother was, I believe it was the oldest one I'm talking from memory. It was like six foot eight. Yeah, let me go to that because, Doc, I think you're going to talk about that story next week, right? The brothers. Yeah, the Roten brothers, their parents was really interesting because, as I recall, Elizabeth, the wife was like 250 pounds was 4'8, and her husband was tall and lean. They had 10 kids, five women and five guys, and all of them were over six feet. As a matter of fact, Enos was almost seven feet tall.

And the stories about them, even when you got into old newspapers, were really amazing as to he had a way of finding gold, and he went all throughout that area. He didn't get as much into the Altos area where Maddie was, but on the other hand, he was really something, and what really stood out was the way that they would spend their gold discoveries, and then they would just go back into the hills when they got over their hangovers to go ahead and find more.

But that was when the easy pieces could be found much more easier than we ever could. you know, later. Yeah, imagine that. You know, I've often wondered that if the tailings of old mining operations would be something worth going through and if more modern techniques could actually find gold out of something which was technically played out today, do you know? Well, you know, that's a good question. That's a good issue.

And I was really fortunate when I first got here over three and a half decades ago. I had friends of mine that owned property all throughout Southern Oregon, and I would tramp with them, you know, looking into old mines. And on the tailings, they're pretty much picked over. The tailings were really like the hydraulic mining. They had this huge apparatus that were in all of the large rivers that would dredge out, you know, the gravel, and then would sift it through. And then what was not wanted was then actually blown over into these piles. And they were, they were pretty well picked over. I thought that when I first got into it, but I certainly kept thinking, my friends, I'm going to find a piece of gold, but I never did. Never did. Okay. Well, I'll tell you what,

Doc, we'll have that story next week and get the whole story, like I said, the family of giants here in Southern Oregon. All right. Now, we had an 80 decision last week from the Supreme Court, and this is a striking blow, really, to the climate lobby and the trial lawyers. Could you explain what happened? This was an 8-0-0, and I think Alito recused himself because he was involved with one of the other companies. It is investments, I believe. Yeah, very true, because Alito, it was an 8-0 honing, but it didn't include Alito because he held a investment in oiling gas cases, including a specific one, which was, as I recall, call Burlington Resources was that it was looked upon that they were in part of this decision.

But you know, unfortunately, Bill, it was a procedural matter. Oh. Yeah, and that was so important. So the good news was the fact on 8 to 0, anytime it's 8 to 0 and you find the outstanding, you know, radical, socialist, liberal judges. going for it. There's something that is the turn for them. What it was was that the argument that was made was that these oil companies basically had federal contracts for jet fuel. And because of that federal connection procedurally, state courts couldn't hear it, only federal

courts. And of course, the liberal justice said, well, that's fine. We'll get them in the federal court. And that's why you had an eight to zero decision. Okay. So what was happening here is that the justices made it harder to essentially muscle in or raid businesses, right, by holding that federal contractors can't be hauled into state court for claims related to their government work. Is that how that worked to fight? Yeah, and it's also a percentage. It's not the entire amount. And this, this law that Louisiana had said that oil and gas companies on the coastal, you know, parts of Louisiana had to clean up all of their waste, your tailings, the whole thing, including where you

capped and where you explored but didn't find anything. And so when you got the state courts in there and you get state justice and jurors in there, you had some high verdicts. So the high verdicts were thrown out, which is where that was a win. But on the other hand, even the liberal judges in our legal civil war that's going on said, hey, that's fine. We'll go for it. We'll get them in federal court. Okay. So it's a win, but only kind of, is that what I'm getting from here? Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. All right, all right. Is there, you know, something I wanted to ask you, have you been keeping apprised of what's going on with Southern Oregon University. I know on Ashland. News, they were talking about that delight firm, talking about

