FAYETTE, Iowa – The Fort Hays State wrestling team jumped up two spots in the fourth set of regular season DII Wrestling Coaches Association Team Rankings, released Monday (Feb. 4) by the organization. The Tigers are one of three teams at No. 10, tied with Minnesota State and UNC-Pembroke. The Tigers are also one of five MIAA teams in the national team rankings as Nebraska-Kearney stayed put at No. 2. Lindenwood dipped to No. 9, while Central Oklahoma and Newman currently sit at No. 18.
In the individual rankings, junior Brandon Ball took over the top spot at 141 pounds. He sits at 17-0 on the year with individual titles at the Bethany Swede Open and the Bob Smith Open. Ball has compiled 11 wins against Division II competition on the season as well as three falls and three major decisions.
Also in the rankings is Efe Osaghae, who held steady as the fourth-ranked wrestler in the 157-pound weight class. The sophomore continues to put together a solid year thus far with a 21-2 overall record and is currently 14-2 against Division II opponents. Osaghae paces the team in technical falls with six.
The Tigers are back in action Sunday (Feb. 10) as they travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on No. 2 ranked Nebraska-Kearney inside the Health and Wellness Center. The dual is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
The Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History proudly presents “Megalodon: The Largest Shark that Ever Lived!”
Fifteen million years ago, this gigantic predator could be found around the world, swimming along the ocean’s coastal shores. Now you can meet this ferocious beast and learn how Megalodon became the top predator of its time.
Make the trip today out to Sternberg Museum, 3000 Sternberg Drive, Hays.
The Sternberg Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A Hays woman pled not guilty to multiple sex and drug crimes Monday at arraignment in Ellis County District Court.
Skylar Madison Henson is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. According to the criminal complaint, Henson is alleged to have had sexual relations with a 14-year-old on three separate occasions in late 2018.
Henson is also charged with two counts of distribution of marijuana. Court documents alleged Henson provided the 14-year-old with marijuana on two occasions.
She pled not guilty to all five charges Monday.
After pleading not guilty Monday, Henson will be back in court in March. Henson’s attorney Olavee Raub and Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees said during Monday’s proceedings that they have reached a plea agreement in the matter. Sentencing will be at a later date.
Baker Hughes reports a big drop in the active drilling rig count for this week. Nationwide, the total is 1,045 active rigs, that’s up one rig drilling for natural gas, but down 15 oil rigs. Oklahoma and Alaska were each down four rigs. Texas was down three. Independent Oil & Gas Service reported just two active drilling rigs in eastern Kansas last week, down one from the week before. The count west of Wichita was 29 active rigs, down two.
Regulators approved ten permits last week for drilling at new locations across Kansas, one east of Wichita, and nine in Western Kansas, including one new permit in Russell County.
Independent Oil & Gas Service last week reported 26 newly completed wells in the Sunflower State, including one development well in Ellis County. There were nine wells completed in the western half of the state, of which four were dry holes.
Operators filed just 72 new intent-to-drill notices across Kansas in January. There are four new intents on file in Barton County, one in Ellis county, two in Russell County and three in Stafford County.
Kansas operators produced more 2.8 million barrels of crude oil in October of last year, according to the latest totals from the Kansas Geological Survey. That brings the total for the first ten months of 2017 to 29.1 million barrels. The state is on track for smallest annual production total since 2006. Barton County pumped 140-thousand barrels in October, Ellis County added 209-thousand. In Russell County, operators produced 129-thousand barrels, and Stafford County kicked in nearly 86-thousand.
Crude futures prices were three percent lower in morning trading Monday. The Nymex benchmark contract was down $1.53 at $53.73/bbl. London Brent was down $1.09 to $61.66.
Triple-A reported a slight uptick in the average price across America for a gallon of regular gasoline to $2.26. That’s still about a cent and a half lower than last week, a penny less than last month, and nearly 30 cents less than last year at this time. The average across Kansas is$1.963. Prices are below $1.90 a gallon at several locations in Hays and Great Bend. Your 15-gallon fill up will cost you about two dollars less than last month, and 11 dollars cheaper than six months ago.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported another increase in domestic crude-oil stockpiles last week, 445.9 million barrels, down 900-thousand barrels. That’s still about seven percent above the five-year average.
