New Horizons PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
September 2024 | Vol. 49 | No. 9
Bishop J. Scott Barker considers the small parish he pastored in North Omaha his home B By Leo Adam Biga ishop J. Scott Barker shepherds 53 Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska parishes, ranging from small rural ones to large urban ones. A particular parish that pricked his heart three decades ago, Church of the Resurrection (COR) in North Omaha, holds special meaning for how it matured his faith and deepened his humanity. COR formed from the blending of all-Black St. John’s and all-white St. Philip’s congregations. Serving there from 1997-2002 connected him with social justice efforts around race that his late father, Joseph Barker III, engaged in during the 1960s and foreshadowed the Episcopal Church’s current racial reconciliation efforts. Barker family Omaha roots go back to the mid-1850s in real estate, insurance and civic leadership. As a sixth generation Barker, J. Scott became an outlier by choosing a sacrificial life of service in ministry. As a good shepherd he sometimes tends a hurting flock. He’s known pain himself having endured the untimely death of his mother and younger brother.
“Those losses are huge touchstones for my faith journey,” he said. He was 15 when his charismatic, irreverent mother, an alcoholic addicted to sleeping pills, died. “That combination,” he said, “is what did her in on a night when she had too much to drink.” “It was a super tragic and surpris-
COURTESY PHOTO ing death. It shook and reshaped our family and friends.” Susan Ahstrand Barker didn’t live to see her “all-American boy at Omaha Central” ordained a cleric, inducted in Central’s Hall of Fame, elected bishop of the Nebraska diocese or nominated to succeed Michael Curry as presiding bishop in America.
“By the time I graduated from college (Barker was a Yale legacy after his father and grandfather) the ministry was still up in the air for me,” he said. “I was clear I was a Christian, but my relationship with Jesus and the church was kind of a mile wide and an inch deep. It took some more growing before I really connected in a more meaningful way with all of that.” Then there was “the weight” of expectations. “It was very clear my father and grandfather felt I should take up the mantle as the next generation of Barker businessmen. It was a fair amount of pressure as I wrestled with whether I might be called or not to ministry.” He took a real estate exam and studied law. None of it felt right. That’s when he came clean. “As soon as I articulated to my father I was called to be a priest he did a 180. I needed to have a path that was really for me before I could say with confidence I have to do my own thing. Once I did, he jumped in with all the support he possibly could and gave me permission to go in a direction that did --Barker continued on page 8.
Your drug coverage will change in 2025
I Enjoying the thrill of flying radio controlled model airplanes
Members of the Omahawks RC Club get to experience flying radio controlled model airplanes weekly at Standing Bear Lake and other people can to. Learn more about how to get involved in the model airplane hobby on Page 16.
n September, you will receive your Annual Notice of Change (ANOC.) Even if you’re happy with your current plan and usually automatically renew, this is not the year to do that. All standalone Part D plans and Medicare Advantage plans with Prescription Drug coverage are going to make changes to their formularies and/or benefits because of the Inflation Reduction Act. Part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in 2022, intends to lower drug costs for those on Medicare, which is good. Some of the preliminary unintended consequences for Part D beneficiaries may be bad. You’ve likely heard of some of the changes that have already been implemented in 2024, such as the $35 cap on insulin and the expansion of Low-Income Services, also known as Extra Help, to 150% of
the federal poverty level. Beginning in 2025, the coverage gap, or donut hole, is going away and the legislation adds a hard cap on beneficiary out-of-pocket spending on Part D drugs at $2000. The law also reduces Medicare’s liability for spending above the out-ofpocket cap. Medicare’s share of total costs above $2000 will decrease from 80% to 20% from brand-name drugs and to 40% for generic drugs. Medicare Part D plans’ share of costs will increase from 15% to 60% for both brands and generics above the $2000 cap, and drug manufacturers will be required to provide a 20% discount on brandname drugs. The legislation also requires manufacturers to provide a 10% discount on brand-name drugs between the deductible and annual out-of--Coverage continued on page 13.