WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it’s making progress trying to correct a tax-form error that affected 820,000 customers of HealthCare.gov.

Administration officials said Friday that 740,000 corrected forms have gone out, and another 80,000 will be mailed next week.

The issue involves a new government form called a 1095-A.

It’s like a W-2 form for health care for people who got subsidized private insurance under President Barack Obama’s law. Consumers who got health insurance tax credits need the information on the 1095-A to file their taxes.

Last month, federal officials said more than 800,000 consumers had gotten the wrong details on premiums.

HealthCare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan says some customers may still have other errors on their forms, like the wrong coverage dates. He’s urging them to call

By Dave Ranney

TOPEKA – State officials say they’ve reached an agreement with mental health providers for regulating Medicaid patients’ access to antipsychotic medications. “We are all working toward a common goal: Providing safe access to mental health drugs for those who need them,” Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Susan Mosier said in a prepared statement Wednesday.

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Secretary Kari Bruffett and Kyle Kessler, executive director for the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, expressed similar support for the measure.

“I think this is a positive step forward in improving and expanding upon sound mental health drug prescribing practices,” Kessler said.

Under the agreement, a nine-member panel of hands-on mental health practitioners – psychiatrists and pharmacists, primarily — will be charged with developing evidence-based guidelines for prescribing antipsychotic medications. The advisory committee will spell out the circumstances under which KDHE, the state’s Medicaid agency, and the Drug Utilization Review Board can intervene in prescribing decisions.

Currently, Kansas law guarantees Medicaid patients ready access to whatever mental health drugs their physicians or psychiatrists see fit to prescribe.

Kessler and several mental health center directors last month testified against a KDHE-introduced measure, Senate Bill 123, that would have repealed the guarantee. Opponents of the bill said delaying or depriving patients’ access to medications could put them and others in their communities at risk.

KDHE and KDADS insisted the repeal would reduce the risk to patients, children in particular. They cited reports that documented instances of providers prescribing adult antipsychotics to children. The agencies said tighter regulation of behavioral health drugs could also save KanCare – the state’s Medicaid program — more than $7 million.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee endorsed the bill but it stalled in the full Senate. The committee revived the bill on Wednesday using a complicated set of procedural maneuvers. The compromise language and parts of the original bill are now folded into a new bill, – Senate Substitute for House Bill 2149.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the compromise proposal next week, after which, assuming it passes, it will be sent to the House. Compromise a surprise to some The Wednesday vote caught many mental health advocates off-guard. “We were surprised that statutory language got dropped into committee yesterday,” said Amy Campbell, executive director for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition.

Even so, Campbell said, the coalition is cautiously supportive of the compromise. “We feel like what’s being proposed is an improvement over the original (SB) 123,” Campbell said. “But we continue to communicate with the agencies (KDADS and KDHE) to get some questions answered.

There are some things we’d like to see formalized.” Under the compromise, patients whose drug regimens are currently considered effective will not be altered. The advisory committee will be chaired by the KDHE secretary or a designee.

Its membership will include two psychiatrists nominated by the Kansas Psychiatric Society, two psychiatrists nominated by the association of community mental health centers of Kansas, two pharmacists nominated by the Kansas Pharmacy Association; one physician nominated by the Kansas Medical Society; and one advanced practice registered nurse nominated by the Kansas State Nurses Association.

The nominee will be selected by the KDHE secretary. At least one of the psychiatrists must specialize in treating children; another in caring for the elderly.

“The hope now is that this committee’s representation will be broad enough to cover the concern of all our constituencies and patients.” said Dr. Eric Atwood, a psychiatrist and medical director at Family Service & Guidance Center, Topeka. If KDHE and KDADS “are approaching this in good faith and if the spirit of this is to ensure safety, I think this can be a workable process,” Atwood said.

The compromise bill requires that the advisory committee meet at least four times a year. Consumer representation absent from committee Rick Cagan, executive director for the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said his consumer constituents are noticeably absent from the proposed advisory committee. “No one consulted us,” Cagan said. “At this point, it looks as though there won’t be a consumer on the committee.

That’s a disappointment, but there don’t appear to be any representatives from the managed care companies on there either.”

Three private managed care companies operate the KanCare program for the state. Cagan said he remains troubled by KDADS and KDHE’s assertion that regulating access to mental health drugs will save millions of dollars. “They say that,” he said, “but that’s not been substantiated and I don’t see it happening.”

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

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee has rejected a proposed ban on using multistate Common Core academic standards in the state’s public schools.

The Education Committee on Friday voted 10-7 against a bill preventing any school district or official from giving “any measure of control” over academic standards to any group outside Kansas.

Common Core foes split Friday over whether to pursue softer language for the bill to help it advance.

The State Board of Education in 2010 adopted Common Core standards for reading and math developed by the National Governors Association and education associations. Supporters see them as rigorous standards emphasizing critical thinking.

