LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A University of Kansas fraternity that was suspended over alleged sexual assaults says it wants the suspension lifted.

Kappa Sigma representatives say the organization is not a danger to the campus. They contend an investigation into the alleged sexual assaults in late September is taking too long. Fraternity representatives plan to attend a hearing next week to ask that the suspension be lifted.

Kappa Sigma has been on interim suspension since Sept. 30, after the university received reports of “multiple instances of sexual misconduct” at the chapter house on or about Sept. 27.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the university’s typical 60-day investigation time period would end by Dec. 1, but the university has said it needs more time because the investigation is complex.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -€” Consumers are less satisfied with their banks and health insurance plans than they were a year ago, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The survey of nearly 7,000 consumers found that rising bank fees were the biggest reason customer satisfaction for banks slipped to a score of 76, down 2.6 percent from last year. The decline nearly reverses two years of improvement for retail banks.

But credit unions are different. They enjoy a customer satisfaction score of 85, the highest among all financial services.

Another sore spot for consumers is their health insurance plans. The ACSI found policyholder satisfaction fell 4.1 percent from last year to a score of 70. It’s the first drop in three years.

Although the Affordable Care Act is changing the health care landscape, employer-provided group plans are still the biggest share of the industry. Satisfaction with those plans fell sharply, dropping seven percent to 67. The customer satisfaction score for individual plans held steady at 74.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A former hospital in Salina will not be demolished anytime soon.

Salina City Commissioners on Monday denied a request by Salina Regional Health Center to demolish the former St. John’s Hospital facility.

KSAL reports the request was denied after a protest was filed suggesting that other uses could be found for the hospital campus.

The St. John’s campus has been vacant since 2010. The commission was told a previous plan to convert the hospital campus to affordable senior housing has been dropped.

St. John’s was started in 1914 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and operated by the Wichita-based Sisters of St. Joseph until 1995.

The vote does not mean the hospital won’t be demolished. The health center can reapply to have the campus torn down.

By Jim McLean
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Sherry Calderwood wishes she could turn back the clock.

Last fall, she and her husband decided not to purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace because it cost too much.

The 45-year-old waitress, who banters with legislators and lobbyists at a popular Topeka breakfast spot just a few blocks from the Kansas Statehouse, had gotten by for years without coverage and thought her luck would hold.

It didn’t.

“I thought, ‘Oh well, I haven’t been sick all these years. I’ll be fine.’ And here I sit,” Calderwood said while taking a short break during a recent lunch rush.

Sapped of energy and bruised from head to toe, she recently went to the doctor and was given a preliminary diagnosis of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune disease that thins the blood and in extreme cases causes internal bleeding. Thousands of dollars in tests and hospital stays later, doctors still haven’t pinned down the reason for Calderwood’s condition.

Calderwood is worried about leukemia and other possible causes. And she’s worried about how she is going to pay the bills she’s already racked up.

“Yeah, I’m worried,” she said. “I’m worried about my house, my car payments, my family. Christmas is coming up.”
Before Obamacare, Calderwood’s diagnosis would have made it virtually impossible for her to get health insurance.
“She would have most likely been denied coverage,” said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. “The high-risk pool was there for folks like her, but the premiums were high. It probably would have been unaffordable.”

But that’s not the case anymore. The ACA says insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to people who already are sick.

“I do feel thankful for that,” Calderwood said. “I would have been sitting here with no insurance for the rest of my life.”

Obamacare has given Calderwood a second chance to get health insurance. A new ACA open enrollment period started Saturday, and she’s made an appointment this week with a navigator to select a plan.
Flat rates

Opponents of the reform law predicted that rates would increase sharply. But the average premium for all plans has increased just 0.1 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to an analysis by the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.
Rates are based on the level of coverage — bronze, silver, gold or platinum — and an individual’s age, place of residence, family status and whether they smoke.

If catastrophic plans — which are available only to individuals under age 30 or those with special hardship exemptions — are excluded, the average premium actually decreased by 1.1 percent.

However, there are wide variations in cost. Premiums for some silver plans — the coverage level selected by most Kansans in 2014 — range from 11.6 percent more to 13 percent less in 2015, according to the KHI analysis.

Still, Praeger said, Kansans who purchased coverage during the first enrollment period should be able to avoid paying higher rates if they don’t re-enroll and instead go back to the online marketplace and evaluate their options.

“I think most Kansans will be able to find something that fits their needs that is either the same price or even a little lower,” Praeger said. “The important thing is that they need to go back and shop.”
Kansans with annual incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for tax credits on a sliding scale. The credits are paid directly to insurance companies to reduce premiums, Praeger said.

“They (consumers) don’t have to wait until they file their tax returns,” she said. “They get the benefit of that tax credit up front.”

An individual making $12,000 a year and living just above the poverty line could buy a silver plan for about $200 a month but pay a monthly premium of only $20 after the tax credit is applied. A person making $25,000 a year would get a smaller tax credit and pay $142 a month for the same plan.

More choice

Kansans may choose from among 82 plans offered by five insurance companies in the 2015 marketplace, up from 72 in the previous enrollment period.

Trained “navigators,” many of whom work for nonprofit organizations, are available along with insurance agents to help consumers shop the marketplace and select a plan. Information about how to contact a navigator and a schedule of upcoming enrollment events is available at the InsureKs website operated by the Kansas Insurance Department.

A little more than 57,000 Kansans purchased insurance in the marketplace during the first enrollment period. That is about 19 percent of the 298,000 Kansans that KHI estimates are eligible to get coverage through the marketplace.

Well-documented problems with the marketplace website operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services depressed enrollment during the first sign-up period, Praeger said.

“I think potentially we’ll have more enrollees this year because we’re not going to have all the problems with the website crashing as it did last year and people getting frustrated and giving up,” she said.

The current open enrollment period extends through Feb. 15, 2014.

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

BETHANY, Mo. – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 9 p.m. on Monday in Harrison County Missouri.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2012 Toyota Sienna driven by Rajesh N. Patel, 45, Lenexa, was northbound on Interstate 35 just south of Bethany. The vehicle went off the left side of the road, traveled into the median, struck the gravel crossover and overturned.

Patel was transported to Harrison County Community Hospital.
The MSHP reported she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Kansas City animal nonprofit has rescued a litter of six stray puppies from the wintry weather.

KMBC-TV reports Chain of Hope removed the black and brown puppies on Monday before temperatures reached as low as 15 degrees. The puppies are barely old enough to open their eyes and were found under a tarp in a wooded area.

Director Kate Quigley says the group has unsuccessfully tried to trap the mother, who wouldn’t leave her babies. She hopes they can capture the mother using fresh food now that her puppies have been rescued.

Quigley says a bystander alerted the group to the animals.

She says the puppies will be adopted when they’re older.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The spokesman for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s successful re-election campaign has taken a similar job at the Kansas Department of Administration.

Brownback’s office said Monday that John Milburn began work Monday as the department’s communications director.

Milburn is replacing Todd Fertig, who is moving to the state Department for Children and Families.

The Department of Administration oversees contracting, personnel services and computer systems for state agencies under the governor’s control and manages state office buildings.

Milburn joined Brownback’s campaign in July after working as a Statehouse reporter in Topeka for The Associated Press.