Andy Marso
Stories by Andy Marso
Savings accounts for children with disabilities could be impacted by Kansas budget struggles
A Kansas House committee unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to allow for tax-free savings accounts for children with disabilities. But even as they sent the bill to the full House, committee members expressed concerns that cost could keep it from coming up for a vote there.
Yoder, Advocates Push For Savings Accounts For Kansas Children With Disabilities
On a day when Congressman Kevin Yoder testified before a Kansas House committee, it was a 15-year-old Olathe South High School freshman who stole the show. Rachel Mast, who has Down syndrome, ebulliently encouraged the Children and Seniors Committee to approve a bill to allow tax-exempt savings accounts for Kansas children with disabilities that would...
Brownback budget includes Medicaid changes, tobacco tax increase
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration outlined a sweeping budget plan Friday that includes changes to Medicaid and increases in the state’s tobacco and alcohol taxes. Budget Director Shawn Sullivan said closing a $650 million budget gap will require new tax revenue and slowed expenses in the state’s “three major cost drivers”: public schools, public employee...
An uncertain future, for Kansas rural hospitals
Experts on rural Kansas hospitals made dire predictions about their fiscal futures in a legislative hearing Wednesday that laid the groundwork for a discussion of Medicaid expansion. Rep. Tom Sloan, chairman of the Vision 2020 Committee, said that he’s trying to start a discussion about crafting an expansion plan that addresses the needs of stakeholders...
A water success story, in Kansas
There are also some who believe that the main water source for western Kansas, the Ogallala Aquifer, is past the point of no return when it comes to natural recharge. A plan to build a giant aqueduct to transport water from the Missouri River hundreds of miles has been floated, but it would involve tremendous...
Are burn pits a possible answer for the mysterious ailments reported by veterans?
Many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts believe their health was affected by exposure to the burn pits and other potential environmental hazards. But there is not enough data to determine whether that exposure caused or contributed to the health problems they are struggling with now that they are home.
One Key To Helping Veterans Overcome Mental Health Problems – Peer Support
The Clay Hunt SAV Act, named for a Marine who committed suicide in 2011, would create a peer support and community outreach pilot program and an interactive website to help veterans find resources in their area. It also would offer student loan repayment to psychiatrists who choose to work at the VA and require annual...
Wounded Veterans Return To Unprepared Medical System
A sniper’s bullet tore through U.S. Army Sgt. Jamie Jarboe’s neck while he was on patrol during a tour of duty in Afghanistan in April 2011. The bullet shattered three vertebrae, severed Jarboe’s spinal cord and caused severe bleeding. It was the kind of wound that almost certainly would have been fatal in previous conflicts….
Kansas nursing homes prepare for malpractice fund requirement
Hundreds of nursing homes and other assisted living facilities in Kansas will be required to participate in a fund meant to spread the risk of malpractice lawsuits starting next month. Advocates for those facilities say the change is a plus, but it has insurance agents scrambling to find liability coverage for their assisted living clients...
AARP to urge passage of Kansas caregiver legislation
When diabetes began to steal her mother’s legs and vision three decades ago, Lawrence resident Judy Bellome and her family joined the ranks of thousands of caregivers across Kansas. Bellome had advantages others don’t, but even so she found it challenging. “If I hadn’t been a nurse — and my sister is a physical therapist…
- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next »