(AP) -Blue Cross-Blue Shield health insurer Anthem is suing pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts over prescription drug prices.
Express Scripts runs prescription drug coverage for Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurer. Anthem said Monday that it wants to recover damages for prescription drug prices that are higher than competitive benchmarks.
Express Scripts Holding Co. says Anthem’s lawsuit has no merit and that it has acted according to the terms of its deal with the insurer.
Anthem Inc. says its federal lawsuit doesn’t change the way customers get prescriptions filled.
Pharmacy benefit managers run prescription drug plans for employers, government agencies and insurers, among other clients. They use their large purchasing power to negotiate on price.
Shares of both companies slumped in midday trading while broader indexes edged up.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Nurse midwives wouldn’t need a doctor’s oversight for routine deliveries under a bill that passed the Kansas House.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the bill advanced Monday on a voice vote. Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, says the nurse midwives would be allowed to prescribe medicines, order diagnostic tests and perform birth procedures such as episiotomies.
The Board of Healing Arts would directly regulate them.
The bill would open the door to independent practice by about 85 certified nurse midwives statewide. The majority already work in centers where they have collaborative agreements with doctors.
Republican Rep. Barbara Bollier says she usually supports doctor oversight over the practice of medicine. But the retired physician from Mission Hills says it’s not needed in the case of routine births.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have voted to overhaul the juvenile justice system by allowing more low-risk offenders to stay at home while participating in community-based programs like anger management.
Juvenile offenders can currently be placed in juvenile detention centers or group homes for any level offense. Kansas has the sixth-highest rate of juvenile offenders placed in detention centers or group homes nationwide.
The measure passed 117-6 in a final-approval House vote Monday, after it passed 38-2 in the Senate last month. Senators will review the changes before it is sent to the governor.
The House version of the bill includes a provision to reserve up to 50 beds in group homes for juvenile offenders. The previous measure approved by the Senate says all group homes will close by July 2018.
MANHATTAN – A Manhattan man was sentenced on Monday for his role in car accident in May of 2014 that took the life of an unborn child.
Ryan Routson, 33, Manhattan, appeared in Riley County court.
He was found guilty on charges of felony aggravated battery, vehicular homicide and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with the crash.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Jeep Liberty driven by Routson was southbound on Tuttle Creek Terrace, failed to stop at a stop sign and hit a 2003 Volkswagen Golf driven by Megan L. Hartford, 32, Manhattan, that was traveling westbound on U.S. 24.
The impact caused the Jeep to roll onto its side in traffic.
Routson and Hartford were transported to the hospital in Manhattan.
During testimony, Hartford explained that she was admitted to the labor and delivery wing of the hospital and notified that evening that her 22-week-old unborn child had died.
Judge Stutzman sentenced Routson to 12-months in the Riley County Jail for the charge of vehicular homicide and 6 months in Riley County Jail for the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. The two sentences will run concurrently (at the same time) as the charge for vehicular homicide. He will also serve 14 months of probation with the Secretary of Corrections for the charge of aggravated battery.
Photo by KHI News Service House Bill 2615 contain incentives aimed at convincing more doctors, dentists and mental health providers to deliver free care to medically indigent Kansans. Participating providers would be given protection from malpractice claims for the charitable care they provide and would earn a limited number of continuing education credits.
By JIM MCLEAN
Kansas lawmakers are close to finishing their work on a bill they hope will motivate doctors and dentists to provide more charity care.
Though the measure enjoys bipartisan support, its most ardent supporters are Republican legislators who are opposed to Medicaid expansion and need something that shows voters they’re willing to help poor Kansans gain access to health care.
“You can’t say ‘no’ to everything,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. “If you’re going to say ‘no’ (to Medicaid expansion), then you have to try and find other solutions that can help. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Different versions of the measure — House Bill 2615 — have passed the House and Senate. Next week, the House will have the option of adopting the Senate’s version or requesting the appointment of a conference committee to work out any remaining differences.
Both versions of the bill contain incentives aimed at convincing more doctors, dentists and mental health providers to deliver free care to medically indigent Kansans. Participating providers would be given protection from malpractice claims for the charitable care they provide and would earn a limited number of continuing education credits.
Following Florida’s model
Based on a recent study of Florida’s Volunteer Health Services Program, which served as a model for the Kansas bill, Hawkins believes the incentives will substantially increase the amount of free care delivered across the state.
“Based on the data we received from Florida and the demographics of Kansas, we believe that this system has the potential of generating more than $18 million in free care for the neediest Kansans,” Hawkins wrote in a column distributed earlier this month to Kansas newspapers.
