(Missourinet) – Missouri’s Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is introducing legislation to prevent counties from having no insurers on their health care exchanges.

The measure is preventative as all counties have providers, although 97 counties in Missouri and many more across the country are limited to just one.

Under McCaskill’s plan, people without an option would be able to buy healthcare insurance from the exchange in Washington D.C.

That market has national plans which provide work based coverage for the staff of every congress member.  The difference is, instead of getting an employer contribution, people on the exchange would be getting the same subsidies currently offered in exchanges in their state.

McCaskill said it’s one of many ideas she has to address shortcomings in Obamacare.

“So in many ways this solution is elegant, because it gives people who don’t have an option the same options that members of Congress and their staff get” McCaskill said.

McCaskill’s plan would instruct the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services to set up a mechanism to give people in the states access to the national plans.  Insurance would still be provided through the marketplace, as it now is within exchanges throughout the country.

Like all Congressional Democrats, McCaskill said she wants to preserve the Affordable Care Act created under President Obama. She said some Senate Republicans are coming to the realization that their stated goal to “repeal and replace” the health care system is unworkable.

“Now they own government, and they own healthcare, and they’re struggling. But they have this big problem in that they’ve promised their base…repeal,” McCaskill said. “So for them to start talking about repair, you’re beginning to see them around the edges talking about repair.”

During a May 7th Meet the Press appearance, Missouri’s Republican Senator Roy Blunt indicated Democrats could be abandoning the Affordable Care Act.

“I saw one of my Democrat colleagues said that this system isn’t working,” Blunt said. “And he said ‘I’m maybe willing to be part of a repeal and replace strategy.’  We need to and see more of that.”

During the TV program, Blunt claimed the problem with Obamacare now is that people can’t access coverage because deductibles are too high.  He also said the current health care arrangement is “dramatically wrong” because a third of the counties in the country have only one provider on their exchanges.

McCaskill contends many of the problems the healthcare law has now were brought on by Republicans and Trump.

Under the Obama administration, the government paid insurance companies extra money, including $7 billion last year, so they could keep plans affordable for relatively poor consumers.

Republicans sued, contending the payments were unconstitutional, and won. But the decision hasn’t taken effect because of an appeal. The next court date is Monday. President Trump has said he might withhold the government payments as a bargaining chip for a new health bill.

McCaskill contends the unclear signals sent by Trump are undermining the health care system.

“That’s what’s causing this disruption in the insurance market,” McCaskill said. “It’s not something in Obamacare. It’s the failure of the Trump administration to reassure the insurance companies that the payments that they have received will be forthcoming.”

The current Republican replacement plan is a House bill that several Senate Republicans have said is not workable. McCaskill said she thinks the GOP will be forced to work with Democrats to fix existing problems with Obamacare.

“I believe that we will eventually get to the point that there will be an acknowledgement, that no matter what we call it, that we’re repairing what we have now.”

In a statement to Missourinet, Blunt didn’t waver from the Republican stance to do away with the current health care system.

“Obamacare is collapsing and the status quo is unsustainable,” Blunt said. “That’s why I’ll continue working to repeal and replace Obamacare with solutions that will expand access to quality, affordable coverage and provide more certainty for Missouri families.”

(Missourinet) – A Missouri House subcommittee met nine times over the course of three months to study acute problems plaguing the state’s prison system.

The panel’s goal was to come up with solutions to eliminate the culture of harassment, violence and retaliation which has devastated the Department of Corrections. The state has paid out more than $10 million in five years to settle lawsuits with the department.

Recommendations from the panel, known as the Subcommittee on Corrections Workforce Environment and Culture, were released this week.

A list of nine bullet points compiled by committee chairman Jim Hansen, R-Hannibal, included measures championed by new Corrections Department Director Anne Precythe. One was to implement a zero tolerance policy and a 24-hour hotline that goes directly to the Office of Professional Standards.

Representative Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles, was instrumental in changing the title Inspector General to Office of Professional Standards.

“Just the name itself switches it from an adversarial situation to one where we are seeking excellence,” Conway said.

At the beginning, Conway said she wants lawmakers to be informed about every incident reported through the 24-hour hotline to ensure the department is following through in addressing employee complaints.

Another recommendation from the committee is to create new recruiting and hiring procedures for supervisors, and institute mandatory training. Over the course of the nine hearings, a common thread among the current and former prison workers who testified was a complaint that supervisors were unskilled and ill-informed.

Conway said it should be a priority for employees who get promoted to get proper training.

“It’s kind of like being a soldier, and being a colonel. Completely different jobs. And I think too many of the people that got promoted never had management training, people skills, that kind of thing,” Conway said.

Committee chairman Hanson said the prisons should have a pool of people identified in advance to be candidates for promotion.

