JEFF HORWITZ, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Obama administration housing official tells lawmakers that regulators are still considering an overhaul of a controversial type of homeowner’s insurance.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has not yet delivered on the comprehensive changes promised earlier this year. Agency director Mel Watt told the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that he’s “looking at it aggressively.”

Banks buy so-called force-placed insurance to protect the properties of homeowners behind on their loan payments. It costs several times more than regular homeowners’ insurance. State regulators and plaintiff’s attorneys allege that banks inflate the cost of force-placed insurance for homeowners in exchange for insurer kickbacks.

Watt calls addressing abuses a “tough area.” In response, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon tells Watt that Watt’s in a position to stop it.

The states of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska have reached what’s described as “an historic agreement” on management of water in the Republican River basin.

During a special meeting of the Republican River Compact Administration, representatives of the states approved adjustments in 2014 and 2015 that will benefit water users throughout the basin.

Chairman Brian Dunnigan, Nebraska Director of the Department of Natural Resources, cited recent comments by U.S. Supreme Court Special Master William J. Kayatta, who encouraged the states to work toward greater consensus for administering the waters of the Basin. “It is in that spirit that the States have negotiated the resolution that was approved today,” said Chairman Dunnigan.

The agreement addresses how water is administered for the benefit of irrigators in the Basin. It provides Nebraska with 100% credit for water delivered from augmentation projects to Harlan County Lake prior to June 1, 2015, and the delivered water is for exclusive use by Kansas irrigators.

Today’s agreement is in addition to two cooperative agreements signed in October. Together, these three agreements change the traditional ways the compact has been previously interpreted and implemented for a more cooperative approach.

Kansas Commissioner David Barfield acknowledged that the new resolution comes on the heels of another mutually acceptable pair of resolutions signed in October in Denver, Colorado. “Approving the resolutions will bring significant benefits to the States by preserving the remaining water supply in Harlan County Lake and providing additional certainty to water users throughout the Basin.”

“These resolutions reflect the States’ strong resolve on these matters,” said Dick Wolfe, Commissioner from Colorado. “We know there is additional work to do, but we are moving in the right direction to reach long-term agreements that are fair to all parties and reflect good management of the Basin’s water supply.”

The Republican River Compact Administration is comprised of one member each from the States of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. The purpose of the Republican River Compact Administration is to administer the Republican River Compact. This Compact allocates the waters of the Republican River among the three states.

LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government proposed new rules Wednesday to make it easier for doctors and patients to learn if clinical trials of treatments worked or not.

Thousands of Americans participate in clinical trials every year, testing new treatments, comparing old ones or helping to uncover general knowledge about health. Many of the studies are reported in scientific journals and trumpeted in the news. But results aren’t always made public, especially studies that fail.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins says that’s not acceptable. Under the new proposals, all clinical trials funded by NIH would have to reveal summaries of their results on a public database: www.clinicaltrials.gov . So would certain other studies under an expansion of Food and Drug Administration rules.

The proposals are open for public comment through Feb. 19.

JOHN HANNA, Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt says his vigorous defense of the state’s gay marriage ban is designed to get a final U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether such bans are constitutional.

Schmidt said in an Associated Press interview Wednesday that everyone is best served by a definitive ruling from the high court.

The attorney general said that without such a ruling, uncertainty will remain about whether gay marriage legal throughout the state and whether gay couples’ unions will remain legally valid.

The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the state from enforcing its gay marriage ban while a lawsuit moves through the federal courts. Couples have wed in some but not all of the state’s 105 counties.

Gay-rights advocate Tom Witt says Schmidt’s argument is pointless.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 29-year-old Missouri man is sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for selling crack cocaine near a playground across the river in Kansas.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says Arrick Warren of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing crack within 1,000 feet of Bethany Park playground in Kansas City, Kansas. He also pleaded guilty to possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it near the playground, and one count of maintaining a residence near the playground in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Prosecutors say Warren was charged in June 2013 in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, after investigators arranged to make controlled buys of the drug. They seized drugs, more than $25,000 in cash and a handgun while executing a search warrant earlier that year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and a group of senators also on the committee called on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Bob McDonald to meet in-person to discuss the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA) and make certain it is implemented and upheld the way it was intended and in the best interest of veterans. This includes offering non-VA care to veterans who are unable to receive healthcare services from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where a veteran resides.

 “We understood that it is your desire to carry out VACAA as it was intended and in the best interest of the veteran,” the senators wrote to Sec. McDonald. “Regrettably, the VA’s interpretation of the 40-mile eligibility criteria is inconsistent with your message and guidance.  Due to numerous discussions on this issue, the VA has agreed to a review utilizing existing authorities to identify the types of non-VA healthcare services that may be offered to a veteran when the same services are not available at a VA facility within 40 miles.  We are concerned that this narrow review will fail to guard against subjective determinations by bureaucrats of which medical services warrant an exception to the 40-mile rule and which do not.”

On Sept. 9, 2014, during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Hearing, Sen. Moran asked VA Sec. McDonald to clarify how the VA was going to handle care for rural veterans. Sen. Moran received a commitment from Sec. McDonald that the VA will make certain veterans receive the care they need through VACAA and will not experience the burden of travel to access that care, particularly if a VA facility within 40 miles of where a veteran resides does not offer the care and treatment the veteran is seeking. Click here to view the exchange.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A combine-sharing program touted as the first of its kind in the country aims to give farmers a chance to make some money off expensive equipment that sits idle after harvest is finished.

