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By John Hannah
Kansas legislators are likely to have another debate next year over expanding the state’s Medicaid program
Antipathy from conservative Republicans toward the federal health care overhaul prevented such a move this year by either Gov. Sam Brownback or the GOP-dominated Legislature.
But a debate appears to be coming because of what advocates of an expansion see as a perverse result. They expect thousands of poor Kansas adults to remain without health coverage, even as the federal government provides subsidies to better-off neighbors.
Advocates of a Medicaid expansion expect word-of-mouth among poor Kansans and their neighbors to pressure legislators to reconsider. Prominent Democrats also want to raise the issue ahead of next year’s campaign against Brownback’s re-election.
Even Republicans who still oppose an expansion expect a debate.
Congressman Tim Huelskamp has received the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award” from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). This award is given to members of Congress for consistently voting for limited government. The Rating is based on every roll call vote affecting federal taxes, spending, debt, and significant regulations. This included 274 House and 127 Senate votes taken through January 1, 2013. Over that time, Congressman Huelskamp was one of only 55 members of Congress to receive an A rating from the NTU.
Congressman Huelskamp Released this statement after receiving the award:
“I am honored to receive the ‘Taxpayers’ Friend Award.’ Kansans elected me to fight Washington big spenders, and rein in our debt. With the future of our country on the line, we have no choice but to cut spending and reduce our debt. I look forward to continuing the effort to bring common sense back to Washington.”
National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is America’s independent, non-partisan advocate for overburdened taxpayers. NTU mobilizes elected officials and the general public on behalf of tax relief and reform, lower and less wasteful spending, individual liberty, and free enterprise. Founded in 1969, the NTU works at all levels for the day when every taxpaying citizen’s right to a limited government is among our nation’s highest democratic principles. www.ntu.org.
A two vehicle accident in Kansas City sent one man to the hospital. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol “27 year old Travis L Butler of Ellis was westbound on Leavenworth Rd just before 7:30pm on Saturday, September 21st. Butler ran the red light at U-73 intersection and struck a vehicle driven by Timothy M Dobelbower on the driver’s side, causing the vehicle to overturn.
Dobelbower was taken to KU Medical Center with injuries. Butler had no injuries reported. Dobelbower was wearing a seat belt, it’s unsure if Butler was.”
An arrest warrant resulted in the seizure of drugs by the Hays Police Department Tuesday, September 17th. Lt. Brandon Wright told Hays Post that around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday evening officers executed an Ellis County District Court Arrest warrant on 23-year-old Jonathan R. Hashenberger of Hays. The bench warrant, according to Wright, was for failure to appear in court. Hashenberger was originally charged with Disorderly Conduct.
During the arrest of Hashenberger in the 700 block of E 6th St, officers located marijuana, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia in the residence. Jerred L. Ostrom, 23, Hays, was arrested and charged with the drug offenses.
The Kansas Board of Regents gave unanimous approval during its monthly two-day meeting this week to a new Master Plan submitted by Fort Hays State University.
The plan will help FHSU accommodate its continuing growth in enrollment and includes new space for faculty offices and student housing while retaining the distinct appearance of the campus.
“A lot of hard work took place on campus last year to develop this revised plan,” said Dr. Edward H. Hammond, FHSU president. “Faculty, staff and students provided input.”
The previous Master Plan was created more than 20 years ago, and it included a designated space for just one more building.
“It was gratifying to see the regents embrace a product that resulted from so much effort, and to see them approve it enthusiastically and unanimously,” the president said. “The new Master Plan positions Fort Hays State for another successful 25 years.”
FHSU plans to build and improve upon one of its primary assets: a quintessential college campus of historic limestone buildings set within a tree-covered landscape unique to the central plains setting. The architectural firm of Gould Evans began work on the update in June 2012 and made numerous trips to Hays to gather information.
The revised Master Plan considers five distinct areas of the FHSU campus: the Quad, the South Academic Precinct, the West Academic Precinct, the West Campus and the South Residential Precinct. Each has unique qualities to feature and a role to play in the unification of the overall campus.
Highlights include:
On the Quad, Davis Hall is out of place with its low-slung, mid-century elementary school appearance and is recommended for replacement with a new academic building and future expansion of the Memorial Union. Rarick Hall is in need of interior renovations. The Old Power Plant is recommended for renovation and use as an academic building or art gallery.
