By Jordan Rau

The Obama administration on Wednesday moved to sharply limit short-term health insurance plans, which a growing number of consumers have been buying even though they offer less coverage than what the Affordable Care Act decreed all people should have.

The plans, designed for people between jobs or in need of temporary insurance until they secure a regular policy, are cheaper than regular insurance plans. But they also can lack features that the health law requires for other policies, such as coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, maternity care and prescription drugs.

In addition, insurers are allowed to refuse to sell short-term plans to people they think will run up large medical costs, and insurers can cap the maximum amount they will pay.

Both practices are banned for regular policies under the health law. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said under its proposal, short-term health policies could be written for no longer than three months, instead of up to a year as is currently allowed. In addition, consumers would not be able to renew the policies.

The department said it plans to require insurers to clearly tell consumers that the plans do not qualify as coverage under the health law and that they may still face a tax penalty if that is the only insurance they have.

“People buy these policies probably not fully understanding that they’re not getting comprehensive coverage, and then they have to pay the penalty, and if anything serious goes wrong, they have very limited coverage,” said Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who has studied the ACA.

The government said these changes were necessary to ensure that consumers have “meaningful health coverage” and that the short-term plans would not siphon away healthy people from other insurance plans that comply with the ACA. An exodus of healthy people could lead to increasing premiums for the remaining people in plans sold on healthcare.gov and on state marketplaces.

“It’s important for the stability of the risk pool that people be encouraged to buy coverage whether they’re healthy or not healthy,” Jost said.

Simultaneously, the government announced refinements to the methods by which it gauges financial risk of insurance populations.

It plans to begin factoring in people who held plans for part of the year and include prescription drug use. The government said these changes would help insurers better predict the cost of medical care for enrollees and price its policies appropriately.

The department further announced that it planned to take a more active role in getting marketplace customers to sign up for Medicare when they turn 65. People who do not sign up on time for Medicare B, which covers outpatient care and doctors visits, could end up paying higher premiums when they eventually enroll.

They also will likely lose their subsidies for the marketplace plan after they are eligible for Medicare. The government will begin this summer contacting people enrolled in commercial plans to advise them on how to transition to Medicare. polici#sthash.NgdvpzC8.dpuf

HODGEMAN COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities in Hodgeman County have wrapped up a case involving a suspect hunting from the cab of a vehicle.

On December 1 of 2015, a Hodgeman County Game Warden received a call from an observant landowner who had witnessed a vehicle stop and shoot a deer from the cab, according to a social media report from the Kansas Wildlife and Parks and Tourism.

The landowner was able to give a detailed description of the vehicle.

The Game Warden was able to locate the vehicle and catch the individuals responsible.

On Thursday, KDWPT reported the defendant agreed to pay $3872 in restitution and forfeit the rifle seized as evidence in connection with these crimes.

No additional details were released.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The site of an important civil rights sit-in in 1958 in Wichita will be getting a memorial for the first time.

Young black protesters sat at the lunch counter in the Dockum Drug Store in 1958. The Wichita Eagle reports  after three weeks of sit-ins, the drug store agreed to serve the black students at the counter. It is considered one of the first successful lunch counter sit-ins in the nation that eventually helped lead to desegregation.

On Thursday, two participants in the sit-ins, Joan Williams and Galyn Vesey, attended a ceremony where the Kansas Health Foundation presented a $50,000 grant to the Kansas African American Museum and Ambassador Hotel for the memorial project.

Organizers have not determined what form the memorial will take, or what it will include.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka call center plans to add about 200 jobs as part of expansion plans by its owner.

Alorica Inc. announced last week that it would acquire Expert Global Solutions and expand its national and international business. Spokesman Ken Muche says the Topeka call center, which currently employs about 395 people, will have about 600 workers by August.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the company’s current location has enough room for the increased number of employees. Currently, about 3 percent of Alorica’s Topeka employees are part-time. Muche says about 10 percent of the new jobs will be part-time.

The Irvine, California-based company offers a variety of customer service solutions to businesses.