FarmLink announced Wednesday its farmer-to-farmer program, which allows farmers with spring or early summer harvests in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas to rent their combines to farmers with later harvests farther north.

The Kansas City, Missouri-based company picks up the combines, maintains and repairs them as needed and then returns them to their owners. The company contends growers can make as much as $40,000 a year in extra income from equipment that would otherwise sit mostly unused.

The program begins with the 2015 harvest season, but the company already has begun signing up farmers.

 

By Jay Hancock
Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — You don’t get a pass this year on big health insurance decisions because you’re not shopping in an Affordable Care Act marketplace. Employer medical plans — where most working-age folks get coverage — are changing too.

Rising costs, a looming tax on rich benefit packages and the idea that people should buy medical treatment the way they shop for cell phones have increased odds that workplace plans will be very different in 2015.
“If there’s any year employees should pay attention to their annual enrollment material, this is probably the year,” said Brian Marcotte, CEO of the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers.

In other words, don’t blow off the human resources seminars. Ask these questions.

Is my doctor still in the network?

Some employers are shifting to plans that look like the HMOs of the 1990s, with limited networks of physicians and hospitals. Provider affiliations change even when companies don’t adopt a “narrow network.”

Insurers publish directories, but the surest way to see if docs or hospitals take your plan is to call and ask.

“People tend to find out the hard way how their health plan works,” said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Don’t take for granted that everything will be the same as last year.” (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

Is my employer changing where I get labs and medications?

For expensive treatments — for diseases such as cancer or multiple sclerosis — some companies are hiring preferred vendors. Getting infusions or prescriptions outside this network could cost thousands extra, just as with doctors and hospitals.

How much will my out-of-pocket costs go up?

It’s probably not a question of if. Shifting medical expense to workers benefits employers because it means they absorb less of a plan’s overall cost increases. By lowering the value of the insurance, it also shields companies from the “Cadillac tax” on high-end coverage that begins in 2018.

Having consumers pay more is also supposed to nudge them to buy thoughtfully — to consider whether procedures are necessary and to find good prices.

“It gets them more engaged in making decisions,” said Dave Osterndorf, a benefits consultant with Towers Watson.

How well this will control total costs is very unclear.

Your company is probably raising deductibles — the amount you pay for care before your insurance kicks in. The average deductible for a single worker rose to $1,217 this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. One large employer in three surveyed by Marcotte’s group planned to offer only high-deductible plans (at least $2,600 for families) in 2015.

Employers also are scrapping co-payments — fixed charges collected during an office or pharmacy visit.

Once you might have made a $20 copay for a $100 prescription, with the insurance company picking up the other $80. Now you might pay the full $100, with the cost applied against your deductible, Marcotte said.

How do I compare medical prices and quality?

Companies concede they can’t push workers to shop around without giving information on prices and quality.

Tools to comparison shop are often primitive. But you should take advantage of whatever resources, usually an online app from the insurance company, are available.

Can I use tax-free money for out-of-pocket payments?

Workers are familiar with flexible spending accounts (which aren’t that flexible). You contribute pretax dollars and then have to spend them on medical costs before a certain time.

Employers increasingly offer health savings accounts, which have more options. Contribution limits for HSAs are higher. Employers often chip in. There is no deadline to spend the money, and you keep it if you quit the company. So you can let it build up if you stay healthy.

Don’t necessarily think of HSAs as money down the drain, Osterndorf said. Think of them as a different kind of retirement savings plan.

How is my prescription plan set up?

Drugs are one of the fastest-rising medical costs. To try to control them, employers are splitting pharmaceutical benefits into more layers than ever. Cost-sharing is lowest for drugs listed in formulary’s bottom tiers — usually cheap generics — and highest for specialty drugs and biologics.

If you’re on a long-term prescription, check how it’s covered so you know how much to put in the savings account to pay for it. Also see if a less-expensive drug will deliver the same benefit.

 

Jay Hancock is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — One of the men accused of alcohol-related violations in connection with the fatal fall of an Arizona State University student has been sentenced.

A Maricopa County Superior Court spokeswoman says Commissioner Julie Newell sentenced David Siegal to 18 months of probation with a deferred jail term of 45 days.

Siegal also must complete 30 hours community service and cannot consume alcohol.

The 20-year-old Siegal pleaded guilty earlier this month to one misdemeanor count of being a minor in possession of liquor.

Naomi McClendon plunged 10 floors to her death March 30 from an apartment complex near ASU’s campus.

Tempe police say the 18-year-old woman from Manhattan, Kansas, initially attended an “all-you-can-drink” party thrown by ASU fraternity members.

Surveillance video showed her stumbling and intoxicated when she entered the residential building.

ERICA WERNER, Associated Press
JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — People familiar with White House planning say President Barack Obama will announce on Thursday executive action on immigration that will sidestep Congress and shield potentially millions of immigrants illegally in the United States from deportation.

The administration is considering steps that would provide work permits for up to 5 million immigrants now living illegally in the U.S. Obama planned to hold a rally Friday in Las Vegas to draw attention to his decision.

The officials who spoke about Obama’s announcement did so on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it on the record.
TheIt’s time to fix our broken immigration system. Tomorrow night, President Obama will address the nation on new commonsense steps he’s taking to fix as much of it as he can. Tune in tomorrow at 8pm ET