By Dave Ranney
KHI News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Kansas is among the nation’s least prepared states for responding to outbreaks of severe infectious diseases, according to a national report.

The report, released Thursday by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that Kansas met three out of 10 key measures having to do preventing, detecting, diagnosing and responding to outbreaks.
Six other states — Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Wyoming — scored three as well. Only Arkansas fared worse, meeting two of the indicators. Missouri scored four.

The five top-scoring states — Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia — met eight of the 10 measures.

The scores were based on data from publicly available sources and from information provided by public officials.

The indicator categories included:

• Adequacy of public health funding.

• Preparation for emerging threats.

• Childhood vaccination rates.

• Flu vaccination rates.

• Climate change adaption plans.

• Health care-acquired infection rates.

• Sexually transmitted infection and disease rates.

• Response to foodborne illness outbreaks.

According to the report, Kansas earned points in food safety, preparation for emerging threats and one of two vaccination categories.

During a media call with reporters Thursday, Dr. Jeffrey Levi, executive director at the Trust for America’s Health, was asked what low-scoring states could do to improve their rankings.

He replied: “For most states, the place to start would be their public health budgets. The primary role of government — even in these difficult fiscal times — is to protect people from things they do not have control over, and infectious disease is a perfect example of that fundamental role. That would be a good starting point.”

According to the report, Kansas’ spending on public health in the last two fiscal years fell by almost 13 percent.

Of the 22 states that cut spending on public health, West Virginia led the nation with an 18 percent reduction. Kansas was second.

Sara Belfry, a Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokesperson, said the agency is — and has been — addressing the shortcomings cited in the report.

“Since 2011, KDHE has taken a closer look at our core public health mission, and have implemented a strategic approach to budgeting for programs across the agency to better align our spending with our core public health mission,” she wrote in an email to KHI News Service.

Last year, the state’s flu vaccination rate increased 7 percent, she said, adding, “We strongly recommend all Kansans get their flu vaccine to protect themselves and their loved ones from getting the flu.”

The department, she said, recently launched an initiative aimed at improving its processes for tracking sexually transmitted diseases.

“This would require a change in our administrative regulations, which requires a public comment period and publication in the Kansas Register,” Belfry wrote. “KDHE is in the process of revising these regulations.”

Michelle Ponce, executive director at the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, said the findings reflect her members’ concerns.

“Recent events, such as the Kansas measles and pertussis outbreaks and the national response to the Ebola virus, underscore the necessity of maintaining a strong public health system,“ she wrote in an email.

The Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations dedicated to the improvement of public health.

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

The Associated Press

The family of Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has released a statement condemning the shooting deaths of two New York City officers.

The statement posted Saturday on Twitter by the Parks & Crump law firm says Brown’s family rejects “any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement. It cannot be tolerated.”

It calls on citizens to “work together to bring peace to our communities.”

The brief statement concludes saying, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the officers’ families during this incredibly difficult time.”

A Missouri grand jury refused to indict the white officer who shot Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

COLUMBIA – Police have arrested six University of Missouri-Columbia students on suspicion of hazing during a hide-and-seek style game.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that officers were called to a residence hall after several students saw what they thought was a person being assaulted.

MU Police Department Capt. Brian Weimer says several fraternity members had chased down and grabbed two pledge members who were then put in a van. Weimer says one of the pledges had his hands tied behind his back, but neither person was injured.

He described the game as a version of hide-and-seek.

The men who were arrested ranged in age from 19 to 21. They were arrested and released on summonses.

Weimer says the pledges who were grabbed and put in the van aren’t pressing any charges.

KANSAS CITY – Kansas City police have made about a dozen arrests after a group protesting police brutality attempted to block traffic on Interstate 70.

The Kansas City Star reports that the group gathered at a park for a rally and proceeded to march onto an interstate entrance ramp, near downtown. No injuries were reported.

Eastbound traffic was shut down as a safety precaution.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate this week gave unanimous approval to the Security Clearance Accountability, Reform, and Enhancement Act, bipartisan legislation backed by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill aimed at better protecting the country’s secure facilities and sensitive information by strengthening accountability in background checks.

“When it comes to conducting background checks on the individuals who handle America’s most secure secrets and institutions, there is no room for error,” said McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight and former Missouri State Auditor. “Considering the kinds of threats we face as a nation, security clearance background checks must be conducted with the utmost level of oversight, integrity, and accountability.”

This legislation would direct the Office of Personnel Management to terminate or place on leave any employee that is involved in intentional misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, including falsification, fraud, or other serious misconduct. Individuals employed or contracted by the Office of Personnel Management that are intentionally involved in such misconduct would also be debarred or suspended.

Additionally, the legislation would direct the President to review and update guidance for agencies to: (1) determine whether a position requires a security clearance; (2) implement such guidance, including quality controls; and (3) review (at least every five years) and, if necessary, revise the designation of a position as requiring access to classified information or secure government facilities.