U.S. crude production has declined slightly from the all-time high reported in mid-January, but at 11.89 million barrels per day we’re still producing more oil than anyone on the planet. That’s down two thousand barrels from last week, but 1.97 million barrels per day more than last year.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.1 million barrels per day last week, down by 1.1 million barrels per day from the previous week. Current import totals are about 4.5% less than the same four-week period last year.
The Supreme Court of Colorado reaffirmed its ruling that oil and gas regulators there are not required to make health and environmental protection their top priority. The original lawsuit argued that state law requires the oil and gas commission to ensure energy development does not harm people’s health or the environment. The commission refused, saying the law required it to balance health and environmental concerns with other factors including economic ones. The Supreme Court agreed with the commission.
The shortage of pipeline capacity in some areas of the U.S. and Canada continues to send business to the railroad industry. According to the Association of American Railroads, U.S. oil-by-rail shipments increased 18.4% to more than 13-thousand rail tanker cars for the week ending January 26. Canada oil-by-rail was up 21%.
The government said gasoline demand has jumped to levels more typically seen in the summer driving season. Demand reached 9.6 million barrels per day last week, up 700-thousand barrels from the week before, and half a million barrels per day more than the estimates from a year ago. Inventories were down 2.2 million barrels on the week, but EIA said that’s still about five percent above the five-year seasonal average.
Nadine Leann Stapleton, age 77, died Saturday, February 2, 2019, at her home in Victoria, Kansas.
She was born November 16, 1941 in Newton, Kansas to Paul and Gertrude (Troyer) Roupp. She married Arden Stapleton on January 27, 1964 in Caldwell, Kansas.
She was a district clerk for the Chase-Raymond School District from 1993 to 2008. She lived in Lyons until moving to Victoria.
Survivors include her husband, Arden Stapleton; one son, Tim Christenson; two daughters, Teresa Cass and husband, Chuck; Leann Olson and husband, Wade; twelve grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; one daughter, Julia Stapleton; one brother, Stanley Ruopp; and one sister, Carol Jean Weber.
A private inurnment will be at the Lyons Municipal Cemetery, Lyons, Kansas.
Services are entrusted to Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of Hays, 1919, East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.
Condolences can be left by guestbook at www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com or can be send via e-mail to [email protected]
Mary G. (Juenemann) Braden, age 67, of Hays, passed away Sunday, February 3, 2019 at the Good Samaritan Society, Hays.
Funeral services will be 10:30 AM Saturday, February 9, 2019 at St. Nicholas of Myra Catholic Church in Hays. Private family inurnment will be at a later date.
Memorial visitation will be Friday 5 PM – 8 PM with a combined parish vigil service and rosary at 7 PM. All at Brock’s-Keithley Funeral Chapel and Crematory 2509 Vine Hays, KS 67601.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Fifty-five Kansas lawmakers are co-sponsoring a bill that would ban discrimination in the private sector based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill introduced Monday would protect LGBTQ residents in employment, housing and services.
This morning, @SusanRuiz_KS23 and I, along with 36 co-sponsors, introduced HB2130, which adds gender identity and sexual orientation to the Kansas Act Against Discrimination. Kansas is no place for discrimination. #ksleg#YesWeKansaspic.twitter.com/pVu2HwfdLD
38 representatives and 17 senators are co-sponsoring the bill.
Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Democrat from Shawnee who is one of the state’s two openly gay legislators, said the legislation would help attract outside businesses to Kansas.
The bill would amend the Kansas Act Against Discrimination to add sexual orientation and gender identity to a list that includes race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin and ancestry.
Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, said the law already exempts religious institutions, and concerns by people who support those institutions are unfounded.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE? – BE AN INSTRUCTOR AT HRC
Have a talent you would like to share with others and get paid for? The Hays Recreation Commission is looking for people to teach classes for Adults or youth in anything!!
If you are interested or would like more information please contact Program Director Haley Nixon at 785-623-2650 or e-mail her at [email protected]. Please contact her as soon as possible but no later than February 20th!
