KHI News Service

Colorado Medicaid expansion moves forward with one Republican vote

0 | May. 14, 2013 | Health Reform, Medicaid-CHIP

Republican Colorado state Sen. Larry Crowder said he couldn’t vote against the bill when hospitals in his district are strained to the breaking point caring for the uninsured. Colorado hospitals strongly support the expansion, saying it will replace many of their unpaid bills with new Medicaid payments.

Kansas drug disposal program collects 6,000 pounds of medications in first year

0 | May. 14, 2013 | Environment

Pharmacist Lori Murdock recently signed up for the medication disposal program run by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, she said, because it's the right thing to do. “It’s a big concern to the public and the general population to say, ‘OK, I can’t just keep flushing this stuff … and I really don’t want to put it in the trash because who knows who can get into it and where is it going,’” Murdock said. “Our population is getting more interested in doing the right things.”

Report on sexual predator program taking longer than expected

0 | May. 14, 2013 | Hospitals, Mental Health

A task force charged with coming up with a plan for reforming the Sexual Predator Treatment Program at Larned State Hospital has agreed to spend another month developing its recommendations.

House KanCare proviso could complicate Legislature's budget negotiations

0 | May. 13, 2013 | Legislature, KanCare

A dispute between advocates for developmentally disabled Kansans and the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback has the potential to complicate budget negotiations and the end of the legislative session.

Economy, substance abuse contributing to rise in foster care numbers, official says

0 | May. 13, 2013 | Children, Agencies

A state official charged with overseeing the state’s foster care system blamed the economy and drug and alcohol abuse for a recent increase in the number of children in state custody.

New Medicaid enrollment system remains on track

0 | May. 13, 2013 | Health Reform, Medicaid-CHIP

The building of a new Kansas Medicaid eligibility and enrollment system intended to be interoperable with the new federal health insurance marketplace remains on budget, according to the state's project overseer. But the system's planned connection to the federal insurance exchange could slip behind schedule, if federal officials don't pick up the pace on their end.

Knowledge gap: The ACA marketplace is coming but who knows?

0 | May. 13, 2013 | Health Reform, Insurance

Enrollment for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s new online marketplaces is scheduled to start Oct. 1 in Kansas and across the nation. But it is clear that many, if not most, of the millions of people expected to benefit from the so-called “insurance exchanges,” still know little or nothing about how the marketplaces are supposed to work or the law behind them.

KAC goes to court seeking release of tobacco settlement terms from AG's Office

0 | May. 10, 2013 | Children, Tobacco

A child advocacy group has filed a petition in Shawnee County District Court, asking the judge to order Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to release an independent auditor’s report on how much money the nation’s tobacco companies are likely to pay the state over the next five years.

Kansas to get new ACA jobs despite snub of health care law

0 | May. 10, 2013 | Workforce, Health Reform, Insurance

Four states that have snubbed the federal health law by defaulting to the federal government to build new online insurance marketplaces and not agreeing to expand Medicaid are getting new jobs at call centers that will help consumers understand their new coverage options this fall. Kansas is one of them.

Safety-net clinics eligible for $1.7 million in federal marketplace grants

0 | May. 09, 2013 | Community Health, Health Reform, Insurance

Federal official today announced that 16 safety-net clinics in Kansas are eligible for more than $1.7 million in grants to help the state’s uninsured and underinsured residents find affordable health insurance through the new online insurance marketplace that is scheduled to be operational by Oct. 1.

KU Hospital, Shawnee Mission going live on statewide health record exchange

0 | May. 09, 2013 | HIE-HIT, Hospitals

Shawnee Mission Medical Center went live this week and the University of Kansas Hospital is set to go live May 15, making the systems the fifth and sixth in the Kansas City metro area to join the LACIE network, one of two networks comprising the state's digital health information exchange.

Safety-net providers moving forward with health information exchange

0 | May. 09, 2013 | HIE-HIT, Safety Net

With initial assistance from the REACH Healthcare Foundation, more than a dozen safety-net medical providers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties have started working to improve care coordination by sharing patient records electronically.

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