SOU must cost, cut costs. Is that delight in Tuch, that same group, I guess? Yeah, and this is where, as part of the legislature, and recall that the $15 million that's supposed to go to SOU, my friend, is not one where they just get a blank check. They've got to be going ahead in making certain types of decisions, cutting down their expenses, to get an allocation of this money that's coming in. And you see, the big problem is that here we had, for example, Deloitte did go ahead and say, one of the things SUU must do is to go ahead and to prepare students on graduation for jobs, in the community, in the business community. Well, I can remember when I was teaching,

that was a big deal for us at the same time, except we were then smacked over the head by the Salem coming in and going ahead and saying, DEI, DEI, DEI, DEI. Yeah, DEI. Well, what makes me wonder then is that is Deloitte by,

or they kind of doing a backhanded way of saying that Southern Oregon University was not doing a good job of preparing their graduates for actually entering local jobs. I don't know if they made that conclusion because I haven't seen the entire report, only going ahead. I talked to some friends of mine. But I think the key thing here is that in an area like Southern Oregon, you're not going to have a lot of jobs for those that graduate with those. a degree in LGBTQ studies, and to where the really unfairness was...

By the way, before you move on there, Doc, do they do a lot of degrees in that kind of stuff at SOU? Is it pretty big for it? My friend, when you say a lot, on a percentage basis, no. But where it really comes in is the fact that you would have one professor with maybe 10 LGBTQ students in there at the full bore of what that professor who is tenured would be making. Let's say with benefits and everything else, oh, after tenure and after full professor, maybe around $60,000 a year, you know, and then you throw in some benefits.

But that's a wild number to throw out. That's about where it would be. But then, on the other hand, at the School of Business, I would have classes of 80. Oh. So the number of... You have 80 students in a class. Oh, of course. Yeah, but you see, where the big misconception is, is that once you're in there,

that the easy jobs would not be in the school of business because you would have the larger enrollments. And enrollments is what drives the amount of tuition that comes in and drives the amount of tuition that comes in and drives, what Salem looks at. Now, they are going to be raising, I know that Delight report is talking about raising tuition about 5%. And they weren't going to raise the fees from what I understand. I guess what you're saying, though, is that the DEI politically favored positions are actually the cushier jobs for the professors that do that. And I'm wondering if this is something where the person running SOU, the people running SOU are going to have to make some hard. choices. If you have a type of, well, like you said, in the business school, where you'd have

80 students with one professor, and you have the DEI courses with one professor for 10 students, obviously those are going to have, they're going to have to make some changes, won't they? They'll have to do some decisions. Well, they always made a number of those changes. They did. Going back, let's say a year ago, when they first came out, the president and his team is an excellent manager. We've profiled him before. Okay. And he has been able to balance very well a sensitivity to students who have different wants, needs, and makeups. But you see, the problem

now that's coming into is that where do you go from here? Yeah, I mean, let's be honest that the DEI, the DEI type courses, the diversity courses, are not necessarily going to be a growth industry probably forever. Or are they? Well, you know, they aren't. I mean, even if you go to, the part of the problem, too, then, for an administrator, is balancing professors with their politics and what they believe. And we saw that in terms of Harvard and Yale and these other large.

dominant institutions and pulling for Iran. And so then you get into these demonstrations. I can say that one of the great things in terms of the management at Little SOU was the fact that they were able to balance, quote-unquote, organized protests and do it in a way to where the abject activists didn't storm in. Okay, so raining in the worst excesses of the protesting class. Okay, that sounds good. What do you think... It's very well. Yeah, what do you think SOU is going to look like if you were to take a guess, maybe five years from now, five to ten years from now?

Well, I would hope that it wouldn't go to where, you see, it almost was going way back about 30 years ago with Steve Reno, who was a wonderful president, really enjoyed working with him, but Steve Reno, for example, who then headed into back east and took over universities back there, I remember our big worry was that SOU, then SOC, SOSC, before it's changing to SOSU, that SOC would be the OU-U-U-Ashland campus. And they're trying to avoid that, essentially, keeping that independence. Because then what happens is you really lose the need of trying to work into the community. I can remember even going back to Lithia and the Boers with the fact that they were very much working with the School of Business.

This is going back a long time because they've always been very community-oriented in terms of finding the people for automotive repair. that also could do different things in management. But you see, the problem then is that when it's dictated from up north, it's no different than the way that right now, my friend, we have Salem dictating to the way we should be in a state that is just lurched to the far left. I know I was talking with Rob Schlaffer from the Oregon Education Project last week, last Friday's a fact, as a matter of fact. It's very disappointing. Yeah, and he talked about how Medford 549C school district is going to be voting later this week on social studies curriculum.

