GARNETT, Kan – Two Kansas teens were injured in an accident just before 5 p.m. on Friday in Anderson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford Taurus driven by Jessica Pollitt, 18, Olathe, was northbound on U.S. 169 one mile north of the business junction and traveled off the right side of the roadway.
The driver overcorrected and the vehicle overturned.
Pollitt and a passenger Avery Pollitt, 16, Overland Park, were transported to Anderson County Hospital.
The KHP reported they were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
Members of FHSU’s DTC surprise KHP trooper Bill Goodness (center) with a sweatshirt and funds to assist with medical bills following last year’s event.
by KARI BLURTON Hays Post
It’s a chance to enjoy some “great chili and support a great cause,” according to Josh Rounkles, 20, regarding the second annual ‘Eat Chili For Goodness Sake’ fundraiser Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Lewis Field Stadium tailgate area in Hays.
The fundraiser is on behalf of Kansas Highway Patrol defensive tactics instructor and KHP trooper, Bill Goodness, Salina, who was diagnosed with cancer in April of last year and continues to fight the disease.
Rounkles is a member of the sponsors of the event, the Fort Hays State University’s Defensive Tactics Club.
“When we heard about it, we decided we wanted to do something in an effort to help his family with medical bills and expenses,” Rounkles said.
Last year the group raised more than $1,500 for the Goodness family – money they presented to Goodness after a defensive tactics class at the Collegiate Law Enforcement Academy at KHP headquarters in Salina.
Rounkles said Goodness was surprised and thankful for the gesture.
“Words can’t really express how it looks when someone gets a little bit of help when they don’t ask for it. It was really a tender moment in what can be a stern place–the KHP building,” Rounkles said.
HPD Lt. Ron Rounkles will be defending his 2013 first place title.
More than 10 teams are expected to participate in the fundraiser and competition, split into three chili categories: traditional style, spicy and non-traditional.
A minimum donation of $5 is requested to eat the various chili recipes and place a vote for the favorite.
Rounkels’ dad, Hays Police Department Lt. Ron Rounkles, is representing the HPD in the cook-off and will be defending his first place title in the non-traditional category.
Ron said his recipe includes grilled bratwursts and beef, but is keeping quiet on the rest of the ingredients.
Former Kansas Medicaid official Andy Allison spearheaded the expansion effort in Arkansas as director of that state’s program. He says an infusion of young and relatively healthy Medicaid recipients into Arkansas’ private insurance market is pushing down rates for everyone else. Allison spoke Thursday at the 2014 Kansas Economic Policy Conference on Thursday at the University of Kansas- photo by Jim McLean
By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
LAWRENCE — Which of the following is true:
• The Affordable Care Act has provided thousands of low-income Kansas with greater access to affordable health insurance.
• A looming ACA mandate has caused some Kansas employers to hire fewer full-time workers and instead fill positions with part-time employees.
• The combination of reductions in Medicare rates and the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid eligibility has put Kansas hospitals in a financial bind.
The correct answer is “all of the above.”
Less than a year after the first plans were sold in the Obamacare marketplace, it’s clear that the law’s impact on consumers, providers and employers has been mixed. But it’s also clear that it’s too soon to fully gauge its impact.
“There is so much uncertainty going forward,” said economist Donna Ginther, wrapping up the 2014 Kansas Economic Policy Conference on Thursday at the University of Kansas.
Consumers are hopeful but confused. Employers are wary. Health insurers are shooting in the dark. And providers – particularly rural hospitals – are worried about surviving as they transform the way they deliver care.
“It’s really hard if you’re a provider out there … with one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat,” said Kansas Hospital Association President and CEO Tom Bell, referring to the difficulties that hospitals face transitioning from the old fee-for-service system to one that requires providers to manage the health of their patients.
Arthur Frable, CEO of the Bob Wilson Memorial Grant County Hospital in Ulysses, said creating a value-based system that rewards providers that meet certain quality measures and penalizes those that don’t can be a “very scary” proposition for rural providers serving higher proportions of elderly Kansans who require more acute care.
“My concern is that ultimately this is going to be the mechanism that’s going to be used to close many hospitals,” Frable said.
Insurers guessing on rates
The transition also continues to challenge Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer, said Matt All, senior vice president and general counsel. The company had to set premiums for the plans it will offer during the upcoming Obamacare enrollment period before it knew whether it had properly priced plans sold during the first round.
