TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservative Republicans are pushing to overhaul Kansas’ school curriculum with a bill blocking the Common Core standards.

The House Education Committee held a hearing Monday on the bill, which would bar any school district from adopting curriculums developed by entities outside of the state. Common Core has been adopted by 44 states, but critics have objected to it as inflexible and say it usurps local school decision-making.

Republican Rep. Ron Highland of Wamego, who chairs the committee, says he has seen a rising tide of constituents opposed to the standards.

But Democratic Rep. Ed Trimmer of Winfield said that bill could have unintended consequences like blocking advanced placement courses and instruction preparing students for college entrance exams.

Republican lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to block the standards during the previous legislative session.

By BRYAN THOMPSON

So you file your income tax return, and find you owe Uncle Sam $500—not for taxes, but for not having health insurance last year. The penalty is $95 per adult, or 1 percent of income—whichever is greater. Fifty-thousand dollars of income works out to a $500 penalty.

As many as 6 million individuals and families may have to pay this year. If you don’t have insurance for 2015, your penalty next year will rise to $325 per adult, or 2 percent of income, whichever is greater. But the enrollment period ended Feb. 15.

The Obama Administration has announced a special enrollment period for those who didn’t realize the consequences of not signing up. It gives taxpayers who face penalties for going without health insurance last year one last chance to change course, and avoid the larger penalty next year.

The special enrollment period is only available in states — like Kansas and Missouri — that rely on the federal marketplace (or FFM, for Federally Facilitated Marketplace). To be eligible, applicants must show that they:

Currently are not enrolled in coverage through the FFM for 2015;
Attest that when they filed their 2014 tax return they paid the fee for not having health coverage in 2014; and
Attest that they first became aware of, or understood the implications of, the Shared Responsibility Payment after the end of open enrollment – Feb. 15, 2015 – in connection with preparing their 2014 taxes.
The Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU) has advised navigators at safety net clinics around the state to offer to work with tax preparers in their communities.

“Let them know they’re out there, and what they can do to help get people enrolled, so that they don’t face that penalty,” said Katrina McGivern, KAMU’s policy and public affairs director.

McGivern said there’s no need to hire additional navigators, but it is important to make sure tax preparers know where to send customers who want to take advantage of the additional sign-up opportunity.

The special enrollment period will run from March 15 through April 30. If a consumer enrolls in coverage before the 15th of the month, coverage will be effective on the first day of the following month.

This year’s tax season is the first time individuals and families will be asked to provide basic information regarding their health coverage on their tax returns. Individuals who could not afford coverage or met other conditions may be eligible to receive an exemption for 2014. To help consumers who did not have insurance last year determine if they qualify for an exemption, the government also launched a health coverage tax exemption tool today on HealthCare.gov and CuidadodeSalud.gov.

“We recognize that this is the first tax filing season where consumers may have to pay a fee or claim an exemption for not having health insurance coverage,” said Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “Our priority is to make sure consumers understand the new requirement to enroll in health coverage and to provide those who were not aware or did not understand the requirement with an opportunity to enroll in affordable coverage this year.”

According to CMS, about three quarters of all taxpayers will only need to check a box when they file their taxes to indicate that they had health coverage in 2014 through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans care or other qualified health coverage that qualifies as “minimum essential coverage.”

The remaining taxpayers – about one-quarter – will take different steps. It is expected that 10 to 20 percent of taxpayers who were uninsured for all or part of 2014 will qualify for an exemption from the requirement to have coverage. A much smaller fraction of taxpayers, an estimated 2 to 4 percent, will pay a fee because they made a choice to not obtain coverage and are not eligible for an exemption.

Consumers who have questions about their taxes, need to download forms or want to learn more about the fee for not having insurance, can find information and resources at www.HealthCare.gov/Taxes or www.IRS.gov. Consumers can also call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. Consumers who need assistance filing their taxes can visit IRS.gov/VITA or IRS.gov/freefile

Consumers seeking to take advantage of the special enrollment period can find out if they are eligible by visiting https://www.healthcare.gov/get-coverage Consumers can find local help at: Localhelp.healthcare.gov or call the Federally Facilitated Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325. Assistance is available in 150 languages. The call is free.

Bryan Thompson is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says too few Americans approaching retirement have saved enough to have peace of mind during their later years.

Obama is proposing tougher restrictions on brokers who manage Americans’ retirement accounts. The change would put brokers under the stricter requirements for registered financial advisers when they handle clients’ retirement accounts.

Obama says in a speech to AARP that after a lifetime of hard work, Americans should be able to retire with dignity and a sense of security. He says the challenge is there are currently no rules requiring retirement advisers to act in their clients’ best interests.

The financial services industry opposes the proposal and says the industry is well governed by financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is teaming up with three major U.S. wireless carriers in an effort to prod more people into using its mobile wallet and undercut the rapid success of Apple’s rival payment service.

The deal announced Monday calls for Google’s tap-and-pay service to be built into Android smartphones sold by AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA beginning later his year. Smartphone owners currently have to download Google Wallet and install the app on their phone if they want to use the service.

