JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich (shwyk) confirms he is considering a run for governor and will announce a decision early next year.
Schweich told The Associated Press on Thursday that he believes he has the qualifications, commitment and financial support to run but wants to ensure it is something he and his family want to do.
Schweich’s comments came as his supporters released a letter signed by more than 120 people encouraging him to run.
So far, former U.S. Attorney and Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway is the only declared Republican candidate for governor in 2016. Attorney General
Chris Koster is the only Democrat already running for governor.
Schweich, a Republican, won re-election earlier this month to a second, four-year term and had declined previously to comment about the governor’s race.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced in a media release that a Camden, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm following an investigation that employed a deer decoy in rural Ray County, Mo.
Dewayne A. Stephens, 44, of Camden, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, to nine years in federal prison without parole.
On Dec. 19, 2013, Stephens pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Stephens was seen in the area of Vandiver Road in rural Ray County on Nov. 11, 2012, with a bolt action rifle. The next day, Stephens and another individual were seen carrying a rifle after shots were heard in the wooded area. A Winchester .243-caliber shell casing was found in the area where the shots were heard.
On Nov. 14, 2012, conservation agents set up a deer decoy and observed Stephens exit his Dodge truck with a black and silver colored rifle with a silver scope and fire a shot at the deer decoy. Stephens then entered his truck with the rifle and fled the scene. One of the agents attempted to stop Stephens by blocking the roadway with his patrol truck, but Stephens accelerated, veered around the patrol truck (barely missing it) and left the area.
A Winchester .243-caliber shell casing was located in the area where Stephens had fired his rifle. A silver Savage Axis .243-caliber rifle with a synthetic stock and large silver scope was found along the road where Stephens had fled. Investigators confirmed that the two .243-caliber shell casings recovered were fired from the Savage Axis rifle, which was purchased by Stephens’s wife on Sept. 29, 2012.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Stephens has three prior felony convictions for receiving stolen property and prior felony convictions for driving while intoxicated, assault, armed criminal action, deviate sexual assault, burglary and stealing.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Michael Green. It was investigated by the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Independence, Mo., Police Department.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — You don’t get a pass this year on big health insurance decisions because you’re not shopping in an Affordable Care Act marketplace. Employer medical plans — where most working-age folks get coverage — are changing too.
Rising costs, a looming tax on rich benefit packages and the idea that people should buy medical treatment the way they shop for cell phones have increased odds that workplace plans will be very different in 2015.
“If there’s any year employees should pay attention to their annual enrollment material, this is probably the year,” said Brian Marcotte, CEO of the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers.
In other words, don’t blow off the human resources seminars. Ask these questions.
Is my doctor still in the network?
Some employers are shifting to plans that look like the HMOs of the 1990s, with limited networks of physicians and hospitals. Provider affiliations change even when companies don’t adopt a “narrow network.”
Insurers publish directories, but the surest way to see if docs or hospitals take your plan is to call and ask.
“People tend to find out the hard way how their health plan works,” said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Don’t take for granted that everything will be the same as last year.” (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Is my employer changing where I get labs and medications?
For expensive treatments — for diseases such as cancer or multiple sclerosis — some companies are hiring preferred vendors. Getting infusions or prescriptions outside this network could cost thousands extra, just as with doctors and hospitals.
How much will my out-of-pocket costs go up?
It’s probably not a question of if. Shifting medical expense to workers benefits employers because it means they absorb less of a plan’s overall cost increases. By lowering the value of the insurance, it also shields companies from the “Cadillac tax” on high-end coverage that begins in 2018.
Having consumers pay more is also supposed to nudge them to buy thoughtfully — to consider whether procedures are necessary and to find good prices.
“It gets them more engaged in making decisions,” said Dave Osterndorf, a benefits consultant with Towers Watson.
How well this will control total costs is very unclear.
Your company is probably raising deductibles — the amount you pay for care before your insurance kicks in. The average deductible for a single worker rose to $1,217 this year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. One large employer in three surveyed by Marcotte’s group planned to offer only high-deductible plans (at least $2,600 for families) in 2015.
Employers also are scrapping co-payments — fixed charges collected during an office or pharmacy visit.
Once you might have made a $20 copay for a $100 prescription, with the insurance company picking up the other $80. Now you might pay the full $100, with the cost applied against your deductible, Marcotte said.
How do I compare medical prices and quality?
Companies concede they can’t push workers to shop around without giving information on prices and quality.
Tools to comparison shop are often primitive. But you should take advantage of whatever resources, usually an online app from the insurance company, are available.
Can I use tax-free money for out-of-pocket payments?
Workers are familiar with flexible spending accounts (which aren’t that flexible). You contribute pretax dollars and then have to spend them on medical costs before a certain time.
Employers increasingly offer health savings accounts, which have more options. Contribution limits for HSAs are higher. Employers often chip in. There is no deadline to spend the money, and you keep it if you quit the company. So you can let it build up if you stay healthy.
