Submitted by SHIBA.

Mac Langford retired as a Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA) volunteer at the end of December after 29 years of service. Back in 1993, Tytti Langford, who was the Operations Manager for the Lopez Medical Clinic, suggested to her husband Mac that he might want to think about becoming a SHIBA volunteer. Being a wise man, Mac heeded his wife’s advice and signed up. In December 1993, he was certified as a SHIBA volunteer and has been helping Lopezians with their transition to Medicare ever since.

Mac says the most enjoyable part of being a SHIBA volunteer was the opportunity to help so many of his fellow Lopezians, many of whom he already knew, but some whom he got to meet for the first time.

The SHIBA staff at the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and his fellow SHIBA volunteers on Orcas and San Juan Islands wish Mac the best in his new retirement adventures.

They held a farewell luncheon to honor Mac’s amazing 29 years of service on Jan. 16.

Lopez Island will not be without SHIBA assistance though. We’re currently training Renee Koplan as a SHIBA volunteer on Lopez. Until she becomes certified, the Orcas Island SHIBA volunteers will provide assistance by phone and over Zoom to Lopezians. To schedule an appointment, call 360-376-5892.

A free, unbiased service of the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner, SHIBA provides confidential Medicare counseling in San Juan County sponsored by Inter Island Healthcare Foundation.