And the two social studies books that they're looking for for fifth and eighth graders, very much an American-hating DEI type thing. The high school text is actually quite good. But there seems to be a concerted effort from the liberal teachers union to want to continue to put their thumb. on the DEI scale, I guess, put their thumb on the scale. And I don't know how you fix it other than getting your kids out of that right now, Doc. What do you think? Well, you know, the corruption from the Democratic Party, you can spell that with the K, make it the Democratic Communist Party, spelled the C's with K's.

What you see, really, is this incestuous game where you have monies that go into the labor unions coffers from these high salaries for teachers and giving them more time off. It really is. And then what they do is they kick it back. It's just kicking back. That's where the fraud comes back to the Democratic Party and those running for individual offices, which is what not only happens here, but happens very much. Look at Washington, Seattle. Oh, yeah. It's a self-looking ice cream cone for sure, though. At least on the bright side, though, Governor Kotech said that you're no longer allowed to reduce school days to balance the school budgets. Well, you know, Bill, I like that, and I'm glad you raised the issue. But when I hear those type of things from this governor, I just say, well,

look at what happened with Spanberger in Virginia, say what you need to get the votes and then turn into your blue-headed monster to go ahead and to come in with, because you want to go to Washington where the real money is, and that's going to be it with the Democratic Party. All right, thanks, Doc. We'll catch you next Monday, of course, on where past meets present, okay? You be well. Hey, listen, be well, and thanks always. You take care.

Pleasure is mine. Thank you very much, Dennis. 842 at KM.D. We'll catch up on news. Man, I love this place. I've been circling here since I was a kid. Now, seeing my grandson out on the water, it means everything to me. Watching him and taking in the blue waves, the sea breeze, the blurry horizon?

If you have geographic atrophy or GA, subtle changes in vision could mean it's progressing toward irreversible vision loss. Iservay is proven to slow GA progression and could help preserve your vision for longer, so you may keep seeing the world around you. Iservey or a vasuncapted Pagel is an eye injection. Don't take it if you have an infection or active swell. in or around your eye. Ieserva can cause eye infection, retinal detachment, or increased risk of wet AMD. Ieservey may cause blood in the white of the eye, blurred vision, or a temporary increase in eye pressure. Do not drive or use machinery until vision has recovered after an eye injection or exam. Ask your retina specialist how you can slow your GA with Izervey. To learn more, call 1-855 Izervey or go to Izervey.com paid for by Estella's Pharma. KMEDE News. Here's what's going on.

A Medford man convicted of child sex abuse crimes is headed to prison. That verdict part of a plea deal Friday, as Circuit Court Judge Protam Paul Moser sentenced 38-year-old Anthony Grant of Medford to 15 years in prison for the Measure 11 crimes. The Iran conflict creating volatility in the oil markets, and that reflects in our fuel prices in Southern Oregon. Oil prices plunging Friday on news that the Strait of Hormuz was opening and oil prices going back up now that it's closed again. A gallon of regular up about a nickel this week. AAA reporting Jackson County is 509 for regular Joe County 514. Diesel has actually gone down 15 to 20 cents compared to a week ago. The average cost about 625 a gallon.

We're expecting rain today. That doesn't change the National Weather Services. Seasonal Outlook just released. That prediction is hotter and drier than normal for the next three months in the northwest. Idaho also expected to join in the warm and drought conditions. California could go either. way. And Oregon Health Authority expressing concerns in what they claim as a growing measles outbreak, mostly in the northern part of the state. One was hospitalized recently. That person released in doing

okay now, but overall 20 cases of measles have been reported so far this year. Bill Meyer, KMED News. This hour of the Bill Meyer show is sponsored by Fontana Roofing. For roofing gutters and sheet metal services, visit Fontana Roofing Services.com. Every month, it feels like your money doesn't go as far as it used to. Groceries costs more, gas costs more, and property taxes keep going up. For many families in Josephine County, it's getting harder to keep up. John West understands that because he's been working alongside you, serving this county, and listening. He believes government should make life easier, not more expensive. That's why John has a plan to lower property taxes by cutting waste, improving efficiency, and making sure your tax dollars are spent wisely.