The study Hawkins cited was published in October 2015 by the Foundation for Government Accountability, an organization that SourceWatch describes as a “right-wing advocacy organization” active in statehouses across the country.
Lobbyists for several organizations that represent Kansas doctors and other providers don’t share Hawkins’ optimism. While they don’t oppose the bill, several said privately that they don’t believe it will produce the hoped-for results.
Rep. Barbara Bollier, a Mission Hills Republican and retired anesthesiologist, is among the skeptics.
“I’m not opposed to it,” she said. “But it just doesn’t add up.”
More importantly, Bollier said, the bill is a poor substitute for expanding KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
“It isn’t comparable,” she said. “Most regular people get that, and certainly the physicians do.”
The bill requires the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to provide legislators with annual reports detailing the types of providers who sign participation agreements and the number who actually deliver free care.
Politically possible?
A closer look at the Foundation for Government Accountability study shows that the Florida program isn’t coming close to meeting the health care needs of that state’s uninsured residents.
In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, the study said providers offered the equivalent of 28,752 visits for every 100,000 qualifying residents. That means that more than 70,000 of every 100,000 people eligible for free care weren’t able to see a doctor.
Still, the 2014 numbers were an improvement over 2012, when providers offered only 18,111 visits for every 100,000 people who qualified for services.
The report also said that no doctors signed up to provide free care in the five poorest counties in Florida.
Even if the Kansas program meets his expectations, Hawkins acknowledges many needy Kansans still won’t have access to care. But he said with KanCare expansion off the table because of opposition from Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders, he wanted to focus on something that was politically possible.
“There are some people out there on social media and stuff that have criticized me for this,” he said. “All I can say is, ‘Do you want me to stand and do nothing? Why would you criticize if there is a possibility of helping?’”
Only uninsured Kansans classified as medically indigent would be eligible for free care under the program. That means Kansans with annual earnings under 200 percent of the federal poverty level: $23,760 for an individual and $48,600 for a family of four.
A Medicaid expansion bill backed by the Kansas Hospital Association would expand coverage to Kansans earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,242 for an individual and $33,465 for a family of four.
The expansion bill, which KHA calls the Bridge to a Healthy Kansas, has not been scheduled for hearings in the House or Senate.
Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.
WASHINGTON – A civil complaint was filed today, Monday, March 21, in the U.S. District Court for Kansas against Native American Enterprises LLC, of Wichita, Kansas; its Vice President and part-owner, William N. McGreevy and is production manager, Robert C. Conner, to stop the distribution of adulterated food, the Department of Justice announced today.
Native American Enterprises LLC (NAE), manufactures and distributes food, namely ready-to-eat (RTE) refried beans and sauces. The complaint alleges that the company’s RTE refried beans and sauces are adulterated in that they have been prepared, packed and/or held under insanitary conditions whereby the food may have become contaminated with filth or have been rendered injurious to health. According to the complaint, the insanitary conditions include the presence of Listeria Monocytogene (L. mono) in NAE’s facility and insanitary employee practices. The department filed the complaint at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Insanitary conditions at food processing facilities can present significant risks to consumers and food manufacturers must take steps to minimize those risks,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to work aggressively with the FDA to combat and deter conduct that leads to the distribution of adulterated food to consumers.”
According to the complaint, FDA inspected NAE’s facility, located at 230 N. West Street in Wichita, in August 2015 and collected environmental samples and observed numerous insanitary practices, including the defendants’ failure to manufacture and package food under conditions necessary to minimize microorganism growth, take necessary precautions to protect against contamination and maintain buildings in good repair. Specifically, according to the complaint, FDA observed rain water leaking through the roof in the packaging room, directly above where NAE employees packaged RTE refried beans. In addition, FDA observed cracks and holes in the walls and floor junctures that allow water and debris to collect, prohibit adequate cleaning and could harbor Listeria, according to the complaint.
FDA inspected NAE’s facility twice in 2014. As alleged in the complaint, FDA collected environmental samples during RTE refried bean production during each of the 2014 inspections and found Listeria in the facility. In addition, as alleged in the complaint, FDA also observed a failure to maintain equipment in an acceptable condition through appropriate cleaning and sanitizing.
As alleged in the complaint, L. mono thrives in moist environments, such as food-manufacturing environments. Unless proper precautions are taken, L. mono may become established and grow, and it is difficult to eliminate once it becomes established in a food-manufacturing environment. It is capable of surviving and growing at refrigerated temperatures and in high-salt environments. The complaint alleges that L. mono is a significant public health risk in RTE refried beans and sauces.