Over the years the academic center of campus has expanded southward across South Campus Drive to include the South Academic Precinct. To improve pedestrian safety and to better connect the academic buildings in the South Precinct to the Quad, South Campus Drive between College and Lyman Drive is recommended for closure and replacement with a pedestrian-only mall. Construction of the new Center for Networked Learning will allow removal of the Center for Media Studies, which was the old Heather Hall.
The facilities services complex and the President’s Residence are located west of the Quad in the West Academic Precinct. Both may eventually be relocated to allow a better use of this centrally located area of campus. Removal of the facilities complex would allow for expansion of the parking areas west of the Memorial Union.
The West Campus, with a main entrance onto Gustad Drive from the Highway 183 Bypass, includes Gross Coliseum, Cunningham Hall and the more recently constructed Robbins Center. The 60 acres north of Gustad Drive have been identified as the site for new student housing. It will also accommodate future housing beyond the initial 400-bed community. Other recommended improvements include an addition to Cunningham Hall and a site for a new childcare facility, relocating the Tiger Tots facility from Rarick Hall.
The South Residential Precinct is already well established as a residential precinct, with Custer Hall, McMindes Hall, Stadium Place, Wooster Place, the new Agnew Hall and the new Heather Hall. A future residence hall is recommended on the current Wiest site to take advantage of the dining capacity available in the McMindes dining facility.
(AP) — One man has died and six have been injured in a shooting in Wichita.
According to Wichita Police, the shooting happened about 2 a.m. Sunday in the Old Town neighborhood.
Gulliver said officers were helping clear the area after the bars closed when they heard about 10 gunshots.
The victims were taken to Via Christie Hospital St. Francis in Wichita.
Hospital house manager Joye Mock told The Associated Press on Sunday that a 25-year-old man died of his injuries.
Mock also said a 26-year-old man is in serious condition and a 25-year-old man and a 28-year-old man are fair condition at the hospital. She said a 26-year-old man was treated and released.
Wichita police would not provide any further details about the shooting.
The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of the Post News Network and/or any/all contributors to this site.
Friday’s vote by the House to take us closer to a government shutdown, and potentially defaulting on our obligations is dangerous for the US and world’s economy and could be devastating for the economic security of every American.
The danger of the GOP’s opening gambit in the shutdown-default debate isn’t going unnoticed.
Here’s what Kansas Democratic Party Second Congressional District Candidate Margie Wakefield said about today’s vote:
“The broken politics from those in Washington like Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins are now hurtling us towards a total government shutdown which would hurt Kansas families at every level and deliver a self-inflicted wound that our economy cannot afford,” said Margie Wakefield. “Lynn claims that she voted today to continue funding the government, but we all know that’s not true. This was a vote to shut down the government, pure and simple It is past time for Congresswoman Jenkins to stop the political gamesmanship, stop standing in the way of solutions, and get to work passing a budget that will help businesses create jobs and protect Kansas families. In Congress, my commitment to the people of Kansas is to work with both Republicans and Democrats to focus on solutions instead of this reckless partisanship.”
Here are a few more early reports on the GOP’s vote:
“It’s such an exercise in futility; it’s such a waste of time.” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
“But even before such next steps were worked out, House Republican leaders were driving their party toward the next showdown over the debt ceiling. That could prove an even more white-knuckled ride, since a default on Treasury debt would have far greater economic implications than a partial government shutdown.” NY Times
“Even with the grab bag of GOP chestnuts, some ardent conservatives are likely to balk at voting for any debt limit measure.” Associated Press
“John Boehner is being even more irresponsible than Ted Cruz,” according to the Washington Post’s Ezra Kelin
The Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) has selected a new director to head the Northern Parole Region(NPR), overseeing the 10 regional parole offices and the more than 2,500 offenders paroled in the northern half of the state.
Having served as acting director of the region for the past several months, Mark Keating has been selected to fill that role permanently, the KDOC announced Thursday, September 19, 2013. Keating assumed the duties of Director Peggy Lero when she was named to the state’s Prisoner Review Board in May. The main office of the NPR is located in Topeka.
Kansas’ Parole Services supervises offenders released from Kansas correctional facilities on parole, post-release supervision or conditional release. The division also manages offenders released from other states, who are on probation or parole, and for whom Kansas has accepted supervision responsibility.
Keating has been employed by the KDOC since 1999, having worked in the Kansas City Parole Office, as well as having served as Director of Sex Offender Management in the KDOC central office in Topeka. Before filling the vacancy left by Lero, Keating was the deputy director of the Northern Parole Region.