Don’t necessarily think of HSAs as money down the drain, Osterndorf said. Think of them as a different kind of retirement savings plan.
How is my prescription plan set up?
Drugs are one of the fastest-rising medical costs. To try to control them, employers are splitting pharmaceutical benefits into more layers than ever. Cost-sharing is lowest for drugs listed in formulary’s bottom tiers — usually cheap generics — and highest for specialty drugs and biologics.
If you’re on a long-term prescription, check how it’s covered so you know how much to put in the savings account to pay for it. Also see if a less-expensive drug will deliver the same benefit.
KANSAS CITY- A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 8 a.m. on Thursday in Wyandotte County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Ford passenger car driven by Markeeta R. Howard, 24, Kansas City, was southbound on Interstate 35 south of Southwest Boulevard. The driver lost control, struck the outside wall and the vehicle rolled.
Howard was transported to KU Medical Center.
The KHP reported she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.
WASHINGTON – In her ongoing effort to protect seniors from scam artists, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill on Wednesday questioned prepaid debit card companies and retail stores on their role in preventing consumers—particularly seniors—from falling victim to phone scams in a hearing in the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
While in the past the Committee and McCaskill’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee have heard from law enforcement, regulators, and phone companies, McCaskill used this hearing to shed light on the role of the private sector in stopping fraudsters from using prepaid debit products or wire transfer services to trick consumers into sending them money.
“The use of prepaid products to help scammers defraud customers is rising year to year,” McCaskill said. “So while the prepaid debit card companies aren’t the problem, because they are the front lines—interacting directly with the consumer—they are in an ideal position to be a part of the solution.”
McCaskill, Chairman of the Senate panel on Consumer Protection, pressed witnesses on the level of industry-wide coordination of best practices and standards to combat fraud at the point of sale, the degree to which private companies collaborate with law enforcement, and the extent to which consumers are protected from fraud when they buy prepaid products.
McCaskill previously chaired a hearing on phone scams—or “robocalls”—and next month plans to introduce legislation designed to combat robocalls by strengthening enforcement authorities, better preventing the falsification of caller ID information to commit fraud, and encouraging telecommunications providers to more aggressively implement technologies to stop fraudulent calls from reaching consumers in the first place.
As much as $649 million may have been lost to phone scams in 2013 alone and according to a study by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, nearly one in five seniors has been a victim of elder financial abuse.
Witnesses in Wednesday’s hearing included:
Steve Streit, CEO of Green Dot Corporation
Skeet Rolling, Chief Operating Officer of InComm
William Tauscher, CEO and Chairman of the Board for Blackhawk Network, Inc.
Lisa LaBruno, Senior Vice President of Retail Operations, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas casino has unveiled plans to build a meeting center and equestrian center that will enable it to host large horse shows.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Kansas Star Casino announced the $20 million expansion project Wednesday. The meeting center will be 11,000 square feet and the equestrian center will have 183 permanent stalls.
Both facilities are set to open in December.
The casino moved into its permanent location in December 2012. It also has a 300-room hotel on its property and a 42,000-square-foot arena. That arena can already host rodeos. But arena director Tim Lanier says the new outdoor center will allow the casino to put on a wide variety of horse shows.
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — With the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case drawing near, several nights of relative calm were broken by a raucous protest at police headquarters in the St. Louis County town of Ferguson.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that arrests were made during a protest late Wednesday and early Thursday. Officers, some in riot gear, responded to the noisy but peaceful rally that forced the temporary closure of South Florissant Road.
Authorities have not disclosed the reason for the arrests.
Protests have been common since Aug. 9, when white Ferguson officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown, who was 18, unarmed and black. A grand jury is expected to announce a decision this month on whether Wilson will face criminal charges.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) today spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to voice his opposition to President Barack Obama’s reported plan to bypass Congress to enact immigration reform through an executive order.
Blunt noted that President Obama’s plan to act unilaterally would be another example of his administration’s continued executive over-reach.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Springfield police say one man has died and another has been wounded in a shooting.
Officers were dispatched to a home on Wednesday and found the man’s body on a porch. They say the other man was hospitalized but they haven’t released his condition.
Their identities haven’t been released.
Police didn’t say how many people are involved but they say they believe everyone has been taken into custody. No charges have been reported.
Lt. Todd Revell tells the Springfield News-Leader that there was possibly more than one shooter.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – The number of foreign students attending class at Missouri colleges and universities is on the rise.
New figures from the Institute of International Education show there were 18,205 international students enrolled at Missouri higher education institutions during the 2013-2014 school year.
That marked an increase of more than 5 percent from the previous year, which trailed the nationwide increase of 8 percent.
Missouri ranked 12th among states in terms of international students, the same position it held the previous year.
The University of Missouri-Columbia had the most foreign students, with 2,576, followed closely by Washington University in St. Louis, with 2,449.
