TOP OF THE WEEK – (Only one more week and we’ll see more of that cute girl in the A T & T ads and a whole lot less of Rick and Charlie!)

Florida Blue, the Medicare supplement arm of Blue Cross, is hitting their PPO members with a $433 increase in 2015 in addition to whatever Medicare itself tacks on for ‘15. Previously PPO members paid nothing additional to their Medicare assessment. United Healthcare’s add-on is somewhat less, but they raised the out of pocket for hospital stays a hundred bucks a day. It’s probably just a coincidence that for the first time in history, Medicare supplement clients have to pay fees on top of the Medicare assessment - and has nothing to with Obamacare being introduced last year with the assurance that “your Medicare plans will be unaffected”.

Around the Bay –

1. If you believe “Florida’s Best Newspaper” (and we seldom do), if there is ever an outbreak of Ebola in the state, it will entirely be Governor Scott’s fault. Good thing for the incumbent governor that the Sunshine State did not have any bad tropical storms or tornadoes this year which the spin doctors of St. Petersburg could blame on him.

2. In a related note to our lead item, we seldom plug a business. But in this case, we strongly believe the individual can help persons on Medicare who read this column navigate the increasingly complex system. Call a gentleman named Tim Ramik (727-417-6692). Tim knows Medicare inside and out. He is, in short, the most knowledgeable health insurance man we’ve ever met.

3. Another victim (other than low income folks’ pocketbooks) if Greenlight Pinellas passes could well be Penny for Pinellas. The infrastructure tax that has been renewed each decade by county voters, could take a hit next time if the total tax rate goes to eight cents. Tea party members and others could join forces to bring it down despite generally good stewardship over the years of Penny funds by local governments.

4. A clarification on our lead element of a few weeks back concerning four three-letter agencies that do more harm than good to our locale and our country. The local agency is called the Suncoast Safety Council not the National Safety Council. We cannot presume that NSC offices in Chicago, Atlanta or elsewhere are run as poorly as the local agency in Clearwater.

5. Belated Happy 50^th Reunion to the Largo High Class of ’64 who held their celebration on Clearwater Beach last weekend.

6. You’ve lived in Clearwater a long while if you remember when there were no auto dealerships on U.S. 19. Now only two remain west of 19 – Dayton Andrews (formerly Massey-Andrews) and the former Carlisle Lincoln-Mercury.

The Diamond, the Media and Other Stuff –

7. We occasionally “borrow” a gem from that Thursday staple, the 5:05 Club Review such as the following: “Ben Bradlee, Dead at 93 - He was preceded in death by journalism”.

8. It remains to be seen how Dave Stewart will do as the general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. But one thing is for sure – there was not a more under-rated pitcher in the past fifty years of baseball than the hard throwing Stewart. That he never won a Cy Young Award is amazing.

9. Don’t you get the feeling that there might be a reprise of the Catholics versus Criminals game before the end of the college football season?

10. By the way, the cute girl in the A T & T commercials is Milana Vayntrub, an actress/ comedian born in Uzbekistan. She’s had bit roles in ER and a few other shows but really shines in the phone commercials. She’s been described as the anti-Flo. How true.

IN CLOSING:

Joe Maddon’s departure from the Rays is not the end of the world for the franchise. A good manager, yes. A great manager, no. Plus, the Rays don’t have to look far for a replacement. He’s already in the dugout – bench coach Dave Martinez. If Martinez is not their cup of tea, they still don’t have to go that far for a new manager. They could do a whole lot worse than Charlie Montoya, their longtime manager at AAA Durham. But the perfect trifecta would be any combination of Martinez, Montoya and Tim Foley as manager/bench coach/third base coach – a combo that could take the Rays to the next level.