The standards have been strongly criticized over changes in how material is taught, but opponents haven’t been able to get a ban through the Legislature.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) introduced The Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act (S. 774). The bipartisan legislation would reform the examination process for financial institutions by requiring regulatory agencies to issue examination determinations promptly, as well as give banks and other supervised financial institutions the right to have those determinations reviewed.

“I am proud to introduce the bipartisan Financial Institutions Examination Fairness Reform Act to provide much-needed changes to the financial institution examination process,” Sen. Moran said. “The legislation allows for independent review and promotes greater uniformity among the various regulators. By improving the examination process, banks and credit unions can better serve their local customers and contribute to economic growth in their communities.”

“An effective and fair examination process of financial institutions is vital to the health of our banking system and is beneficial to the consumers it serves,” Sen. Manchin said. “This commonsense legislation would make sure that any bank or financial institution that undergoes a supervisory exam is allowed to have an impartial third party also review the exam findings before agencies can take action against that company. This independent review would not only strengthen transparency and openness during the review process, but it would also promote greater uniformity among the various regulatory agencies and impose much-needed accountability on those agencies.”

“By creating a reasonable process for financial institutions to appeal examination reports, our community banks and credit unions will have the clarity they need to provide small businesses with loans, spur investment and create jobs. Our economy needs certainty and confidence, and this bipartisan legislation puts us on the right track to achieve those goals,” said Sen. Capito.

Specifically, S. 774 would:

Impose reasonable limits on examiners to provide their conclusions to the institutions they examine and to make available upon request the information relied upon for those determinations;
Establish an independent examination review director. This individual would be retained by the Federal Financial Examinations Institution Council and would be authorized to address examination complaints and review examination procedures; and
Provide financial institutions with the right to seek review of supervisory determinations with the Independent Examination Review Director. The legislation authorizes the director to review the examination record and – at the institution’s request – direct an evidentiary hearing to enable the director to decide whether the agency’s examination determination shall be upheld.
The Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act also incorporates important safeguards to ensure that financial institutions will not abuse the review process to delay or evade appropriate supervisory action. An institution can seek review of an agency determination only if the determination is significant – such as a rating downgrade, imposition of a “matter requiring attention,” or suspension of the institution’s ability to open new bank branches or engage in other significant transactions. The review process also incorporates strict time limits. Finally, S. 774 will not prevent a regulatory agency from imposing supervisory restrictions on an institution or pursuing administrative enforcement of agency rules and regulations.

The bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.). The bill is supported by the American Bankers Association (ABA), Credit Union National Association (CUNA), National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU), and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).

KANSAS CITY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 8:30 a.m. on Friday in Wyandotte County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Yamaha motorcycle driven by Garet A. Kraft, 22, Leavenworth, was southbound in the number 1 lane on U.S.73. just north of Polfer Road in Kansas City.

The driver realized he was not going to get stopped in time and laid the bike onto its side.

According to the KHP Kraft was transported to St. Johns and was not wearing a safety device.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — School districts suing Kansas over education funding are asking the Kansas Supreme Court to keep their entire lawsuit before a lower court.

Attorneys for the four districts asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to reject the state’s appeal of a recent decision from a three-judge Shawnee County District Court panel.

The panel ruled in December that the state must boost its annual spending on public schools by at least $548 million.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked the panel to reconsider, but it refused on March 11. Schmidt notified the panel that he would appeal.

The lower-court panel still is considering whether the state distributes its aid fairly among districts.

The aggrieved districts said the Supreme Court should have the lower-court panel finish with the entire case before considering any appeals.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas universities would be required to publicize information on their graduates’ average salaries, student loan debt and employment under a bill passed by the Senate.

The bill passed the chamber on a 27-11 vote Thursday.

Supporters say the measure would help prospective students make informed decisions on which university and major to choose by requiring institutions to provide them a “prospectus.” The information would compare the average economic outcomes of their graduates from each degree track.

Republican Sen. Julia Lynn from Olathe said graduates today face higher education costs and a tougher job market and not all incoming students are aware of the realities.

But other senators balked at the potential cost of up to $5.5 million annually and said broader research on such subjects is already available.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has ordered drilling operations in two counties to cut back on a practice that may be causing earthquakes.

The Kansas Corporation Commission issued the order Thursday. It requires drillers in five areas in Harper and Sumner counties in south-central Kansas to reduce the amount of water they inject into underground wells as a part of their businesses.

The process is commonly part of the hydraulic fracking technique used to reach previously inaccessible oil and gas deposits.

More than 200 earthquakes have been recorded in Kansas since 2013 in an unprecedented spike in seismic activity. Many have been in the two counties.

Interim Director Rex Buchanan of the Kansas Geological Survey has said there is a strong correlation between the injection-well process and the dramatic increase in earthquakes.