By DAN MARGOLIES

The two Planned Parent organizations in Kansas and Missouri wasted little time challenging Kansas’ termination of their Medicaid funding.

Just a day after the Kansas Department of Health and Environment notified them of its decision to cut off their Medicaid payments,  Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region sued the head of the agency, Susan Mosier.

The 31-page complaint alleges the termination was unlawful and based on spurious grounds, such as undercover videos taken last summer by abortion opponents that purport to prove that Planned Parenthood affiliates around the country sold fetal tissue for profit, a crime. Earlier this year, a Houston grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing and indicted the makers of the videos instead.

Other spurious grounds cited by KDHE, according to the complaint, included the supposed failure of Planned Parenthood’s Overland Park clinic to cooperate with a solid waste disposal inspection last December. In fact, the complaint says, the clinic did cooperate, although it refused to allow inspectors to take photographs out of concern for patients’ and staff’s privacy and safety.

Another reason cited by KDHE, the complaint says, was that Oklahoma and Texas had identified potentially fraudulent Medicaid claims by the Planned Parenthood affiliates in those states. None of those affiliates, however, are related to the plaintiffs, the complaint states.

The Planned Parenthood plaintiffs contend KDHE’s action was “unlawful, unwarranted and (a) politically motivated decision” by KDHE, “at the direction of Gov. Sam Brownback” to end the organizations’ participation in the Kansas Medicaid program.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Topeka, seeks class action status on behalf of all Kansas Medicaid beneficiaries who use, or seek to use, the affiliates’ services. It estimates the size of the potential class at about 450 to 500 patients.

In a statement Wednesday, Laura McQuade, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said the organization “won’t allow extremists like Gov. Brownback to make baseless accusations without consequence.”

“We are going to court on behalf of our patients and the health of all Kansans,” she said. “Let’s call this what it is, an attack on people who already have the least access to care. For our patients, it’s not about politics, it’s about their health care and going to the provider they know and trust. Gov. Brownback has no business telling women and men where they can and cannot go for high quality health care.”

Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for Gov. Brownback, said the governor’s office won’t comment on pending litigation.

Kansas’ decision to end Medicaid funding for the affiliates came just weeks after he director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Vikki Wachino, warned in a letter sent to all 50 state Medicaid agencies that they cannot cut funding to medical providers simply because they also offer abortion services.

“Providing the full range of women’s health services neither disqualifies a provider from participating in the Medicaid program, nor is the provision of such services inconsistent with the best interests of the beneficiary, and shall not be grounds for a state’s action against a provider in the Medicaid program,” she wrote.

Planned Parenthood of St. Louis joined the lawsuit because it operates a health center in Joplin, near the Kansas state line, and serves a small number of Kansas patients.

Also joining the action were three anonymous “Jane Doe” plaintiffs, representing Medicaid enrollees who are at risk of losing the services of the Planned Parenthood affiliates, and 11 former and current employees of the affiliates whom the complaint says were also terminated by KDHE.

Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a man is dead after a shooting outside a Wichita apartment complex.

Wichita police Capt. Brian White said authorities responded to a 911 call at Calvary Towers apartments about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. White said that a man, whose identity has not been released, was found and pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say a male suspect was also at the scene when police arrived.

An investigation is ongoing.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Republican Party’s chairman and other top GOP officials say they’ll support Donald Trump as the party’s nominee for president.

But not all Republicans are ready to back the brash billionaire now that he is the presumed GOP candidate.

State GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold predicted Wednesday that Kansas Republicans who’ve opposed Trump’s bid for the nomination will “come home” during the general election.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the state’s caucuses to claim 24 of its 40 convention delegates. Arnold is one of those delegates but said he will support Trump.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts reiterated promises to support the GOP nominee.

But state Reps. Amanda Grosserode of Lenexa and Brett Hildabrand of Shawnee said they never can support Trump. They supported Cruz.

TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — The biggest automotive recall in U.S. history is about to get much larger.

U.S. safety regulators are expected to announce Wednesday that Japanese air bag maker Takata will recall over 35 million more air bag inflators that can potentially explode with too much force and injure people.

This latest action will more than double the size of the existing recall. Automakers have replaced only 28 percent of the 28.8 million inflators that have been recalled starting over two years ago, so the move raises questions about how quickly car owners can expect to get replacement parts.

Takata and other companies have been unable to make new inflators fast enough. Automakers also face difficulty in contacting owners and getting them to take cars to dealers for repairs.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A fleet of expensive cars and motorcycles seized from a Kansas City-area accountant has sold for more than $1.4 million. See all the vehicle here.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced the results of last week’s auction on Wednesday. The Kansas City Star reports that more than 700 bidders from 30 states participated.

The machines that were sold had belonged to Thomas Hauk, who defrauded more than $4 million from clients. Hauk, of Overland Park, Kansas, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty last December to federal fraud charges linked to his on-the-job theft at a financial services company.

The highest winning bid at the auction was $285,000 for a 2006 Ford GT.  A Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Mosler MT900S and McLaren 12C were also among the vehicle available.

Most of the money raised during the auction at KCI Auto Auction in Kansas City, Missouri, will be returned to the theft victims.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says a Wichita man who voted in Kansas and Colorado during the same election has agreed to pay $5,500 in fines.

The guilty pleas to two misdemeanor counts against Ron R. Weems mark the fourth conviction Kobach has obtained since receiving prosecutorial authority from the Kansas Legislature last year. In exchange for those pleas, Kobach dismissed two felony charges of election perjury.

Weems was convicted of voting without being qualified and unlawful advance voting.