“You start working with them, even before you have the opening come up,” Hansen said. “If they’re willing to enter a pre-training pool, you have a selection pool to pick from.”

Many of the bullet point recommendations dealt with the promotion process. One calls for a probationary period to ensure candidates are fully qualified before being promoted. Another creates a selection process for wardens, while still one more requires in-depth management and leadership training for wardens.

Many employees who testified blamed wardens for allowing egregious behavior to spread through their prisons.

Representative Bruce Franks Jr., D-St. Louis, who sat on the committee, said the prison issues start with the wardens. He said more wardens should have been called in to speak before the panel, and said he’s going seek out some of them for questioning.

“It needs to happen,” Franks said. “And it’s not just to meet them to drag them through the mud. It’s to ask questions just like we asked everybody else, and get some answers. We need to hear it from the source.”

Committee chairman Hansen sees a problem in that individual prisons have policies that often differ from department guidelines because wardens tend to establish their own standard operating procedures (SOP).

“My recommendation is that if a warden establishes an SOP in his prison that’s outside of the policy and procedure book, he has to have approval of the director of the department(Precythe),” Hansen said.

Conway said it’ll be important for Director Precythe to be directly engaged with all the wardens.

She sees the 24-hour hotline as an important tool in making sure problems at the prison level are reported to management at the top level.

“These kinds of things operate in secrecy, darkness and intimidation. And once you get rid of those three things, it can’t help but improve,” Conway said. “The bad actors are going to be found out.”

At least one former employee is not impressed with the committee’s recommendations. John Griggs didn’t testify before the panel because he was involved in a multi-car accident just before he was scheduled to appear. He said all the recommendations were already part of the Department of Correction’s policies, save for the hotline.

“I would want to see the different corrupt leadership that allowed all this stuff to go on being questioned, and some terminations being handed down, but absolutely none of that happened.”

(Missourinet) – A final decision is expected in June about a budget proposal for Mizzou that would leave unfilled about 300 vacant jobs and positions held by workers retiring.

Spokesman Christian Basi said the proposal also includes the elimination of another 80 to 100 jobs.

“Many of these positions being eliminated are being eliminated after people have already left the position voluntarily for their own personal reasons, not in many ways because they were laid off,” Basi said.

UM System Spokesman John Fougere did not have information about the number of proposed job cuts for the entire system.

Mizzou in Columbia is projected to have a $55 million budget shortfall next year from enrollment and revenue declines and what Basi calls unavoidable expenses. He said those expenses include utility increases, required repairs, program investments and a stipend for graduate assistants.

Mizzou officials project about a 7% enrollment drop next fall, leading to about a $16 million decline in tuition revenue.

A proposed 2.1% tuition increase is being considered to help generate about $7 million. If approved, it would apply to resident undergraduate students at all four campuses. The UM Board of Curators is expected to vote on the proposed tuition hike in the next week or two.

“We know we’re going to continue to receive feedback for the next several days, as unit leaders go back to their employees and ask for input as well. Once we have all of that, we’ll gather it and submit it to the president,” Basi said.

Campus visits by prospective students have increased at Mizzou by 7 to 15% compared to the same time period last year.

“We are working very hard to educate prospective students and their parents about what Mizzou offers to them,” Basi said.

The University of Missouri’s FY2018 budget is slated to be finalized on June 2.

(Missourinet) – The ACLU says allegations against embattled Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson show a pattern of cruelty.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) is investigating the death of a 28-year-old male prisoner who died about ten days ago after he was tased and an elderly female inmate’s claim that Hutcheson used enough force to give her a heart attack. The woman was discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment for three days. Hutcheson is alleged to have handcuffed the woman because of a civil dispute with one of Hutcheson’s family members.

“Jail does not have to be a visit to summer camp or the country club,” said Tony Rothert with the ACLU. “But when you’re in jail, especially since most people there are still presumed innocent, you do have a right to have your basic needs met and to be treated like a human being.”

Rothert said more allegations of mistreatment of inmates could surface.

“It seems there’s more and more evidence that in the Mississippi County Jail there is a practice of engaging in punitive treatment of inmates,” Rothert said.

In 2015, 21-year-old Somer Nunnally, who was arrested for drunk driving, also died in the jail.

The ACLU filed a 2016 lawsuit on behalf of Tara Rhodes, who was 19 weeks pregnant when she was jailed in Mississippi County. The suit claims that jail workers ignored Rhodes’ pleas for help while she was in labor. When she arrived at the hospital five days later, she learned that her baby could not be saved.

Rothert said he is pleased that Hawley’s office is investigating allegations against jail workers and Hutcheson.

“It’s certainly unusual for the attorney general to come in, file criminal charges against a sitting sheriff and to petition a court to have him removed from office,” Rothert said.