Not growing government, but making it work better for you. With over 30 years of business experience and a proven record as county commissioner, John has already saved taxpayers over $2 million, kept an open door to the public, and stood against pay raises for the politicians. Because to him, this isn't politics. It's about the people. Lower taxes, smarter government, leadership you can trust. Vote John West for Josephine County Commissioner.

Hi, I'm John West. I approved this message paid for by pack number, 218-48-48. Everyone deserves to grow old with respect, but many older adults experience abuse, including physical or emotional harm, financial exploitation, isolation, sexual abuse, and neglect. Some older adults are at higher risk, including those over 65, who are LGBTQIA2S-plus, and people living with HIV. Too often this abuse goes unreported. Abuse can happen to anyone. It's important to know what abuse is and learn how to spot the signs that someone is being harmed.

Learning how to take action is important. Reporting suspected abuse, even if you're not sure, can make a real difference in your life or the life of someone you know and care about. Abuse reports are confidential. Every older adult deserves respect. Recognize and report abuse. Learn more at organ.gov slash respect. That's organ.gov slash respect. Brought to you by the Oregon Department of Human Services.

If you have an Alexa device, listen to KMED anytime by first asking Alexa. Enable KMED. After enabling the skill, listen by just asking her to play KMED. Alexa streaming for KMED is made possible by McPherson Insurance Agency. The Outdoor Report is every Friday morning just past seven on the Bill Meyer show. The Outdoor Report on KMED and the Jukex 993 covers recreational opportunities and is powered by Oregon Truck and Auto Authority. Gear up your rig for work or play off Irish Road on Airway Drive. This is News Talk 1063, KMED, and you're waking up with the Bill Myers Show.

Always enjoying open for business. We talk with these locally owned business people or locally owned businesses that were business people within them, or something I'm not too confused on this one. But if you're going to do business with people, do business with local people. Like, as an example, Kelly Bale, she's here, Futurity First in Medford. How are you doing this morning? Doing great. Thank you.

All right. Now, a lot of people, from what I understand, I think it's 11,500 people turn 65 each day. Yep, that sounds about right. Each day in this country. And it's going to continue this way for a while. And this is what you're doing over a futurity first. You're putting on these Medicare, hey, okay, now you're 65. Now what the heck, right?

Is that sort of what you're doing? Yeah, yeah. So turning 65 is something that should be exciting, you know, getting close to retirement, and retiring, and it's something, Medicare should be, you know, a more easy decision than it really is. Medicare is pretty complicated. So what we do at F.E.30 first is we're hosting Medicare 101 educational workshops. So what we do is we talk about Medicare, the different parts of Medicare, and the different kinds of plans that you can go on. And we really just focus on education because we want you to understand so that you're able to make the best choice.

I don't think people realize just how complex it can be. I've noticed that already in my mailbox, it's almost like there's like the Vulture Mail is coming in. We know, Bill, later this year, you're turning 65. And then, you know it? Well, actually, you don't look like that. I think you're like 25 or something.

I hear all about it, though. Yeah, when you're getting close to turning 65 and that year, you're going to be getting lots of stuff in the mail, and there's a lot of information out there. So it's just really important to understand. Okay, so the first one's going to be tomorrow this week, right? Yes, tomorrow at Central Point Parks and Rec at 530. All right.

And the second one will be Thursday, and that is at the Futurity First offices on Crater Lake Avenue. Yes. It's at our office. It's 516 Crater Lake Avenue. The Financial Learning Center, our office, Futurity First. Okay, very good. All right.

And what are you going to be talking about there along with, I mean, are you going to go deep into the weeds on it, or are you hoping that people just bring their own paperwork with them, or how does this construct it? So basically we're just going to go over just the basics of Medicare. So, you know, the different parts of Medicare, A, B, C, and D, the differences between Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplements, because that's kind of the biggest question.