The government is represented by Trial Attorney Heide L. Herrmann of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Metzger of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, with the assistance of Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement Sonia W. Nath of the Food and Drug Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services.
A complaint is merely a set of allegations that, if the case were to proceed to trial, the government would need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
SALINA – Law enforcement authorities in Saline are investigating a suspect for burglary.
Police officers were sent to Taco John’s, 303 S. Santa Fe, in Salina just before 4:30a.m. after a manager arriving to open the business heard a banging noise inside.
Officers observed someone walking around inside and sent a K-9 into the building but the dog did not locate anyone.
Police then entered the building to do a search, and while inside the suspect, Nicholas Briggs, 32, fell through the suspended ceiling.
Brigg told police said there was a second, armed suspect in the building.
The SWAT team was called, did a sweep of the building and found no one else inside.
Briggs was transported to the hospital. He will face requested charges of aggravated burglary, attempted theft, and criminal damage to property.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A lawyer hired by the Kansas Legislature is questioning its staff as he attempts to compile evidence for an ongoing lawsuit over school funding.
Attorney Toby Crouse interviewed legislative researchers and bill-drafting attorneys during an unusual meeting Monday of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
The committee’s members were present, and the meeting was open to the public. A court reporter was compiling a transcript of the meeting.
The Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts have pursued a lawsuit against the state over education funding since 2010.
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last month that the state is shorting poor school districts on their aid and ordered lawmaker to fix the problems by June 30.
Legislative leaders hired Crouse to help them compile evidence to present to the high court in future proceedings.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The seven justices of the Kansas Supreme Court are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the lawsuit is connected to the 2013 decision to indefinitely suspend Kline’s law license over an investigation he led into abortion clinics.
Kline’s attorneys argue that the court lacked the four justices necessary to make the decision. That’s because five of the court’s seven justices recused themselves, partially at Kline’s request. The case then was heard by two Supreme Court justices and five other Kansas judges from lower courts.
At issue is whether the temporary justices’ votes should count. Kline’s attorneys say they shouldn’t; the defendants say they should. The justices are calling Kline’s arguments “puzzling.”
WICHITA. – Officials with the National Hot Rod Association are investigating a fatal accident at a Kansas racetrack.
The Kansas International raceway reported that Jason Lumpkin, 34, of Fort Worth, TX., died Sunday after a racing accident, according to information the track received from Via Christi St. Francis Hospital.
Sharon Hurley of Via Christi said Lumpkin was in critical condition when he arrived and died less than an hour later.
Witness Logan Majors of Wichita said the crash happened when a car went out of control and hit a wall after crossing the finish line.
The crash happened early Sunday afternoon at the dragway in the 7900 Block of West 61st Street North in Wichita.
The staff of Kansas International Dragway extended their deepest sympathies and their prayers to Lumpkin’s family and friends, according to a social media report.
RILEY COUNTY – Sunday was a busy day for fire crews after almost 300 acres burned in Riley County.
The Riley County Fire Department responded to a report of illegal burning on Adams Street in Fairmont park, a 70 acre fire North of Randolph on Roybler Road, a 30 acre grass fire in the 10000 block of Anderson Avenue and a telephone pole on fire on Barton Road near Leonardville,
According to Pat Collins, Riley County Emergency Management Director,
At one point, the Riley County Police Department responded to the fire on Anderson Avenue to shut down traffic due to smoke blowing over the roadway.
There was also a rekindling of a suspicious fire on Fancy Creek Road that burned around 80 acres, and a 100-acre fire that burned a barn on West 60th Avenue, according to Collins.
No injuries were reported. Cause of the fires have not been released.
VERNON COUNTY, MO- A Kansas man died in an accident just before 5:30 p.m. on Sunday in Vernon County Missouri.
The Missouri State Highway reported a 2004 Chevy truck driven by Lucas D. Owen, 24, Mound City, was traveling on Arnold Road six miles northwest of Metz.
The pickup struck a bridge railing, left the road and came to rest in a creek bed.
Owen was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Ferry Funeral Home.
An air medical flight transported a passenger in the vehicle Heather Holloway, 24, Mound City, to Freeman Hospital.
They were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
(AP) -Blue Cross-Blue Shield health insurer Anthem is suing pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts over prescription drug prices.
WASHINGTON – A civil complaint was filed today, Monday, March 21, in the U.S. District Court for Kansas against Native American Enterprises LLC, of Wichita, Kansas; its Vice President and part-owner, William N. McGreevy and is production manager, Robert C. Conner, to stop the distribution of adulterated food, the Department of Justice announced today.
