TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Medicaid program in Kansas would gain more control over costly mental health prescriptions under a bill facing a final vote in the state Senate.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Wednesday’s vote was coming a day after senators debated the measure and gave it first-round approval.
Supports said the bill would give patients more protection from the over-prescription of powerful drugs with serious side effects. Critics argued the change could deprive mentally ill Kansans of needed medication and result in more of them being hospitalized or jailed.
The bill would repeal a 2002 law that prohibits Medicaid from controlling prescriptions of mental health drugs with preferred drug lists, prior authorization requirements or other methods. Medicaid provides health coverage for the needy and disabled.
A battle between two Mid Continent League schools ensued on Tuesday night with the TMP Lady Monarchs coming out on top 73-66 at Al Billinger Fieldhouse in Hays. It was back and forth early with both teams swapping first quarter leads before TMP took early control going up 25-15 after the first quarter. Plainville did not back down. The Lady Cardinals would outscore TMP 22-13 in the second quarter to pull within one point, 38-37, at halftime.
Most of the third quarter belonged to Plainville. The Lady Cardinals stormed out of the locker room and built a nine point lead late into the third quarter, 54-45. TMP would close the quarter on a five-nothing run, all from Madyson Koerner, to pull to within four at 54-50. Plainville scored the first basket of the fourth quarter and then the game was on.
TMP ripped off seven straight points to regain the lead at 57-56. The two teams would continue to battle back and forth, trading leads. TMP finally took control late and sealed the deal with a Melissa Pfeifer steal and layup followed by good execution from the free throw line.
TMP wrapped up the Mid Continent League regular season title with the win. They are now 16-3 on the season. Plainville finishes the regular season at 7-13. TMP will play one final regular season game at home on Thursday night against Hutchinson-Trinity.
MELISSA PFEIFER INTERVIEW
GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
Boys: TMP 62, Plainville 58
It was a battle of two good teams in Hays on Tuesday night as the TMP Monarchs bested the Plainville Cardinals 62-58 at Al Billinger Fieldhouse. Former Monarch player and coach Chris Drees roamed the opposite sideline for the first time. Drees played under Joe Hertel and also was an assistant coach for eight years.
The two were able to put the emotions to the side as the game started and it was a knock down, drag out the whole way. TMP was able to build an early five point lead in the first quarter before Plainville was able to post a seven-nothing run to end the quarter to take an 11-9 lead. The Monarchs were able to pull away a little bit in the second quarter but Plainville didn’t go away. The Cardinals were able to mount a 13-4 run to end the half and went to the locker room with a 28-27 lead.
Much like the girls game, the Cardinals controlled most of the third quarter. They were able to build a six point lead late in the third. TMP had an answer. The Monarchs were able to end the third on an 8-2 run and tied the game at 45 going to the fourth quarter. TMP led most of the fourth quarter, building their lead as high as six points at 55-49. Plainville would answer back with four straight to get to within two but could never tie or take the lead down the stretch.
Jared Vitztum led TMP with 20. Brent Gehring added 18 to lead the Cardinals. With the Monarch win the Hill City’s loss in Norton TMP was able to garner the outright Mid Continent League regular season title to go with their MCL Tournament title. TMP is now 13-6 on the season and will finish out the regular season at home on Thursday against Hutchinson-Trinity. Plainville finishes the regular season at 9-11.
By the time that Hays rolled into Dodge City on Tuesday night, the Red Demons had already locked up the Western Athletic Conference championship winning each of their first six WAC games. In the final road game of the season for Hays, the Lady Indians were trying to put a blemish on that Dodge City record.
Hays held the lead on three different occasions in the first quarter, the latest at 8-6 when Talyn Kleweno hit a three pointer. Dodge City scored the next five points to go up 11-8, before Hays scored with less than a minute remaining in the quarter to get within one at 11-10.
The second quarter would not treat the Lady Indians nearly as well. Dodge City opened the quarter on a 12-1 run and finished it on a 10-0 run. Hays trailed at half time 33-13, and were 0-6 from the field.
Highlights
The Indians scored the first seven points of the second half cutting the lead down to 33-20. Dodge City then responded with a 11-3 run, going up 44-23. Hays would get no closer than 15 rest of the game, losing 60-32. Hays also lost Mattison Schlaefli in the game to an ankle injury during the second quarter.
Coach Kirk Maska
Hays falls to 5-14 on the season. The Red Demons are now 13-6. Hays will finish their regular season at home Friday versus Great Bend.
Boys Dodge City 53 – Hays 44
Both Hays and Dodge City needed a win on Tuesday night to realistically have a chance at winning the Western Athletic Conference. Both teams entered the night a half game back of Garden City in the conference standings.
Dodge City jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Isaiah Nunnery stole the ball and scored the only first quarter points for Hays. The Indians trailed 13-2 after the first quarter.