“There is a lot of guesswork going on,” All said. “It’s reasonably educated guesswork. But it’s guesswork all the same.”
The next open enrollment period starts on Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15, 2015.
During the first enrollment period, Oct. 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014, more than 57,000 Kansans purchased coverage through the online marketplace. About 78 percent of them received federal tax credits, meaning their incomes ranged between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. More than half of the almost 45,000 Kansans who received subsidies paid $50 or less per month for their coverage, according to a new report from the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.
The number of Kansans who purchased coverage in the marketplace and previously were uninsured is unknown, but it’s estimated that nationally about 30 percent of those who purchased Obamacare plans previously lacked coverage.
Arkansas Medicaid expansion touted
Many states have significantly reduced their uninsured rates by expanding Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of FPL – about $16,104 of annual income for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four. Arkansas engineered one of the biggest reductions.
“Arkansas had the seventh highest uninsurance rate in the country before this. We have now experienced the largest single percentage reduction in uninsurance in the country,” said Andy Allison, a former Kansas Medicaid official who spearheaded the expansion effort in Arkansas as director of that state’s program.
The Arkansas plan, which provides private coverage to 90 percent of new enrollees and leaves the 10 percent with the most serious health issues in traditional Medicaid, has served as a model for other “red” states where most elected officials are opposed to the ACA.
The infusion of young and relatively healthy Medicaid recipients into Arkansas’ private insurance market is pushing down rates for everyone else, Allison said.
“We’ve just made private insurance in Arkansas for people above 138 percent (of FPL) cheaper,” Allison said, estimating that 2015 premiums will average 2 percent less than those charged in 2014.
Bell, of the Kansas Hospital Association, said the organization is drafting a Medicaid expansion proposal for the 2015 legislative session that likely will include some features of the Arkansas plan. He said he hopes that after the election the governor – whoever that turns out to be – and lawmakers will be ready to discuss expansion.
Failure to act, Bell said, will leave more than 80,000 low-income adults in a kind of insurance limbo. They make too much for Medicaid but too little to be eligible for subsidies in the Obamacare marketplace.
“To me that’s a head-scratcher,” Bell said. “It raises the question of why we as a state are not having an official conversation about what can we do to help the people out in that bubble.”
However, if Rep. David Crum’s comments are any indication, many conservative Republicans may continue to oppose expansion on the grounds that its cost is not sustainable until Congress reforms entitlement spending.
“The idea that programs funded by the federal government are free has contributed to our $18 trillion federal debt,” said Crum, an Augusta Republican who is not running for re-election. “Until Congress can fix our entitlement system and balance our budget, I worry about expanding the Medicaid program.”
Under the ACA, the federal government has agreed to pay all expansion costs for three years. After that the federal share will gradually decline until it reaches 90 percent, where it will remain.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has spurned an effort by a heterosexual couple to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the Kansas ban on gay marriage.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled Friday that Phillip and Sandra Unruh, of Harper, have no legal right to join the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas.
The Unruhs claimed in a Wednesday filing that they have a property right in their traditional marital status. They argued an adverse decision on the constitutionality of the state’s same-sex marriage ban could diminish their marital status and harm their property right.
Crabtree concluded the Unruhs’ interests are already represented by the Kansas attorney general’s office, which is defending the ban.
But the judge also invited the couple to file a friend-of-the-court brief stating their arguments.
KANSAS CITY- A Kansas semi driver was injured in an accident just after 11 a.m. on Friday in Wyandotte County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Peterbilt semi driven by Irving S. Haney, 53, Topeka, was northbound on U. S. 73 at Polfer Road in Kansas City.
A 2005 Honda Pilot driven by Susan M. Gardner, 39, Independence, Mo., drifted into the semi’s lane.
The semi attempted an avoidance maneuver, but struck the Honda pushing it up the roadway and causing it to spin out. The semi went to the right and the trailer flipped.
Haney was transported to KU Medical Center. Gardner was not injured. The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Independent candidate Greg Orman has outlined proposals for helping veterans as he campaigns against Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas.
Orman had a Statehouse news conference with several veterans Friday to tout his initiatives. They include a loan program to help tide over veterans who are waiting to receive disability payments.
