WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) issued the following statement on President Obama’s decision to veto the bipartisan Keystone XL pipeline legislation:

“Though not surprising, it is frustrating that President Obama vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline legislation. This decision prioritizes special interest politics over energy security and American jobs. The President said he was ‘eager to work with the new Congress,’ but has already issued 12 veto threats in addition to today’s veto. There is overwhelming support for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline because Americans understand the importance of this project to job creation and increasing the supply of North American energy.”

Unfortunately, the White House has refused to approve the permit application for the remaining 1,200 miles of pipeline to be built, despite President Obama’s own State Department’s view that this project can move forward. The Administration’s delays have prevented the creation of new, well-paying jobs and economic growth for Americans.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Medicaid program in Kansas would gain more control over costly mental health prescriptions under a bill facing a final vote in the state Senate.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports  that Wednesday’s vote was coming a day after senators debated the measure and gave it first-round approval.

Supports said the bill would give patients more protection from the over-prescription of powerful drugs with serious side effects. Critics argued the change could deprive mentally ill Kansans of needed medication and result in more of them being hospitalized or jailed.

The bill would repeal a 2002 law that prohibits Medicaid from controlling prescriptions of mental health drugs with preferred drug lists, prior authorization requirements or other methods. Medicaid provides health coverage for the needy and disabled.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today held the first hearing of his chairmanship and breaking with tradition, first heard the concerns of farmers and ranchers on the implementation of the Farm Bill followed by the testimony of U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Chairman Roberts was pleased to welcome Mr. Rich Felts to testify before the Committee on the first panel. Mr Felts is a Wheat, Corn, Soybean, and Livestock Producer from Liberty, Kan. For his prepared testimony go here.

The hearing, titled “The Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one year and Farm Credit Administration nominations,” had three panels.

“Today’s hearing is special,” Chairman Roberts said. “Today, we will conduct our first oversight hearing of the one year old Farm Bill by hearing from farmers first, then the administration.

“It is my hope that our witnesses will be able to bring forward testimony of their challenges and successes of the new farm bill — and then the Committee and the Secretary will work to address the challenges raised by our four witnesses and by others who have reached out to our Committee members.

“We thank Secretary Vilsack for his willingness to try something new today. I believe this hearing will send a strong message to America’s farmers and ranchers that their government is listening to them and that we can and will work together on their behalf.”

Senator Roberts is an outspoken advocate for America’s farmers and ranchers. He is the first member of congress in modern history to serve as both Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Roberts has also served as the ranking member for each Committee.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Teachers no longer would be exempt from criminal charges for showing students materials deemed to be harmful to minors under a bill given first-round approval in the Kansas Senate.

Teachers could be charged for any materials thought to be too sexual or too profane for minors.

Republican Sen. Forrest Knox of Altoona said he supported the bill and said teachers should not be protected from showing materials that would draw penalties in other contexts.

Democratic Sen. David Haley of Kansas City said that Senate Democrats intended to argue against the bill, but were out of the chamber when it came up for discussion. The bill swiftly moved through the approval process without debate and will be up for a final vote Wednesday. It will then pass to the House.

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says budget cuts forced the agency to reduce the number of tax audits last year to the lowest level in a decade.

In 2014, fewer than 1 percent of individual tax returns were audited, the lowest rate since 2004. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says the number of audits is likely to decline again this year.

In a speech on Tuesday, Koskinen said there are fewer audits because the tax agency has fewer agents. He said the IRS is down more than 2,200 revenue agents since 2010.

Congress has cut the agency’s budget by more than $1.3 billion since 2010.

Koskinen’s speech comes in the middle of tax season, just as millions of Americans are filing their annual returns.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A new government report shows the value of principle Kansas crops plummeted last year to $6.51 billion.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday that the decline compares to $7.85 billion in 2013 and $8.09 billion in 2012.

The lesser numbers come as no surprise, given the waning drought last year that decimated the state’s winter wheat crop before late spring and summer rains salvaged fall -harvested crops. Grain prices also have fallen in the past couple of years, making the remaining crop worth less.

Among the state’s major crops, the agency valued the state’s wheat crop at $1.51 billion last year. It pegged the value of Kansas corn at $2.12 billion. Soybeans came in at $1.38 billion, with sorghum trailing at $755.2 million.

NEWTON – Police have been investigating recent rumors circulating regarding a possible student threat at Newton High School.

Police stated Tuesday on their Facebook page that they have been working with the school’s administration, investigating allegations, interviewing students, conducting home visits, and making parent contacts.

They say at this point there is no credible threat to staff or students at the high school.

However, they suggest that individuals can contact the high school administration if they have questions or evidence of a possible threat that they would like to share.

By DAN MARGOLIES
More than 389,000 Kansans and nearly 2 million Missourians were affected by last month’s massive cyberattack on Anthem Inc., the nation’s second largest health insurer, figures released by the company show.

“This data breach is so far-reaching that it impacts nearly one-third of our state’s population,” Missouri Department of Insurance Director John M. Huff said in a statement Monday.

In Missouri, 1.5 million current and former Blue Cross and Blue Shield members over the last 10 years may have had their records hacked, according to Deb Wiethop, a spokeswoman for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri. She said another 330,000 members of Anthem-associated health plans in Missouri were also affected.

In Kansas, current and former Medicaid and CHIP recipients, as well as members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and other Blue organizations, were affected, according to the Kansas Insurance Department.

Separately, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said on Monday that nearly 165,000 state Medicaid and CHIP recipients were among those whose personal information may have been compromised.

Anthem is the parent company of Amerigroup, one of three private managed care companies that administers KanCare, Kansas’ privatized version of Medicaid, as well as Unicare, a former CHIP contractor.

CHIP is the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides federal matching funds for health insurance covering families with children.

KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry said personal information compromised in the cyberattack included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health care identification numbers, home addresses, email addresses, employment information and income data.

“Anthem has done its due diligence to make sure that everyone has been contacted in a timely manner and that any credit or identity monitoring services are being offered to members,” Belfry said.

The services are being offered free. Missourians and Kansans affected by the breach can visit an Anthem website, https://www.anthemfacts.com/, which provides additional information on how to sign up for two years of credit monitoring and identity theft repair services.

Formerly known as Wellpoint, Anthem reported earlier this month that cyber attackers had breached a company database containing as many as 80 million records of current and former customers and employees.

The company said it did not believe credit card or medical information had been compromised.

The FBI is investigating the attacks. In addition, the Missouri Department of Insurance and insurance departments in California, Indiana, Main and New Hampshire are conducting a multistate examination of Anthem companies.

 

Dan Margolies is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.