Following the systemic problems with the security clearance background check process highlighted by security leaks from contractor Edward Snowden and the tragic shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, McCaskill revealed that USIS, the company responsible for conducting the background investigations for both Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, was under criminal investigation. After McCaskill questioned the fact that USIS had two separate contracts with the federal government—one to conduct background investigations, the other to oversee background investigations conducted by contractors, including USIS itself—the federal government stopped allowing private contractors to oversee their own work in security clearance background checks.

McCaskill has led additional efforts to bring accountability to the security clearance process, including two other related pieces of bipartisan legislation. The first— the Security Clearance Oversight Reform (SCORE) Act—became law in October of 2013. This legislation allows the Inspector General of Office of Personnel Management to use resources from the agency’s $2 billion Revolving Fund to more thoroughly investigate cases where the integrity of the background check process may have been compromised.

The second bill, would require OPM to implement an automated search of public records and databases on every individual with a security clearance at least twice, at random times, every five years. As it stands now, once a person obtains a security clearance no additional reviews of that person’s background are conducted until their security clearance is renewed. Depending on the level of security clearance, that interval could be up to 5, 10, or even 15 years.

ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran urges the Treasury Department to immediately rewrite cumbersome regulations that have made it difficult to sell wheat and other agricultural commodities to Cuba.

He says this is an issue for Kansas because wheat is Cuba’s second largest import behind oil and Kansas is the largest wheat-producing state.

The Republican said Friday the agency can take that step even before Congress grapples with whether to lift the U.S. trade embargo.

Agricultural commodities are among the few exceptions to the embargo. Moran says the administration of George W. Bush instituted costly rules such as requiring up-front cash payments before commodities leave U.S. ports. It also required the payments go through banks in other countries.

Moran also vows to work in Congress to entirely lift the embargo.

JOPLIN – A Joplin man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for participating in a home-invasion killing.

The Joplin-Globe reports that 21-year-old Johnathan Taylor was sentenced Friday for his role in the July 2012 death of 23-year-old Jacob Wages.

Prosecutors said Taylor and four co-defendants mistakenly believed that Wages had drugs and drug money.

Nineteen-year-old Daniel Hartman was sentenced to two life sentences for being the trigger man. Taylor’s younger brother, Elijah Taylor, and two other co-defendants were sentenced to 15 years each in the crime after testifying at the trial of Hartman, who was an Oklahoma gang member.

Taylor was initially offered the same sentence if he pleaded guilty. But while Taylor was out on bond he was arrested twice, once in the robbery of liquor store clerk.

By Andy Marso
KHI News Service

TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback appointed Susan Mosier as secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Friday, one month after giving her the job on an interim basis.

Mosier, an ophthalmologist and former Republican legislator, also has been serving as head of the Kansas Medicaid program and KDHE’s Division of Health Care Finance.
“Susan has done an excellent job as the interim secretary,” Brownback said in a prepared statement. “Her experience, passion and leadership will serve KDHE and the people of Kansas well. I am grateful for her willingness to take on this important challenge.”

Mosier replaced Brownback’s first KDHE secretary, Robert Moser, a family practice doctor who formerly headed the Greeley County Health Services. He left to take a job with the University of Kansas Hospital.

Mosier’s permanent appointment must be approved by the Senate, but there is likely to be little dissent. Democrats hold only eight seats in that chamber as the opposition party and Rep. Jim Ward, one of the House Democrats most critical of Brownback, said Friday that Mosier was unobjectionable.

“Susan’s very competent and she will manage the policies of the governor just fine,” Ward said.

In her previous roles, Mosier helped shepherd KDHE through a complicated and controversial switch to managed care Medicaid administered by three private insurance companies that began in 2013.

The governor’s ambitious goal for the privatized plan, known as KanCare, is to save the state $1 billion in Medicaid money over five years and improve health outcomes by coordinating care and not cutting benefits, eligibility or provider reimbursements.

“I am honored by the governor’s trust in me,” Mosier said after she was appointed Friday. “I am committed to the KDHE mission of protecting and improving the health and environment of all Kansans.”

Ward has pointed to the amount of money lost by the private managed care companies in KanCare’s first two years as a warning that the program is unsustainable and cuts will be coming.

As the governor enters his second term, Ward said Brownback and Mosier will have “very significant issues and a lot of important things to address” when it comes to protecting the quality of life for Kansans with disabilities and other vulnerable populations.

“That all sits on her desk and his desk, and it will be interesting to see how they do that,” Ward said.
Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

COLUMBIA (AP) – More than 100 faculty members at the University of Missouri’s flagship campus in Columbia are taking buyouts and retiring.

The Columbia Missourian reports that more than 42 percent of eligible faculty members, or 110, were approved for the buyout. The majority of them won’t retire until August.

To qualify, faculty had to be retirement eligible and turn 62 by Aug, 31, 2015. They were eligible for a one-time payment of 1 1/2 times their base salary, not to exceed $200,000.

The program will free up about $17 million in budgeted salaries and benefits.

MU spokesman Christian Basi says some rehires will take place, but the number has not been finalized.