The independent candidate also said the federal government needs to act to protect veterans from predatory loans for higher education. He said steps include forgiving some loans and greater resources to investigate abuses.
Orman also proposed expanded federal funding for special courts aimed at providing treatment rather than prison for veterans with legal problems and expanded efforts to combat homelessness among veterans.
Roberts is a former Marine who has touted his past work on national security issues and military projects.
Dear Dave,
My husband will be leaving his full-time job in a year so that he can go back to school full-time and finish his degree. We’ve both agreed this is what we want to do, but it means that we’ll go from a yearly income of $90,000 to $45,000. We’ll have tuition assistance from my job and his veteran’s stipend to help pay for things, plus we’re debt-free except for our house.
But in this scenario, once we complete Baby Step 3 should we move directly to Baby Step 4 or continue saving? Erin
Dave Ramsey
Dear Erin,
I think this is a good plan, as long as the two of you are on the same page and you’re willing to save like crazy for the next year and beyond. Even with help from your employer and his stipend you’ll still have some expenses, so you’ll have to be ready.
Once you complete Baby Step 3, which is having three to six months of expenses set aside as an emergency fund, Baby Step 4 is usually starting to invest 15 percent of your income toward retirement. In this case, while he’s finishing his degree, you’re not investing for retirement directly but you are investing in your husband and your future together. That’s a great investment, by the way. As long as he’s studying something that has marketplace application, you’re setting the stage for him to make back the money put into his degree and much more.
If that’s the plan, and he’s not off pursuing a Ph.D. in something like German polka history, you two are making a great investment. So work hard now, cut all the corners you can and pile up money so you two can get through his time in school! —Dave
Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas bail bondsman convicted of forcing women to have sex has been sentenced to 21 years in state prison.
KWBW-AM reports that 66-year-old Dwight Jurgens told the judge at his sentencing Friday that the women who testified against him had lied.
A Reno County jury convicted Jurgens last month of rape, aggravated human trafficking and attempted human trafficking.
Prosecutors said Jurgens told four women he would revoke their bonds if they didn’t have sex with him. The crimes occurred while Jurgens was a bonding agent for TNT Bonding.
In at least one case, a woman was given drugs by Jurgens and passed out, only to discover him on top of her.
MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) — A hospital says three victims are in critical condition after a school shooting near Seattle.
Providence Everett medical center spokeswoman Heidi Amrine said a total of four wounded students were brought to the hospital.
She says three were in very critical condition.
One considered stable was taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Police say a lone student shooter was dead after the attack at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
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MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) — Police say a lone shooter is dead after an attack at a high school north of Seattle.
Marysville Police Commander Robb Lamoureux (LAM’-or-oh) said the shooter was a student, but he did not have any additional information including where in the school the shooting took place and if anyone else was killed or wounded.
Many students and staff members were seen walking out of Marysville Pilchuck High School, about 30 miles north of Seattle, after police and ambulance crews surrounded the campus. Lamoureux said police were going room by room, searching the school to make sure it was safe.
There were conflicting reports about the number of possible injuries. A spokeswoman at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said the facility was expecting one patient but had no other information.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A crowd-sourcing website aimed at helping Kansas communities has gone live with its first four projects.
Kanstarter is powered by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. The site, which went live Thursday, allows people to donate time, talent or money to the projects.
The Hutchinson News reports the four projects on Kanstarter all have a common theme of improving Kansas rural life. One project is aimed at helping Burdett update its public miniature golf course. Another wants to help Plains purchase land to build a grocery store.
The foundation’s director described the website launch as soft, since the projects are new and everyone involved is still in the learning process.
The foundation received $200,000 in community service tax credits from the state’s commerce department to build the website.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence woman has pleaded guilty to arranging the shooting of her ex-boyfriend on a highway south of Lawrence.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 22-year-old Brittany Nicole Smith pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The victim, 24-year-old Skylar Workman, survived after being shot May 26 on Highway 59.
Testimony at a preliminary hearing in July indicated that Smith persuaded 25-year-old Edward Joseph Parker to shoot Workman.
Sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 9.
Parker pleaded not guilty in July to attempted first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for Dec. 1.
GARNETT, Kan – Two Kansas teens were injured in an accident just before 5 p.m. on Friday in Anderson County.