A graduate of Shawnee Mission South High School and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Keating holds a master’s degree in Criminology from Indiana State University.
The Lucas Area Chamber of Commerce (LACC) will be hosting the Sunflower Visual Arts Festival. The festival will be held Saturday September 28th from 9am – 4pm in downtown Lucas. The festival is one of only three visual arts festivals in the Midwest. Governor Brownback recently proclaimed Lucas to be the site of the Official State Visual Arts Festival.
LACC Co-Director Von Rothenberger told Hays Post that the visual arts include photography, which is the focus of this year’s festival, as well as fine arts, moving images, 3-D imagery and even the printed word. Rothenberger said that eventually the goal is to build the festival up to be able to celebrate all facets of visual arts to change it up and keep it fresh each year.
The awards for the different categories are being created by local artists, Set in Stone and Lynn’s Glassworks. This will allow for any prizes to be unique and memorable, which is in line with the intent of the festival.
Rothenberger also said that the festival is going to be missing Eric Abraham who passed away on September 7th. Abraham owned the Flying Pig Studio in Lucas, and the Visual Arts Festival was something he was very passionate about according to Rothenberger.
“We’re going to be missing Eric Abraham. He was going to be an integral part of this festival. He loved this idea and he was going to jump into it. With his passing, we’re having to rethink a few things we’re going to do.”
He added that the festival will find some way to honor Eric’s memory and show how influential he was through his many accomplishments in life.
Below is a schedule of events for the festival’s inaugural year
9 AM: Festival Grand Opening, Lucas Golden Age Center (210 South Main)
9 AM-3:30 PM: Photography Contest Exhibit Viewing, Lucas Golden Age Center (210 South Main) & Backstreet Bakery (208 South Main)
9 AM–3:30 PM: Halbe Photography Exhibit open at Lucas Area Community Theater stage (116 South Main).
The Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board awarded financial assistance to 105 victims of crime at its September meeting held on Thursday, September 19th, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.
Awards were made in 43 new cases. Additional expenses were paid in 62 previously submitted cases. The awards totaled $271,577.
The Division of Crime Victims Compensation in Schmidt’s office administers the Crime Victims Compensation program, which was established in 1978 to help victims of violent crime pay for their unexpected expenses such as medical treatment, mental health counseling, lost wages, dependent support and funeral costs.
The state’s three-member Crime Victims Compensation Board determines claims that are eligible for payment and decides how much money will be awarded to each claimant. Awards are limited to a maximum total amount of $25,000 with limitations of $5,000 for funeral expense, $3,500 for outpatient mental health counseling, $10,000 for inpatient mental health treatment and $1,000 for grief counseling for family survivors of homicide victims.
The program is funded by a portion of assessed court costs and fines, inmate wages, parole fees and restitution paid by convicted offenders.
A little encouragement from friends can lead to big successes, which is exactly what William Still of Phillipsburg, Kan. learned after winning the Kansas 4-H Wheat Variety Plot Display at this year’s Kansas State Fair.
“I learned about the variety plot project after a couple of my friends had entered displays at the state fair,” says Still, who is a senior at Phillipsburg High School. “They encouraged me to try the project. I found that I really enjoyed it.”
The competition requires participants to plant and raise five varieties of wheat; then create an educational display to showcase their wheat production and accomplishments. The Wheat Variety Plot Display – sponsored in part by the Kansas Wheat Commission – encourages young people to promote wheat production and wheat food products to State Fair visitors.
Each participant receives five varieties of wheat (Still received Danby, Fuller, Hatcher, TAM 111 and Winterhawk) to grow in a plot. Still’s plot location also served as the Phillips County Extension wheat plot allowing him to seed 19 additional varieties. Crop inputs including fertilizer, fungicide and herbicides are tracked, and harvest statistics are recorded. Still’s plot was planted on September 28, 2012 at a seeding rate of 90 pounds per acre. The plot was fertilized with 70 pounds of nitrogen and 20 pounds of phosphorous per acre.
Despite the dry conditions that plagued his and most of the area’s wheat crop, Still had several varieties yielding in the 60 bushels per acre range, with Danby at the top of his plot. Seed dealer Matt Van Allen and Extension Agent Cody Miller helped with harvest and weighing the test plot.
“A lack of moisture was definitely the biggest challenge we faced with last year’s plot,” Still says. “I’m excited to enter again this coming year. In the last week, we’ve had more than three inches of rain, which should get this fall’s wheat crop off to a good start.”