Do I want to go with an advantage or a supplement plan? The way it's been explaining me is that Medicare Advantage is a much less expensive option, but you have to be careful with that too, right? because depending on your own medical situation, you could really be messing yourself up. Definitely. Yeah. They're usually less expensive as far as premiums go, but they are network-based. So when you're on a Medicare advantage, you have to make sure that you check the doctors that you see and make sure that they're in network. And you know, you deal with more prior authorizations and referrals, that kind of stuff. Whereas on the Medicare supplement plans, you pay a higher premium, but then you can go to whatever doctor you want who accepts Medicare.

So it's really personalized. So what fits best for you might not be best for the other person. So do you just personally, given your experience within it, do you think you get what you pay for? Should you automatically go for the more expensive one? Not necessarily. I mean, it kind of depends on, you know, your personal situation. People who have a lot of medical issues or go to the doctor often might benefit more from a Medicare supplement because then you know exactly what you're going to pay each month.

So if, you know, you have a lot of stuff coming up or you know you have a lot of doctors' visits, It's, you know, that works out better. So healthier, you're a little healthier. You can probably take your risks, I guess, then, with the Medicare Advantage plans. Yes, yeah. And it's more of a pay-as-you-go plan, so then, you know, if you don't use it often, then you're not paying as much. But all the Medicare Advantage plans have a maximum amount of pocket. What if you're going to keep working?

And I know a lot of people turning 65 and certainly not ready to hang up the – I'm not ready to hang up the headphones. I'm going to be here as long as they won't until they ship me out. just take me out and kick me out of the building here. But what do you do with that and you still have, let's say, employer health care coverage? What do you do with that? Yeah.

So if you are still working, you can delay your Part B without any penalty. So as long as you have other coverage, either through your employer or your spouse's employer, you can delay your Part B and just stay on your employer plan. But you want to still get Medicare Part A. And that's for inpatient hospital because there's no premium for Medicare Part A. Oh, okay. So one way or the other, even if you want to keep on your employer plan, you want to stay on the hospital. Yeah. I mean, you don't have to, but you might as, that's what you've been paying into all these years that you've been working. So you might as well get it. All right. So it's not going to be any penalty. Okay, I didn't really understand that part. Okay, very good. And, but you do have to sign up for what I understand when you're 65, or do you not?

So you don't have to, but you'll, you'll want to. You'll want to. Yes. So if you don't sign up for Medicare Part B when you're first eligible, and you don't have credible coverage like through an employer, and then you try to get on it later, then you have a penalty that stays with you for life. Like I was mentioning to you, though, as far as credible coverage, what is that these days, though?

Because a lot of times, you know, the corporate health care coverage is getting pretty lean because it's become so expensive everywhere. Yeah. So credible coverage just means the coverage is at least as good as what Medicare is offering. And if you talk to your HR department, they usually know if it's credible. and also you want to make sure that your plan includes prescription coverage because the Part D prescription also is one that you'll get a penalty if you don't get on it when you're first able to. All right. These are all the kind of questions that Kelly is going to be talking about with Futurity First. This is tomorrow at Central Point Parks and Recreation, 235 South Haskell Street and Central Point. And the other one, the other meeting this week will be Thursday at the Financial Learning Center.

and that's on 516 Crater Lake Avenue in Medford. Both classes start at 530. How long do they go? Usually about an hour. And it's a great time to just come and bring your questions. No pressure, just education. We really just want you to learn about Medicare and how it works. All right.

And that's what Kelly Bales is doing tomorrow and Thursday. Limited seating. And you can sign up, and I'll put this up on KMED.com, Medicare madefor-you.org, right? Yes. And so you can show up, but it's better if you sign up first. Yeah, it would be great if you signed up, but we love walk-ins also. Well, you have to know how many cookies they have, right? That's right. We do have cookies most of the time.

Okay, and once again, Medicare madefor-you.org. Medicare madefor-you.org. And thank you very much, Kelly. Thank you. Kelly bales, once again, with Futurity First in Medford. It's 854. Wild chaotic, cuckoo world out there. But home is where you de-stress and decompress.