Hawley’s office filed 18 felony counts earlier this year against Hutcheson. They include forgery, tampering with computer data, assault and robbery. A complaint alleges that Hutcheson used his position as a sheriff’s deputy to illegally “ping” the cell phones of several members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the former Mississippi county sheriff, and Circuit Judge David Dolan.

Hutcheson is no longer on the job and has had his license suspended.

(Missourinet) – The state legislature’s regular session ended on Friday with the General Assembly accomplishing some GOP priorities and leaving others behind.

Of the nearly 2,000 measures filed this session, lawmakers passed 59 policy bills and 16 budget bills.

Here’s a recap of some of the key legislation that passed:

Right-to-Work
A decade-long mission by Republicans to make Missouri a Right-to Work state became a reality earlier this year with the legislature’s passage of Rolla Sen. Dan Brown’s bill. The measure, which bars mandatory union fees in the workplace, has been historically thwarted by opposition launched largely by Democrats. It was promptly signed into law by Republican Governor Eric Greitens and takes effect on August 28.

Repeal of Project Labor Agreements
In April, the Missouri Legislature passed a ban on project labor agreements for public construction projects for things like fire stations and court houses. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, and Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, would also cut state funding to Missouri cities and counties that force non-union contractors to pay workers union wages for those jobs.

REAL ID
The legislature adopted a bill in the nick of time that would put the state in compliance with stricter federal identification requirements so that Missourians don’t have problems boarding planes starting next year. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, and Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City, would also let residents choose whether they want a so-called REAL ID for access to military bases and federal facilities.

Minimum Wage
With minutes to spare before the legislature’s constitutional requirement to end its session, lawmakers passed a proposal that would prevent Missouri cities from enacting minimum wage levels that are higher than the state’s minimum wage rate. The bill, which was sponsored by state Rep. Jason Chipman, R-Steelville, was filed in response to St. Louis minimum wage ordinance, which took effect a week ago. It could end up in court to determine if St. Louis’s minimum wage increase can be struck down.

Changes to employment discrimination laws
A controversial bill passed during the final week of the session that would make it tougher for employees to win workplace discrimination lawsuits. It would require employees to prove that race, religion, sex or other protected status was the motivating factor for discrimination or being fired. Under the legislation, it would also stop workers from suing their colleagues and limit damages that could be awarded in such lawsuits.

Changes to Missouri’s legal system
State Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City, sponsored changes to the procedure for determining expert witness testimony in jury court cases. The bill, which has been signed into law by Governor Greitens, increases the threshold for admitting expert testimony by calling on judges to decide the accuracy of an expert’s conclusions, rather than determining simply whether the witness is qualified as an expert. The new law moves the state legal system in line with the Daubert standard, which makes trial judges the gatekeepers of expert testimony, rather than having juries decide if the information is accurate.

Another measure passed this session by the General Assembly would limit the evidence a jury can receive in special damages claims cases. The bill, which is on the governor’s desk, would take into account what the insurance company would pay out, instead of any additional damages beyond what the settlement is.

 

Here’s a list of some of the key bills that died this session:

Prevailing Wage
A labor bill that did not manage to make it across the finish line this session would have ended wage requirements on construction projects for things like schools and jails. It would have repealed a stipulation for employers to pay the prevailing wage in a particular location where a project is being performed. Brief delay tactics by Senate Democrats led to setting the bill aside.

Charter schools
In March, the Missouri House passed a proposed statewide expansion of charter schools by one more vote than the required 82 minimum. State Rep. Rebecca Roeber, R-Lee’s Summit, sponsored the bill that did not make it out of a Senate committee.

Charter schools, which are publicly-funded public schools that operate independently of the established public school system, are currently limited to St. Louis and Kansas City school districts, and any that are unaccredited.

Prescription drug monitoring program
State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, has championed legislation for several years that aims to reduce opioid drug abuse and illegal distribution. It would have required the creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring system for doctors and pharmacists to look for cases of misuse. The House and Senate both passed the measure with changes and members in both chambers tried to work out their differences on the bill, but a final vote failed to make it to both floors.

Missouri is the only state in the nation without a prescription drug monitoring program.

Abortion restrictions
At the end of April, the House passed State Rep. Diane Franklin’s legislation that would have required annual, random inspections of abortion clinics. The proposal also would have made it a felony to donate fetal tissue for medical or scientific research and require, with some exceptions, a minor’s custodial parent to inform a non-custodial parent before an abortion is performed. The bill was assigned to a Senate committee but did not receive a public hearing.

Gun loophole
State Reps. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, and Donna Lichtenegger, R-Cape Girardeau, offered proposals aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of those found guilty of domestic violence. The loophole in state law was created by the legislature’s 2015 passage of comprehensive gun legislation, Senate Bill 656. Last year, the General Assembly passed the sweeping changes to Missouri’s gun laws with an agreement that lawmakers would return this year and close that gap in the law.