A member of the Deer Creek 4-H Club in Phillips County, Still won the competition in part because of the uniqueness of his exhibit that incorporated wheat production and his love of hunting. The booth’s theme “Hunting for the Best Variety,” clad in camouflage and targets displayed photos of his plot, results from harvest and additional information about hard white wheat. The hard white wheat variety Danby’s performance in his test plot sparked the additional interest in white wheat for Still.
“The two white wheats in the big plot, Danby and Clara CL had the top yields,” says Still. “Which was pretty interesting since we don’t have a lot of white wheat planted in our area.”
Still received $250 and a plaque from the Kansas Wheat Commission. Luke Ryan of New Cambria won second place, earning $150 and a plaque from the Kansas Crop Improvement Association.
Kyle Blakeslee, Ellinwood, won third place, earning a plaque and $40; Grant Unruh, Pawnee Rock, won fourth place, earning a plaque and $30; and BreAnn Anshutz, St. John, won fifth place, earning a plaque and $25. Third, fourth and fifth place prizes were sponsored by the Kansas Grain and Feed Association.
More than 20 young people participated in the 4-H Wheat Variety Plot, according to Deryl Waldren, 4-H Specialist from Kansas State University’s northwest area office. Participants gain time management, agronomy and public speaking skills from the project. -Dalton Henry
(AP) — There’s life in Texas yet. And maybe the pressure will ease off of coach Mack Brown, even if just for a few hours or days.
Texas’ Johnathan Gray (32) runs for a touchdown as Kansas State defenders Dante Barnett (22) and Ryan Mueller (44) defend during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Johnathan Gray rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns, David Ash threw a 63-yard touchdown pass and Texas beat Kansas State 31-21 Saturday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Gray became Texas’ first 100-yard rusher on the season and Texas’ defense, pushed around in consecutive losses, put up a solid and energetic performance, forcing three critical second-half turnovers.
Brown has been under intense pressure after three sub-par seasons and a bad start this year. The victory allowed Texas (2-2, 1-0) to avoid its first 1-3 start since 1956 and snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
“You always want to start the conference off right,” Gray said. “We wanted to prove a point and hit them in the mouth.”
John Hubert scored two touchdowns and Tyler Lockett had 13 catches for 237 yards for Kansas State (2-2, 0-1).
Gray’s first touchdown in the second quarter came after he made two dazzling cuts on a 21-yard run. His second put Texas up 24-7 in the third. Malcolm Brown ran for Texas’ last touchdown after the Wildcats had pulled within 10 points early in the fourth quarter.
Ash, who missed the previous game with concussion-like symptoms, passed for 166 yards in the first half but missed the second with a new head injury. Senior Case McCoy took over, leading two touchdown drives.
Texas came in as a team desperate to turn around it season. After consecutive losses, Brown urged his team to focus on the Big 12 and trying to win the league crown. The Longhorns, most notably the defense, responded with their most complete game of the season against the defending Big 12 champs.
The defense, which played so poorly in the two losses, gave up a huge night receiving to Lockett, but forced the three turnovers that swung momentum early in the second half and preserved the win late.
“We came out fired up,” Texas defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat said. “This was a team we hadn’t beaten in a while.”
Brown has been harshly criticized by Texas fans after the bad start to the season and his job future beyond this season rapidly escalated into a matter of open speculation.
On Thursday, a member of the Texas board of regents acknowledged that he and a former regent spoke in January with Alabama coach Nick Saban’s agent about Saban coaching the Longhorns if Brown retired. Two days later, Brown was asked if he would consider retiring, but the matter was dropped when Brown said he wanted to keep coaching.
Saban dismissed speculation he’d be interested in the Texas job, but that didn’t stop some Texas fans from printing burnt-orange “Saban 2014″ t-shirts and wearing them to the game Saturday night.
Brown did his best to push away the critics and the speculation about his job during the week.
“I said I’m going to be doing everything I can do to beat Kansas State. I haven’t heard one word of it,” Brown said. “This can be a really good football team before we finish.”
Ash, who had been cleared to play Friday night, showed no effects of the previous head injury early in the game. But he took several big hits, both on runs and when standing in the pocket, before floating a perfectly-thrown pass to Kendall Sanders for Texas’ first touchdown.
Texas went up 17-0 on Gray’s first touchdown. Kansas State responded with its first drive across midfield and Hubert spun through two tacklers on a 15-yard touchdown run with 1 minute left in the half.