Hays trailed by 13 points on three different times in the second quarter, but an Isaiah Nunnery basket got the Indians back within eleven at half time, trailing 23-12.
Highlights
Cash Hobson hit two three pointers to start the second half. He was fouled on the second one, giving him a four point play. Hays outscored Dodge City 14-10 in the third quarter and down 33-26 at the end of quarter.
Isaiah Nunnery hit a three pointer to open the fourth quarter, getting Hays the closest they would be all night at 33-29. Dodge City answered with a 9-1 run, building their lead to 12 with 4:24 remaining in the game. Hays pulled with in five one final time following a Keith Dryden three pointer at 46-41. Hays though would get no closer as Dodge City hit 12 of their 14 fourth quarter free throws dropping Hays 53-44.
Cash Hobson led the Indians with 13. Isaiah Nunnery added 11.
Coach Rick Keltner
Hays drops to 12-7 on the year and 4-3 in conference play. Dodge City is no 11-8 and 5-2. Garden City with a 20 point win claims a minimum share of the Western Athletic Conference title. Dodge City can claim a share by beat Liberal on Thursday.
Hays will finish their season at Great Bend on Friday at home for senior night.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today held the first hearing of his chairmanship and breaking with tradition, first heard the concerns of farmers and ranchers on the implementation of the Farm Bill followed by the testimony of U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Chairman Roberts was pleased to welcome Mr. Rich Felts to testify before the Committee on the first panel. Mr Felts is a Wheat, Corn, Soybean, and Livestock Producer from Liberty, Kan. For his prepared testimony go here.
The hearing, titled “The Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one year and Farm Credit Administration nominations,” had three panels.
“Today’s hearing is special,” Chairman Roberts said. “Today, we will conduct our first oversight hearing of the one year old Farm Bill by hearing from farmers first, then the administration.
“It is my hope that our witnesses will be able to bring forward testimony of their challenges and successes of the new farm bill — and then the Committee and the Secretary will work to address the challenges raised by our four witnesses and by others who have reached out to our Committee members.
“We thank Secretary Vilsack for his willingness to try something new today. I believe this hearing will send a strong message to America’s farmers and ranchers that their government is listening to them and that we can and will work together on their behalf.”
Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for America’s farmers and ranchers. He is the first member of congress in modern history to serve as both Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Roberts has also served as the ranking member for each Committee.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Teachers no longer would be exempt from criminal charges for showing students materials deemed to be harmful to minors under a bill given first-round approval in the Kansas Senate.
Teachers could be charged for any materials thought to be too sexual or too profane for minors.
Republican Sen. Forrest Knox of Altoona said he supported the bill and said teachers should not be protected from showing materials that would draw penalties in other contexts.
Democratic Sen. David Haley of Kansas City said that Senate Democrats intended to argue against the bill, but were out of the chamber when it came up for discussion. The bill swiftly moved through the approval process without debate and will be up for a final vote Wednesday. It will then pass to the House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says budget cuts forced the agency to reduce the number of tax audits last year to the lowest level in a decade.
In 2014, fewer than 1 percent of individual tax returns were audited, the lowest rate since 2004. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says the number of audits is likely to decline again this year.
In a speech on Tuesday, Koskinen said there are fewer audits because the tax agency has fewer agents. He said the IRS is down more than 2,200 revenue agents since 2010.
Congress has cut the agency’s budget by more than $1.3 billion since 2010.
Koskinen’s speech comes in the middle of tax season, just as millions of Americans are filing their annual returns.
NEWTON – Police have been investigating recent rumors circulating regarding a possible student threat at Newton High School.
Police stated Tuesday on their Facebook page that they have been working with the school’s administration, investigating allegations, interviewing students, conducting home visits, and making parent contacts.
They say at this point there is no credible threat to staff or students at the high school.
However, they suggest that individuals can contact the high school administration if they have questions or evidence of a possible threat that they would like to share.
Hackers accessed millions of records at Anthem, a health insurance company with policyholders in Missouri and Kansas. Credit File photo
By DAN MARGOLIES
More than 389,000 Kansans and nearly 2 million Missourians were affected by last month’s massive cyberattack on Anthem Inc., the nation’s second largest health insurer, figures released by the company show.
“This data breach is so far-reaching that it impacts nearly one-third of our state’s population,” Missouri Department of Insurance Director John M. Huff said in a statement Monday.
In Missouri, 1.5 million current and former Blue Cross and Blue Shield members over the last 10 years may have had their records hacked, according to Deb Wiethop, a spokeswoman for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri. She said another 330,000 members of Anthem-associated health plans in Missouri were also affected.
In Kansas, current and former Medicaid and CHIP recipients, as well as members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and other Blue organizations, were affected, according to the Kansas Insurance Department.
Separately, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said on Monday that nearly 165,000 state Medicaid and CHIP recipients were among those whose personal information may have been compromised.