CLAY COUNTY – The Clay County Sheriff’s Department requested the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) issue a statewide Silver Alert for a missing 66-year-old Nebraska man. Mr. Kubes was last seen Sunday morning in Clay Center, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Mr. Kubes -Photo courtesy Clay Co. Sheriff
He was last seen wearing dark long sleeve shirt with a dark green windbreaker, blue jeans. a red/white ball cap, red in the front with mesh in the back and wearing glasses and large mustache. He is 5-foot-10, and weighs 175 pounds. He has white hair and a white mustache.
He was heading to his home in Auburn, Nebraska from Clay Center.
Mr. Kubes travels from Clay Center north on K-15 to Highway 36 then East bound on 77 then North to Beatrice Nebraska and then east on 136 to Auburn. His family states that he doesn’t travel outside this normal route.
He is driving a 2010 Ford Super Ranger pickup, silver in color. The back window has an “N” Nebraska sticker and a pass thru window. The front has a black bug guard. There is also a cooler and red two wheel appliance cart in the back.
The tag that is on the vehicle is Nebraska KUMFISH.
Kubes was in pain when he left Clay Center and was headed to the hospital in Auburn. He does have a phone but is not answering it.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Law Enforcement Center of Clay Center Kansas at 785-632-5601 opt #5.
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors are researching an appeal after a Kansas judge called two teenage girls the “aggressor” in a sexual encounter with a 67-year-old man and eased his prison sentence.
Soden -photo Leavenworth Co.
Leavenworth County District Judge Michael Gibbens sentenced Raymond Soden in December to five years, 10 months in prison. Prosecutors sought more than 13 years behind bars because Soden had prior convictions.
Gibbens said at the sentencing that the girls were “more an aggressor than a participant,” citing as a reason that the girls had voluntarily gone to Soden’s house and taken money for sexual favors.
Harleigh Harrold with the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault tells the newspaper children don’t have the ability to understand the consequences of such an act.
Michelle Herman, president and CEO of the child advocacy center Sunflower House, says “sexual assault is never the victim’s fault.”
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LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors are researching an appeal after a Kansas judge found that a 13- and 14-year-old girl were partly to blame for a sexual encounter with a 67-year-old man and reduced his prison sentence.
Leavenworth County District Judge Michael Gibbens said that “the victims in this case, in particular, were more an aggressor than a participant in the criminal conduct” before sentencing Raymond Soden to five years and 10 months in prison. Prosecutors sought 13-plus years because Soden had prior convictions for battery and for sexual battery
In ordering a lighter prison term than what sentencing guidelines called for, the judge noted at the Dec. 4 hearing that the two girls had voluntarily gone to Soden’s house and had taken money for sexual favors.
No. 6 Tiger Women avoid upset-minded UNK in overtime Saturday
Fort Hays State was down by 20 midway through the third quarter in Kearney and things looked bleak for the Tiger women and Tony Hobson. The Tigers shot 20.5% from the field in the first half and 1-13 from three before Kacey Kennett knocked down three three-pointers in the third to spark the comeback for Fort Hays State. From that mark until around six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Fort Hays State went on a 25-4 run to take their first lead 50-49. Tatyana Legette came alive in the overtime period, scoring 11 of her career-high 25 points in the extra period carrying the Tiger women to a 74-64 victory. The 20-point comeback was the biggest comeback of Tony Hobson’s career at Fort Hays State as the Tiger women remain at the top of the MIAA conference.
The Tiger men fell to Nebraska-Kearney 59-56. Aaron Nicholson lead the Tigers with 15 points.
Both teams will be on the road this week to take on Pittsburg State on Thursday and Missouri Southern on Saturday. You can listen to the games on Tiger Radio 103.3 FM, the KJLS app, or online here.
Hays High girls go 2-0 in back-to-back
The Hays High girls got two WAC wins Friday and Saturday with wins over Dodge City and Garden City at home. Hays High took a 10-point lead in the third quarter against Garden City but went 10 minutes without a field goal until Mattie Hutchison tied the game with a three 38-38 with 12 seconds left. After a Garden City turnover, Brooke Denning buried an NBA three at the buzzer to give Hays the 41-38 win.
The Hays High boys split the back-to-back with a 75-63 win over Dodge City Friday and a 50-39 loss to Garden City Saturday. Hays falls to 7-7 on the year and 2-2 in the WAC. You can listen to the interviews and highlights of Saturday’s games here.