Besides trying to make it more convenient to use Wallet, Google also is hoping to improve the nearly 4-year-old service. Toward that end, Google Inc. is buying some mobile payment technology and patents from Softcard, a venture owned by the wireless carriers.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee has approved a bill to allow grocery stores to sell wine, liquor and full-strength beer starting in July 2018.

The measure endorsed Monday by the Commerce Labor and Economic Development Committee also would allow convenience stores to sell full-strength beer in July 2018.

The committee’s 10-7 vote sends the bill to the full House for debate.

Groceries and convenience stores currently can sell what’s known as cereal malt beverage, or weak beer.

Only liquor stores can sell other packaged alcoholic beverages.

Grocery and convenience store chains have been pushing for a change for years, and supporters argue it would make the market freer.

But critics say such a change will destroy small businesses and make it harder to prevent alcohol sales to underage buyers.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A university wetlands center in Lawrence is gearing up for a June opening to the public.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports that the 11,000-square-foot Baker University Wetlands Discovery Center is expected to have its ceremonial opening in September. The center will house a research lab, classrooms and offices. The building is being designed to give visitors a panoramic view of the wetlands.

Construction of the $1.5 million center is being funded by the Kansas Department of Transportation as part of the highway department’s mitigation agreement for 58 acres to extend the South Lawrence Trafficway through the wetlands. The state also agreed to help restore 410 acres of wetlands, which will bring the land’s total to 927 acres. The center was also given $350,000 for site improvements.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is creating a taskforce to look for ways to decrease poverty.

Brownback created the Social Services Policy Council by executive order Friday. A news release says it will focus on improving high school graduation rates, finding employment for people on state assistance and provide incentives for marriage.

The council will consist of seven to 13 members appointed by the governor and will be supported by the Department for Children and Families.

Brownback said in a statement that the state’s social services need to do more work to help people become self-sufficient and start strong families.

A House panel held two days of hearings earlier this month on potential measures to reduce Kansas’ divorce rate.

 

By JIM MCLEAN

The chairman of a Kansas House committee holding three Medicaid expansion bills says he has no current plans to have hearings on any of the proposals.

“At this time I haven’t scheduled anything,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. “Will I schedule something? I can’t say right now. But right now there is nothing scheduled.”

Hawkins is in his first year as chairman of the health committee. His predecessor, former Rep. David Crum, an Augusta Republican, refused to hold hearings on expansion proposals in 2013 and 2014. Expansion advocates, most notably the Kansas Hospital Association, hoped that Hawkins would allow hearings even though he opposes both the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid expansion it authorizes and helps to fund.

Rep. Don Hill, a Republican from Emporia, is the sponsor of one of the Medicaid expansion bills. It would repeal language added to a budget bill in 2013 that prohibits Gov. Sam Brownback from crafting an expansion plan and negotiating its approval with federal officials.

Hill, a retired pharmacist, has been working behind the scenes for several weeks to convince Brownback and Republican legislative leaders to consider a Kansas version of Medicaid expansion plans being pursued by Republican governors in Indiana, Tennessee, Wyoming and several other conservative-leaning states. Those plans use federal Medicaid funds to help purchase private coverage for low-income adults. Many also require recipients to share in their health care costs in ways that traditional Medicaid doesn’t.

Hill said discussions with Brownback and members of his staff are continuing. But he said his most recent conversation with Hawkins wasn’t promising.

“The indication at this point is that Chairman Hawkins is not inclined to hold hearings,” Hill said.

Asked why he opposed expansion, Hawkins said: “I’m really not for government-sponsored health care.”

He said the cost of expansion concerns him even though the Affordable Care Act commits the federal government to pay 100 percent of the costs through 2017 and not less than 90 percent thereafter.

A study commissioned by the Kansas Hospital Association estimated expansion would cost the state anadditional $312 million through 2020. But the same study said that savings and tax revenues resulting from expansion would more than offset that cost.

In addition, hospital officials, who need Medicaid expansion to offset reductions in Medicare reimbursements, have said they’re willing to discuss increasing a state assessment on their revenues to help pay for it.

Beyond the issue of cost, Hawkins, like other conservatives, said he is opposed to providing taxpayer-funded coverage to non-disabled adults even if they can’t afford private insurance.

“I always tried to find a job that had health care,” he said when asked what poor Kansans needing coverage should do. “I’ve always worked, and I’ve always had a job that paid for health care or paid a portion of it.”

Kansas’ privatized Medicaid program, KanCare, covers about 425,000 children and low-income, disabled and elderly adults. But that number includes relatively few able-bodied adults.

Adults with dependent children can participate in KanCare, but only if they have incomes below 33 percent of the federal poverty level, $7,770 annually for a family of four. Adults without children aren’t eligible for coverage no matter how poor they are.

Expansion would make all Kansans with incomes up to 138 percent of poverty eligible for KanCare. The eligibility cap would be set at annual income of $16,105 for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four.

Without hearings and a vote in the health committee, it will be difficult for expansion advocates to get a bill to the House floor for a vote. But if that were to happen, Hill said, he believes an expansion bill could pass.

“It very well might be a close vote,” Hill said. “But I think there is a lot of bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion in the Legislature and in the House in particular.”

Jim McLean is executive editor of KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.