It's your sanctuary, where you feel safe, and secure, not to mention stylish. At Garrison's home, we respect your sacred place. So we work with you to fill it with furniture that's perfectly and powerfully you. It's a big responsibility in one we've taken seriously for almost 20 years and counting. Slip away to your happy place. Fantastically furnished by Garrison's home. Gersons.com.

Turning 65 is a big milestone, and with it comes one of the most important decisions you'll make, choosing the right Medicare coverage. Hi, I'm Kelly Bales with Futurity First in Medford, and we want to make sure you get it right. That's why we're hosting a free Medicare educational workshop designed to walk you through your options clearly, so you can make the best choice for your health and your budget. At Futurdy First, we're independent advisors. That means no loyalty to insurance companies, only to you. And if you choose us to help you enroll, there are no additional fees. Join us Tuesday, April 21st at Central Point Parks and Rec, 235 South Haskell Street and Central Point, or Thursday, April 23rd at the Financial Learning Center, 516 Crater Lake Avenue and Medford.

Both classes begin at 530. Seating is limited, so sign up today at Medicaremadefor you.org. That's Medicare made for you.org. Futurity first on Crater Lake Avenue and Medford, putting your needs first. This is Bill Meyer with KMED. Programming note that if you miss one of my shows or you want to go back and listen again, I always archive about three months of my show at Billmyershow.com and KMED.com. You can search by Dayton Topping. Download the hour of your choice and you can share them too.

Bill Meyer Show podcasts are made possible by Klausor Drilling. So please visit Billmire Show.com and KMED.com for podcasts. And to find out more about our sponsor, Klauserdrilling. That's simple. Visit clouserdrilling.com. Hi, I'm Matt Stone with Stone Heating and Air, and I'm on KMED. Karen Arsner with me from Joe County. Hey, Karen, how are you doing this morning? Doing great, Bill takes. Now, Karen, you are part of those armies of petition gatherers out there right now,

and you're going to be hitting the streets again this week? We are. We're going to hit a hard-we're overachievers here in Josephine County. Okay. We have, today we will have the Republican Party. We'll have a canopy up if people want to drive by, some petitions, come in the office. We also have a location and off exit 61 that's all set up with the canopy.

People want to drive by again. I'm petitions. We encourage people to do that. The Chamber of Commerce will have the no-the-clawback petition available at their office. They're open 9-to-5 Monday through Friday. Hopefully they'll have more of the other petitions at a later date. So the clawback is the clawback, no-clowbacking of the taxes? Is that one of the big focuses of this week or the next two weeks?

What are you saying? It really is. Yeah, it really is. And that is spearheaded by Ediel and, of course, Dwayne Yonker and Nick Sparks. So that's a big one that we're definitely pushing to fight back from what our governor has decided she wants to do with our money. But that especially hurts small businesses. And so we want to try to fight back on that. Okay.

One more time. Where are you going to be today and tomorrow or this week? All right? Yeah. Today will be at the Republican headquarters. They'll be all set up with the canopy. off exit 61. There'll be a setup there for people to sign. Also, the chamber will have that one petition, the Clawback one. This weekend, we will be at the Josephine County Fairgrounds, the growers market, and at Reinhardt Park. Very good. Hey, thank you for the tip, and keep us in the room. All right? Thank you. I appreciate it.

All right, Karen. Take care. Another quick email of the day, sponsored by Dr. Steve Nelson at Central Point Family Dentistry. And I'm going to give an email of the day to Kevin G. who writes me, why vote in? in 2026. So many people get depressed about this. And the Morse report, he clued me in on something that they were reporting. Top Democrat, political consulted and campaign strategist James Carville just stated on the Polycon podcast that when the Democrats regain power, they plan to grant statehood to D.C. in Puerto Rico. So an extra four seats in the Senate. Packed the U.S. Supreme Court from 9 to 13 justices, reopened the U.S.-Mexico border grant amnesty, and his advice to Democrat politicians, don't run on it, don't talk about it, just do it. So duly noted,

okay? We'll talk more about that tomorrow on Pebble in Your Shoe Tuesday here on the Bill Meyer show.