The complaint alleges he voted illegally in Kansas in the 2012 and 2014 general elections, while also voting in Teller County in the same elections.

Kobach says in a news release that the prosecutions demonstrate the commitment to ensuring Kansas has the most secure elections in the country.

RENO COUNTY -A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 1p.m. on Wednesday in Reno County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Ford transit vehicle driven by Jason Scott, 39, Wichita, was southbound on Salem Road three miles west of Nickerson

The vehicle struck ruts in the roadway and rolled on to the passenger side into the east ditch.

Scott was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.

He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

HUTCHINSON– Investigators are working to determine the cause of a Wednesday morning motel fire in Hutchinson.

Fire units responded to the Budget Host motel on West 4th for just after 7:30 a.m., according to a media release.

Crews found heavy fire involvement on the first floor with fire extension to the second story.

They made an aggressive attack on the room involved. Significant fire damage was sustained to in that room.

Preliminary damage is estimated at $75,000, to include the building and contents. No injuries were reported.

The fire was controlled in 10 minutes, while units remained on scene for an hour overhauling and monitoring for hot spots.

SALINE COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 7p.m. on Tuesday in Saline County.

The Saline County Sheriff’s Department reported a 2011 Chevy Equinox driven by Sandra French, 58, Salina, was northbound on Old 81 Highway near the Ottawa County line.

The vehicle drifted left and crashed into a ravine on the west side of the road.

French was able to call for help, according to Saline County Undersheriff Roger Soldan.

French was transported to Salina Regional Health Center and then flown to Wichita for treatment of possible internal injuries and a medical condition that may have contributed to the crash, according to Soldan.

 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) €” More than 116,000 people have signed an online petition urging the inspector general to investigate what it calls voter suppression at a federal government agency entrusted with making voting more accessible.

The progressive advocacy group CREDO Action said it planned to deliver petition signatures Wednesday to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Inspector General Patricia Layfield.

 

Sign the petition: Stop the latest Republican voter suppression scheme https://t.co/fioQn63rrjpic.twitter.com/B7GpASBP2F

— CREDO Mobile (@CREDOMobile) April 26, 2016

 

 

 

The commission referred any comment to Layfield, who did not immediately respond to an email.

At issue is the unilateral action by Executive Director Brian Newby that without public notice required residents of Kansas, Alabama and Georgia to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote when using a federal form.

A coalition of voting rights group has also sued Newby and the EAC in federal court in an effort to overturn the move.

KEARNY COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 6 p.m. on Monday at a farm located one half mile east of Deerfield in Kearney County.

James D. Morphew, 67, rural Kearney County, died on a tractor, when he was pinned by a grain auger, according to a media release from the The Kearny County Sheriff’s Office.

Morphew had been teaching a teenager how to operate the tractor and she was backing it up when the auger began to tip, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Morphew took control, but the auger continued falling toward them. He pushed her from the tractor and was struck by the auger.

An investigators determined the front-end bucket was raised too high, causing the auger to tip.

By DAN MARGOLIES

Just two weeks after the Obama administration warned states that ending Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood may run afoul of federal law, Kansas on Tuesday terminated the Medicaid contract of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Eleven states, including Missouri, have now cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Courts in four states have blocked those moves.

In a written statement, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, Laura McQuade, denounced Kansas’ decision and accused Gov. Sam Brownback of using health care “as a political football.”

“This is an outrageous attempt by Gov. Brownback to punish the women and men who have freely chosen Planned Parenthood for their health care for decades,” she said. “Denying Kansans on Medicaid access to Planned Parenthood services flies in the face of the clear federal guidance that protects the rights of patients to see their provider of choice.”

Kansas’ move comes after anti-abortion activists last summer released highly edited videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood clinics illegally sold fetal tissue for profit. Earlier this year, the Kansas Board of Healing Arts said it was not taking any action against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri after failing to find evidence of wrongdoing. Similar investigations in other states, including Missouri, have also cleared Planned Parenthood clinics.

In January, a Houston grand jury convened to investigate Planned Parenthood instead indicted two of the anti-abortion activists involved in the making of the videos.

“Governor Brownback’s own administration, including the Board of Healing Arts and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment vindicated Planned Parenthood of the egregious allegations made against it in 2015,” McQuade said in her statement. “Brownback is using health care as a political football, and it’s Kansans who will pay the price if he’s not stopped. This is not over. Our doors are open today, they’ll be open tomorrow, and we’ll fight this with everything we’ve got.”

In his State of the State address in January, Brownback accused Planned Parenthood of trafficking in “baby body parts” and vowed to de-fund Planned Parenthood. He stood by his remarks after the Texas grand jury found no wrongdoing by the organization and indicted the video makers instead.

Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for Brownback, could not immediately be reached for comment on the decision to cut off Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood.

Kansas’ move comes less than two weeks after the Missouri legislature blocked Medicaid funding for clinics offering elective abortions. Although Medicaid funds are already forbidden to be used for abortions, Planned Parenthood accepts Medicaid payments for preventive screenings, family planning, vaccinations and other health services.

Missouri lawmakers replaced the Medicaid funds with state general revenues, stipulating the money could not be directed to organizations like Planned Parenthood that provide abortions.

Just days before that, the director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Vikki Wachino, warned in a letter sent to all 50 state Medicaid agencies that they cannot cut funding to medical providers simply because they also offer abortion services.

“Providing the full range of women’s health services neither disqualifies a provider from participating in the Medicaid program, nor is the provision of such services inconsistent with the best interests of the beneficiary, and shall not be grounds for a state’s action against a provider in the Medicaid program,” she wrote.

Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.