TMP girls move to first place in MCL; both teams sweep Norton Friday
The TMP girls took down a good Norton team on Friday last week, moving them to first place in the conference. Emily Schippers scored 11 straight points for the Monarchs in the second half to give them a 25-20 lead with 6:50 left to go in the game. TMP would never give up the lead and won 37-34. With the win the Monarchs take over sole of first place in the MCL at 6-0. They also improved to 11-4 overall.
The TMP boys made nine first-half threes and had four players in double-figures as they ended a three-game losing streak with a 55-42 victory over Norton. TMP improved to 9-7 on the season and 4-2 in the MCL. You can listen to the interviews and highlights of Friday’s games here.
OVERTIME
Trego’s Lili Shubert surpassed 500 points last Thursday in a 45-43 win over Phillipsburg. Only a sophomore, Shubert has 508 points in her career.
The Central Plains girls basketball team reached 100 straight wins last week. The state record is 107 straight victories set by Hoxie from 2012-2016.
Have highlights you want to share for next week’s Hoops Highlights? Email them to C.D. DeSalvo. Photos are encouraged!
Girl Scout Troop 11268 Hays practices for booth sales. Pictured are Allison Werth, Adalynn Wilkie, Alexis Bickle, Brooklynn Dinkel, Kayden Eaton, Anna Kuhn and Lynsi Kanak-McGrath.
Girls Scouts from the area converged Friday on Celebration Community Church for their annual Cookie Kickoff.
Cookies go on sale Saturday, Feb. 9 and the sale will run through March 17. Cost of cookies are $4 per box.
The event included girls from Service Unit 74, which includes Ellis, Trego, Ness, Russell and Gove counties. More than 90 girls pre-registered for the event.
The girls sampled Girl Scout cookies, decorated their own cookies, practiced their selling skills, made crafts, snapped pictures at photo booths and played games.
This year’s mascot for the cookie sale is Sparkles the Narwhal. For those of you who don’t know what a narwhal is, it is an Arctic whale with a large horn. The narwhal and its horn have been cited by many as the creature from which the unicorn legend sprung.
Junior Scouts Delilah Meyeres and Lisa Dible, 10 of Troop 10095, color narwhal horns at the Cookie Kickoff Friday.
In honor of the cookie mascot, girls at the kickoff colored and wore their own narwhal horns.
Junior Scouts Jordan Flavin and Arianna Ayarza, both 10 of Troop 10095, said they hope to use the money they raised from their cookie sales to go to camp this summer.
The girls earn Cookie Credits through cookie sales they can use for Scout activities.
Girl Scout Troop 11268 said they had already been to several camps this year, including the first part of three-part campout in Ellis, a Halloween camp and Cookie Camp in Scott City. The Juniors hope to raise enough money through cookie sales to go on a trip together this summer.
GSUSA
Cookie sale dates
The Cookie Sale runs Feb. 9 – March 17
Cookie Booth sales will be throughout the entire sale.
How to find cookies
Looking for a local Girl Scout to buy cookies from? Just enter your zip code at kansasgirlscouts.org or call our Cookie Hotline at 888-686-MINT (6468). You can also download the free, official Girl Scout Cookie Finder mobile app for iPhone, Android and other mobile devices. (Yep, there’s an app for that!)
S’mores cookie is returning in the 2019 cookie lineup
This year, Girl Scouts is celebrating a tasty new way to support young female entrepreneurs with a recently debuted Girl Scout Cookie added to the 2019 Cookie Lineup: Caramel Chocolate Chip, which joins classics like the Thin Mints, Caramel deLites and Shortbread varieties. Caramel Chocolate Chip features rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy gluten-free cookie. The new cookie is offered in select Girl Scout council markets only for as long as supplies last. We still have eight other cookie favorites to choose from: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbreads, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and Thanks-A-Lots.
A second century of Girl Scout cookies
In 2019, we celebrate the 102nd anniversary of the first-known instance of Girl Scouts selling cookies and learning the basic skills they needed to be leaders in business, managing their own finances and gaining self-sufficiency and confidence handling money.