Ash was removed from the game at halftime to be evaluated for a head injury and didn’t return, putting the game and the job of managing the lead in McCoy’s hands. Kansas State fumbled on the first possession of the third quarter and McCoy handed the ball to Gray seven times in eight plays on a 56-yard drive to a touchdown and a 24-7 lead.
“It was major, quite obviously,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of the turnover. “It had a dramatic impact on the outcome of the ball game … We need some leadership to really step up.”
Hubert’s second touchdown pulled Kansas State within 24-14 early in the fourth. Kansas State had pulled within 10 and was driving for a touchdown when Waters, who ran for a touchdown and passed for 275 yards, fumbled on the Texas 6 with 2:03 left to play.
The Wildcats had one last chance when Tramaine Thompson returned a punt 40 yards inside the Texas 15, but Waters was sacked twice and fumbled with 17 seconds left.
“It came down to us as a team, fighting,” McCoy said.
Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, back near home turf Friday as the nation’s top federal health official, said she would have welcomed the federal health
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, spoke Friday to a group of community leaders in Kansas City, Mo., about the upcoming implementation of the health insurance marketplaces established in the Affordable Care Act. Looking on was Mark Holland, mayor of Kansas City, Kan. Photo by Mike Sherry
reform dollars that have drawn little interest so far from the state’s current political leaders.
“I would’ve loved to have had the offer to have newly eligible Kansans be able to enroll in Medicaid,” said Sebelius, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, which is leading implementation of the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.
“The money is available to help get people insurance coverage, have a health home, (and) get preventive care,” she said, briefly talking to reporters after a closed-door meeting at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center with a variety of local health care leaders, business representatives, and safety-net officials. “And I’m hoping that both the Kansas Legislature and Missouri Legislature look at that offer again, and when they reconvene in January, make different decisions.”
Under the health-reform act, the federal government has offered to pay the full costs of the Medicaid expansion for three years in states that increase eligibility for the program to those earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level. Cost sharing would then gradually be reduced to a 90-10 federal/state split.
Current guidelines
Under current guidelines in Kansas, only those with children and incomes less than 32 percent of federal poverty guidelines can qualify. In Missouri, eligibility extends only to families at no more than 19 percent of the federal poverty level.
In Kansas, estimates are that a Medicaid expansion would cover about 240,000 additional residents, about equal to projections in Missouri.
During this year’s legislative session, Missouri lawmakers talked about expansion in the context of making cost-saving reforms to the program.
Republican leaders in the General Assembly appointed various committees to study the issue before reconvening next year. One of the committees reported earlier this month that the testimony it gathered indicated Missourians want to see Medicaid expanded.
In Kansas, members of the Republican majority, including Gov. Sam Brownback, have expressed doubt that the federal government can afford to make good on its promise to cover such a large chunk of the Medicaid expansion.
Sebelius said she continues to talk with officials in states that have not expanded Medicaid, but she said the most effective advocacy is going to come from local communities.
“The important conversations now are with local hospitals, the local business community, mayors, certainly, who bear the cost of uncompensated care,” she said.
‘Very much on track’
According to HHS officials, the main topic of discussion in the closed-door meeting was implementation of the health insurance marketplaces scheduled to begin enrolling customers in less than two weeks.
Sebelius said the department is “very much on track to be up and running on the first of October in markets across the country.”
Sebelius is also scheduled to make remarks Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., at a meeting of the Council of State Governments and at community-wide gathering focused on improving mental health services.
She estimated that Kansans interested in purchasing insurance through the new marketplace would likely have about 22 plans to choose from.
Three of the state’s largest insurers — Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Coventry Health Care of Kansas and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City — will offer coverage in the new online marketplace.
Praeger held an informational meeting on the new marketplaces in Overland Park on Tuesday, the first of a dozen community presentations on her schedule within the next month.
Incredulous
Two things stuck out from the Overland Park meeting, she said.
First, she said, is the need for the department to reassure senior citizens that the law does not affect their Medicare coverage.
Secondly, she said, people at the meeting were incredulous about the situation in states like Kansas and Missouri that have not expanded Medicaid.
Because of the structure of the premium in the insurance marketplaces, proponents of the Medicaid expansion have noted that some residents will essentially be too poor to qualify for coverage through the exchanges.
Eligibility for premium assistance starts for households at 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
Praeger said that a member of the audience in Overland Park got up and said the commissioner seemed to have misspoken when describing eligibility.
Praeger said her response was, “No, unfortunately I didn’t.”
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