WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s another legal battle involving President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Two federal appeals courts today have issued contradictor rulings  on a key financing issue. The rulings came within hours of each other.

A divided court panel in Washington called into question the subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people pay their premiums. The court said financial aid can only be paid in states that have set up their own insurance exchanges.

But in Virginia, another appeals panel unanimously came to the opposite conclusion. That court said the IRS had correctly interpreted the will of Congress when it issued regulations allowing consumers nationwide to purchase subsidized coverage.

The White House says policyholders will keep getting financial aid as the administration sorts out the legal implications.

Both cases are part of a long-running political and legal campaign to overturn the health care law.

 

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has delivered a serious setback to President Barack Obama’s health care law, potentially derailing subsidies for many low- and middle-income people who have bought policies.

If upheld, the decision could mean premium increases for more than half of the 8 million Americans who purchased taxpayer-subsidized insurance under the law.

It affects consumers who purchased their coverage through the federal insurance marketplace — or exchange— that serves 36 states.

A three-judge panel in Washington ruled 2-1 that the law, as written, only allows insurance subsidies in states that have set up their own exchanges. That invalidated an Internal Revenue Service regulation that allowed subsidies in all 50 states.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s opponent in the Republican primary predicts that a “dual” voting system for helping Kansas enforce a proof-of-citizenship rule will confuse voters and suppress turnout.

Challenger Scott Morgan’s criticism of the Kobach-designed system Tuesday came a day after the secretary of state’s office began mailing notices to dozens of voters about it. The voters registered using a national form without providing proof of their U.S. citizenship to election officials.

Kobach advised counties last month to set aside such voters’ ballots and count only their votes in congressional races in the Aug. 5 election.

Morgan called the policy baffling.

But Kobach dismissed the criticism, saying maybe Morgan is confused.

Most Kansas residents use a state registration form requiring them to produce citizenship papers for election officials.

 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Humane Society euthanized about 4,000 animals last year but an official says the number of animals saved continues to improve.

Spokeswoman Melissa Houston says the society provided services for 17,000 animals last year, with about 13,000 homeless. Of those, more than 9,000 were adopted but the other 4,000 had to be euthanized.

Houston says decisions on which animals to put down are usually based on health and behavior, but some are based on space at the shelter.

She says the good news is that 73 percent of the animals are being adopted, up from only 23 percent in 2003.

KWCH-TV reports  the organization generally has not released euthanization numbers but Houston says she hopes doing so will make the public more aware of pet overpopulation.

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An attorney for former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is asking a federal jury to award Ventura millions in damages for what he claims is a lie in a memoir by the late military sniper Chris Kyle.

Ventura testified that Kyle invented a story about punching him in a California bar in 2006 after Ventura supposedly made remarks insulting Navy SEALs.

Ventura’s attorney David Bradley Olsen said in his closing argument Tuesday he believes Kyle’s estate has earned more than $6 million from the book. He suggested jurors award Ventura from $5 million to $15 million to compensate for what he said was the harm to Ventura’s reputation.

An attorney for Kyle’s estate argued earlier that Ventura didn’t prove that the story was false or that he was hurt financially.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas teenager who shot and killed his 9-year-old stepbrother during an argument over doing chores will be sentenced in August.

Ryan Velez, who is now 18, has spent about three years at Larned State Hospital after pleading guilty in 2011 to murdering his stepbrother, Kaden Harper.

During a hearing Monday, Velez’s sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 6.

The Salina Journal reports Velez was sent to Larned for treatment after pleading guilty last September to unintentional but reckless second-degree murder. Because he was released before his sentence was complete, he was referred back to district court for sentencing.

Prosecutors said Velez shot his stepbrother on June 1, 2010 at their rural Assaria home when the boys were home alone.

HOXIE — One man was killed and three people were injured in a single-vehicle pickup accident just after midnight in Sheridan County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Ford F150 driven by Dal Brea Schultz, 22, Grainfield, was northbound on 30 West Road just north of 70 South Road.

The truck hit the left embankment, overturned multiple times, landing on the driver’s side and came to a rest in the middle of the roadway.

Schultz was pronounced dead at the scene. He was transported to Leopold Funeral Home in Hoxie.

Passengers in the truck Kraig Siruta, 22, Oakley, Emily Vollbracht, 20, and Carollyn Mense, 21, both of Grinnell, were transported to Sheridan County Health Complex.

The KHP reported all were properly restrained at the time of the accident.