So how did it all begin? It started in 1917 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, when the Mistletoe Girl Scout troop there did what Girl Scouts everywhere do: They had a great idea, got together, and took action to make it a reality. They decided to fund their projects by selling homemade cookies, and the idea spread!
The 5 skills
Daisy Scouts Georgia Olson and Harper Leiker, both 5 of Hays, decorate their narwhal horns Friday.
When girls participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest girl-led business in the world, they get more than new adventures. They develop important life skills—goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics—that will set them up for success!
For 102 years, Girl Scouts have used cookie earnings to build leaders who make a positive impact on our world. Girl Scout Cookies not only help girls earn money for fun, educational activities and community service projects, they also help transform girls into G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers and Leaders) as they learn essential life skills. There’s no doubt: American society is better because of the girls who have taken part in the Cookie Program.
Price of cookies
Each package of Girl Scout Cookies costs $4. Yes, there are Girl Scout Cookie lookalikes out there, but it’s important to keep in mind that when you buy a box of cookies from a Girl Scout in our council, all of the money stays in Kansas and supports local programs for local girls. Along with earning money for their troop, girls are also earning Cookie Credits they can spend on exciting Girl Scout programs and activities, camps, troop trips, travel, signing up for another year of Girl Scouts, and even on merchandise in our Girl Scout Shops.
How the cookie revenue benefits girls
Brownie Scout Giannna, 8 and Daisy Scout Aria, 6, Haselhorst of Hays are handed cookie samples by volunteer Becca Wilkie as their mother Dacia looks on.
After paying the baker, all of the money earned from cookie sales stays within Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland and in Kansas. Since the Cookie Sale is the girls’ primary fundraiser, the proceeds are helping girls and their troops pay for things like their first camp experience, a special trip or event, and even community service projects — girls invest their own Cookie Sale proceeds right back into the community. Cookie revenue also supports our council’s programs and services (girl programs, volunteer training, financial assistance for girls, facility operations, and program resources).
Digital cookie
Digital Cookie sales allow Girl Scouts to reach customers with their own personalized webpage on a secure system emphasizing girl safety. Girl Scouts and their families are instructed to share the link to their sale page with a close network of friends and family, rather than the general public, for safety reasons. This is a great option for family and friends who do not live nearby.
Digital Cookie does not replace the traditional Girl Scout Cookie Program – it enhances it. It is another way for Girl Scouts to sell cookies, alongside the traditional sales techniques like door-to-door sales and booth sales. Digital Cookie simply adds another learning component to the Girl Scout Cookie Program that will be relevant in today’s world. They can go to abcsmartcookies.com to access the page and send eCards to family and friends, with a secure link. Customers pay online with a credit card, and cookies are shipped directly to their home or place of business. Online customers can choose any quantity of cookies for direct shipment this year, plus the cost of shipping.
Cookie Share Program: Supporting members of the military and local charities
Sparkles the Narwhal
For customers who’ve already purchased enough cookies for themselves or cannot eat cookies, the Cookie Share Program is a great option. Cookie Sale customers can simply buy a package of cookies and opt to donate it or “share” it with servicemen and women, including those serving overseas; their families; and local charities like the Kansas Food Bank and Catholic Charities. The cost is the same as a package of cookies – just $4. Local businesses can also participate in the Cookie Share matching program, and match the number of Cookie Shares purchased by kind Kansans.
Since the Cookie Share Program started in 2010, Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland has distributed more than 158,772 packages of cookies, including 19,000 “Cookie Shares” in 2018. To share cookies with a local charity or send a sweet reminder of home to our servicemen and women, just ask your local Girl Scout about the Cookie Share Program or call (888) 686-MINT.
Depending on whom you talk to, either definition might apply to the way the Kansas Farm Bureau is proposing to rescue farmers and ranchers priced out of the health insurance marketplace set up under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Farmer Tim Franklin, holding his son during a Senate committee hearing, told lawmakers he needs a more affordable health coverage option for his family. JIM MCLEAN / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
It’s either a bold and daring move. Or, it’s presumptuous, bordering on brazen.
The powerful ag lobbying organization is petitioning lawmakers for what amounts to carte blanche authority to develop and market health coverage free of state and federal oversight.