Anthem is the parent company of Amerigroup, one of three private managed care companies that administers KanCare, Kansas’ privatized version of Medicaid, as well as Unicare, a former CHIP contractor.
CHIP is the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides federal matching funds for health insurance covering families with children.
KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry said personal information compromised in the cyberattack included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health care identification numbers, home addresses, email addresses, employment information and income data.
“Anthem has done its due diligence to make sure that everyone has been contacted in a timely manner and that any credit or identity monitoring services are being offered to members,” Belfry said.
The services are being offered free. Missourians and Kansans affected by the breach can visit an Anthem website, https://www.anthemfacts.com/, which provides additional information on how to sign up for two years of credit monitoring and identity theft repair services.
Formerly known as Wellpoint, Anthem reported earlier this month that cyber attackers had breached a company database containing as many as 80 million records of current and former customers and employees.
The company said it did not believe credit card or medical information had been compromised.
The FBI is investigating the attacks. In addition, the Missouri Department of Insurance and insurance departments in California, Indiana, Main and New Hampshire are conducting a multistate examination of Anthem companies.
Dan Margolies is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new government report shows the value of principle Kansas crops plummeted last year to $6.51 billion.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday that the decline compares to $7.85 billion in 2013 and $8.09 billion in 2012.
The lesser numbers come as no surprise, given the waning drought last year that decimated the state’s winter wheat crop before late spring and summer rains salvaged fall -harvested crops. Grain prices also have fallen in the past couple of years, making the remaining crop worth less.
Among the state’s major crops, the agency valued the state’s wheat crop at $1.51 billion last year. It pegged the value of Kansas corn at $2.12 billion. Soybeans came in at $1.38 billion, with sorghum trailing at $755.2 million.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has vetoed a Republican bill forcing construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The White House sent notice of the veto to the Senate on Tuesday, shortly after the bill was received at the White House. It’s the third veto of Obama’s presidency.
The move puts a freeze on a top GOP priority, at least for now. It also reasserts Obama’s authority over a project that’s become a flashpoint in the national debate about climate change.
Congressional Republicans may try to override Obama’s veto, but have yet to show they can muster the two-thirds majority in both chambers that they would need. Sen. John Hoeven, the bill’s chief GOP sponsor, says Republicans are about four votes short in the Senate and need about 11 more in the House.
Criminal justice reform is an idea whose time has finally come. Eighteen months after launching the Smart on Crime initiative, we can report that overall federal drug trafficking cases dropped by 6 percent in FY 2014.
There was a time when well-intentioned proponents of the “get tough” formula for fighting drugs would have been alarmed by this decline. But that was before U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and others began leading a drive to re-evaluate our criminal justice system. Their goal is to develop a fairer criminal justice system that deters serious criminal conduct, holds people accountable for crimes and utilizes incarceration more wisely. We want to punish, deter and rehabilitate – not merely confine and forget.
For the federal prosecutors in our office, the Smart on Crime initiative has meant putting sensible limits on when we seek stiffer sentences in drug cases. We are seeking fewer mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders. That means we reserve stricter sentences for more serious offenders rather than trying to impose them in every case. After several years in a row that saw federal prosecutors pursue mandatory sentences in roughly two-thirds of drug cases, the rate in 2014 dropped to one-in-two.
Why did we need to make this change? America has an overreliance on incarceration. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, we produce 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Federal prison population has grown almost 800 percent since 1980, while this nation’s population grew by only a third. As a result, roughly a third of the Justice Department’s budget goes to pay for operating prisons. Aside from the merely monetary costs, the human and moral toll of unrestrained incarceration is difficult to calculate.
We still have a lot of work to do. Our prisons remain overcrowded. Across the country, far too many people are trapped in cycles of poverty, criminality and incarceration. Law enforcement needs to work harder to build trust in the communities we are sworn to serve and protect. From critical improvements to the juvenile justice system, to a range of other criminal justice reforms, we must continue to advance promising bipartisan legislation to make our communities safer, treat individuals more justly and allow more efficient use of law enforcement resources.
We are working to strengthen re-entry programs aimed at reducing recidivism and advancing a host of targeted improvements such as drug courts. In this way, we are laying a strong foundation for a new era of American justice.
Barry Grissom is the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas.
HUTCHINSON— Police have made an arrest in connection with a stabbing on Monday morning near 12th Street and Monroe in Hutchinson.
Police say Drew Sims, 32, is in custody on suspicion of aggravated battery.
Sims is being held on a $50 thousand bond. He made a court appearance on Tuesday via video from the Reno County Jail.
He is suspected of stabbing 30-year-old Brandon Zeh in the chest during an argument over money
Zeh was taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery.
On February 6, Sims was granted community corrections for crimes that included two counts of theft, forgery and giving a worthless check. The state could now seek to revoke his community corrections status.