Boat dock safety changes
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Jake Hummel, D-St. Louis, would have enacted policies meant to prevent electrical shock drownings at Missouri lakes. The bill, once sponsored by former state Rep. Caleb Jones, R-Columbia, was filed in response to the 2012 drownings of Brayden and Alexandra Anderson of Ashland on the Lake of the Ozarks. Since 2012, four people have died at the lake from electric shock drowning.

The proposal would have made new docks and those changing ownership have safety inspections and meet new standards like requiring a switch to cut off power to the docks. It would have also mandated that Highway Patrol boats have defibrillators.

Lobbyist gift restrictions to lawmakers
The first bill out of the House this session was one that would have limited what lobbyist gifts can be given to legislators. The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Justin Alferman, R-Hermann and Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, would have continued to allow flowers, plants, speaking fees and gifts to all 197 lawmakers, like free food at the Capitol. It passed in the House 149-5. It was brought up on the Senate floor last week but a vote was not taken. Amendments were offered by Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, which tried to reign in on campaign donations that are funneled through political action organizations and other groups in order to hide donor information.

 

Most of the bills passed that are mentioned in this story await Governor Greitens’ consideration. Meanwhile, he has hinted at calling a special session to achieve some of his legislative goals. During his State of the State address earlier this year, Greitens urged lawmakers to pass changes to laws involving labor, law enforcement, education, ethics and Missouri’s legal system.

(Missourinet) – A Missouri lawmaker who has championed prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation said she is disappointed the bill died Friday afternoon.

A PDMP is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state.

The Missouri House approved State Rep. Holly Rehder’s (R-Sikeston) PDMP bill in early April in a bipartisan 102-54 vote.

The Missouri Senate then passed PDMP, but included a prescriber mandate provision. Rehder said the Missouri State Medical Association opposed the mandate, adding that support began to erode.

Rehder worked all day Friday to try to come up with a compromise, but she couldn’t get enough votes by the 6 p.m. deadline. That is when the 2017 legislative session ended.

Rehder choked-up Friday afternoon at about 5, when she told Missourinet that her bill was dead. Rehder said she’s disappointed.

“There’s so many families that just really need this, and, I’m sorry … but, I’m not giving up. I’m a fighter, and I know that we will get this done,” Rehder said.

Rehder said she’ll file the bill again next year.

She notes 6,000 children were removed from substance abuse homes in Missouri last year. She also said emergency room visits for opioids by Missouri Medicaid patients increased more than 400 percent last year.

Rehder notes Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP.

“We certainly got so much further than we have gotten in all of the years,” Rehder said. “And so I remain hopeful. I remain hopeful that we’re going to be able to do this for Missouri and Missouri families.”

Rehder said a statewide solution is needed, adding that people shouldn’t lose out on this because of their zip codes.

The Missouri House third read and passed the Rehder bill on April 3.

The next afternoon, State Sen. Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph) announced that he was ending his opposition to Rehder’s PDMP bill. He cited a “groundswell” of support for her bill.

Schaaf asked Rehder to include a requirement that the database be used. The Missouri Senate passed its PDMP version in mid-April, and included a prescriber mandate provision.

Rehder said the Missouri State Medical Association opposed the mandate the Senate inserted.

“And so to have the Missouri Medical Association against us, (St. Louis) County Executive (Steve) Stenger came out against us and so you know our support just started eroding,” Rehder said.

Rehder praises State Sen. Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) for his PDMP work, describing him as a “good man, strong to his word.” Rehder credits Schatz with getting the bill as far as it got.

The Missouri Hospital Association, Missouri Pharmacy Association, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Missouri State Troopers Association were among those who testified earlier this year for the Rehder bill.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said crews will be out mowing along state highways.

“We ask motorists to pay attention and slow down when approaching mowing crews. Please take the time to pass carefully and safely especially on rural two-lane roads,” said MoDOT State Maintenance Engineer Becky Allmeroth.”

Major and minor routes will be mowed in three cycles starting in mid-May, mid-July and mid-September. Along with the mowing, crews selectively use herbicides to stunt vegetation growth as well as to control brush and stop the spread of noxious weeds. MoDOT said wildflowers are an added benefit of not mowing fence-to-fence and careful herbicide usage.

On rural two-lane roads, crews may use a protective “follow” truck to alert motorists they are approaching slow-moving mowers. Drivers are advised to use the following tips to safely pass mowers:

• Be alert for trucks and tractors with lights flashing and moving slowly, 2 to 5 mph.
• Slow down and focus on the road ahead of you. Avoid talking and texting on a cell phone or other distractions.
• Be prepared to stop or drive very slowly behind a “follow” truck, especially approaching a hill or curve on a two-lane road.
• Obey the no passing zone stripes and only pass when you can see far enough past the “follow” truck to avoid meeting oncoming traffic.