Opponents are warning of dire consequences for consumers if lawmakers okay the proposal.
But Terry Holdren, CEO of the Kansas Farm Bureau, said the failure of traditional insurers and government to address the plight of farm and ranch families left the organization with little choice but to step forward with a potential solution.
“Had current providers in the marketplace taken the initiative to… develop more affordable solutions, we wouldn’t be here today,” Holdren said Wednesday in testimony to the Kansas Senate committee considering the Farm Bureau’s bill.
Most farmers and ranchers make too much to qualify for federal subsidies that help low-income people purchase individual coverage in the ACA marketplace, Holdren said. Still, many can’t afford the rapidly rising cost of non-group coverage.
In his testimony, Holdren cited a national survey in which 65 percent of farmers identified the cost of health insurance as the “most significant threat” to their livelihood.
It’s a big worry for Tim Franklin, who grows corn and wheat on a fourth-generation family farm near Goodland. Testifying in favor of the Farm Bureau bill, Franklin told lawmakers that he’s paying nearly $24,000 in premiums this year to cover his family. Out-of-pocket expenses could amount to another $10,000.
“To say that providing workable and affordable health coverage for our family is challenging is a bit of an understatement,” Franklin said.
Insurance that isn’t
The bill under consideration would allow the Farm Bureau, which already sells property and casualty insurance, to market health coverage that isn’t technically insurance.
That technical distinction would exempt the organization from federal rules that, among other things, require insurers to offer coverage to anyone regardless of the health status.
“This legislation… would give us the ability to say ‘no’ to folks if they don’t meet our underwriting standards,” Holdren said when briefing members of the Legislature’s Rural Caucus.
In addition to rejecting people with costly, life-threatening conditions such as heart disease and cancer, Farm Bureau could deny coverage to those with chronic ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure.
The ability to screen policyholders — a standard insurance company practice prior to enactment of the ACA — would help keep the cost of Farm Bureau plans relatively low, Holdren said.
“We believe that we can offer products to our members that are 30 percent or lower than the cost of Affordable Care Act products,” he said.
The ACA requires insurers to cover “10 essential benefits.” In addition to hospitalization and preventive office visits, they include maternity care, emergency services and prescription drugs.
Exactly what the Farm Bureau plans would cover hasn’t been decided, Holdren said. But, he told lawmakers, it was safe to assume they would include many but not all of the ACA-mandated benefits.
Playing by different rules
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest insurer, is urging lawmakers to reject Farm Bureau’s proposal.
“We think the whole concept is unfair,” BCBS lobbyist Brad Smoot told the Senate insurance committee.
Unfair to both consumers and other insurers because it would allow the Farm Bureau to set prices based on its ability to reject potentially costly applicants.
“Nobody else can do that,” he said.
Likewise, Smoot said, the Kansas insurance commissioner would have no authority to review the Farm Bureau’s rates or resolve consumer complaints.
“I just wonder who they’re going to call,” he said. “If they can’t call the insurance department, they may have to call you (lawmakers).”
Rising health care costs are pushing up the cost of coverage, Smoot said. Allowing a single player in the marketplace to suspend the rules and return to practices that exclude those who most need coverage won’t solve that problem, he said.
Medica, a nonprofit Minnesota-based insurance company that competes with BCBS in Kansas’ ACA marketplace, is also fighting Farm Bureau’s entry into the market.
Noah Tabor, a lobbyist for the company, said allowing the ag organization to “siphon” healthy people out of the insurance pool would force costs up for everyone else and leave people with preexisting conditions fewer affordable options.
“What about the farmer with cancer?” Tabor asked members of the committee. “Who is going to stand for him or her?
“We encourage the committee to look at options… that include all Kansans,” he said.
Those options include several bills under consideration that would make it easier to establish and participate in association health plans, which Tabor said would be subject to state and federal rules.
Medica is working with the Nebraska Farm Bureau to gain legislative approval for such a plan, he said. The Iowa Farm Bureau is also seeking legislative approval to market plans exempt from state and federal rules.
The Tennessee Farm Bureau has sold coverage since the mid-1990s similar to what its Kansas counterpart is proposing. It provides similar levels of coverage to traditional health plans at lower costs because it can exclude applicants with preexisting conditions.
