WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Lieutenant Gov. Jeff Colyer isn’t answering questions about a new loan he has made to the campaign of Gov. Sam Brownback.

A financial disclosure filing shows Colyer loaned Brownback’s campaign $500,000 in August — the third such loan he’s made to the governor’s re-election bid. He made similar loans in December 2013 and July, but both were paid back within two days.

At a campaign event Tuesday in Wichita, Colyer refused to answer questions about the loans or the origin of the money he’s lending to Brownback’s campaign. Brownback campaign spokesman John Milburn says the loans amount to simple “cash management.”

Brownback is in a tight race with Democrat Paul Davis.

Davis spokesman Chris Pumpelly says Kansans should know where Colyer is getting the money to loan to Brownback’s campaign.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — DNA has linked a Missouri inmate serving 30 years in prison for sodomy and forcible rape to the rape of a 14-year-old Kansas City girl 29 years ago.
The Jackson County prosecutor’s office says 56-year-old Melvin Conley was charged earlier this month with first-degree assault and two counts of rape with a weapon. The charges were unsealed late last week.

The victim told police that she had left a friend’s house around 10 p.m. on July 5, 1985, when someone grabbed her from behind and told her to be quiet or be killed.

Prosecutors say the girl was raped twice. Evidence collected from the victim was tested and linked by DNA to Conley.
Online prison records show Conley is being held at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron.

By KAISER HEALTH NEWS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Family medicine doctors are joining forces to win a bigger role in health care – and be paid for it.

Eight family physician-related groups, including the Leawood, Kan.-based American Academy of Family Physicians, have formed Family Medicine for America’s Health, a coalition to enhance the public perception of what they do and advance their interests through state and federal policies.

The launch of their five-year, $20 million campaign last week comes at a critical time for primary care doctors. Thanks to the health reform law, millions more people can seek care with newly gained insurance. But there’s growing debate about whether nurse practitioners and physician assistants should provide a lot more basic care, either on their own or as part of clinics sponsored by pharmacies or other businesses. Some major doctor groups have challenged the ability of lesser-trained medical professionals to independently treat patients.

Glen Stream, chairman of the new coalition, said that it plans to focus on:

• Paying primary care doctors for more than just office visits, including the time they spend making referrals to specialists, checking in with patients about treatment regimens, being available 24/7, and calling and emailing patients. Specialty doctors generally are paid more for their time and for procedures they do.

• Creating additional incentives for medical school students to go into primary care and tying medical schools’ federal funding to the primary care training they provide.

• Making electronic health records less burdensome, freeing more time for conversation with patients.

• Getting doctors to switch to a team-based, patient-centered “medical home” format, with a payment structure that reflects the work that goes into coordinating care for a patient.

• Persuading private and public employers with health plans to lean on insurers to increase compensation for primary care services.

“If we don’t spend enough on primary care, outcomes in the future will suffer because much of the chronic diseases that drive spending are preventable,” said Stream, a family physician and former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He added that larger employers could negotiate higher payment rates for primary care when picking an insurance company.

While the campaign is touted as helping patients, it also asserts that family doctors are important.

“It’s always a question of what motivates groups to do these kind of campaigns — is it looking out for patients or your own interests? And generally it’s a combination of both,” said Atul Grover, chief public policy officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

In September, the American Academy of Family Physicians announced recommendations on medical school funding, saying teaching hospitals should provide more primary care training as a condition of continuing federal funding at the same level. But Grover said the kind of training that medical students receive doesn’t drive what type of doctor they become. The reimbursement system – which typically pays specialists at higher rates – is more important.

Grover also said that while primary care is important, taking funding away from specialty training isn’t necessarily a solution because an aging population will need more specialty care.

Other groups in the coalition are the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, American Board of Family Medicine, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A review by county prosecutors of drug arrests involving the Ferguson police officer who killed an unarmed, black 18-year-old in a separate incident has led to the dismissal of a half-dozen felony cases.

A spokesman for St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said Tuesday that six felony drug cases involving Officer Darren Wilson won’t be prosecuted, primarily because Wilson missed several court appearances after going into hiding following Michael Brown’s early August death.

The dropped cases include a felony marijuana possession charge against 28-year-old Christopher A. Brooks that was thrown out on Monday after a judge had agreed to put the case on hold when Wilson missed a late September preliminary hearing.

Wilson had received a Ferguson City Council commendation for his role in Brooks’ arrest.

United States Attorney

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the former director of information technology for Clarkson Construction Company pleaded guilty in federal court today to a mail fraud scheme in which he embezzled nearly $300,000 from the company.

Rodney J. Tatum, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen to one count of mail fraud.

Clarkson Construction Company is one of the Midwest’s largest construction companies. Clarkson specializes in large-scale construction projects such as highways, interstates, bridges, and sport facilities. Clarkson employs approximately 130 full-time employees and approximately 650 hourly employees. Clarkson’s 2013 revenue was approximately $250 million.

Tatum was employed by Clarkson from 1991 until a federal criminal complaint was filed on Aug. 12, 2014; he was Clarkson’s director of information technology since 2003. In this role, he oversaw all of Clarkson’s IT activities at all of Clarkson’s business entities.

By pleading guilty today, Tatum admitted that he ordered at least $306,540 worth of expensive computer and communication equipment (including solid state hard drives, other computer equipment, and 23 iPhones) between Oct. 22, 2013, and July 31, 2014. Tatum was ordering with company funds and then reselling this equipment for personal profit without the company’s authorization.

In addition to the scheme to defraud Clarkson Construction, Tatum also defrauded Stedman Motor Sports in Moulton, Ala., out of $6,567 worth of work, including motorcycle customization. The total loss caused by Tatum is at least $313,107.

Tatum admitted that he resold the equipment for personal profit. Bank records indicate that, during the time the computer equipment was being purchased, Tatum’s bank account was credited approximately 57 times in the amount of approximately $269,706 from PayPal. Tatum’s personal Facebook page reflected apparently large spending, including on customized motorcycles, a boat, and a large motor home.

Tatum admitted that he ordered 545 expensive solid state hard drives totaling $249,008 as well as 58 other computer-based items with a value of $14,768. The total cost of the purchases, including sales tax, shipping and handling, was $284,948.

Tatum was also responsible for purchasing Clarkson’s cellular telephones through Verizon. Tatum used Clarkson’s corporate Verizon account to purchase 23 iPhone 5 Golds and two iPad Airs at a total value of $11,317.

Clarkson discovered numerous anomalies while reviewing Tatum’s purchasing card statements and expense reports, including falsified PayPal invoices and unexplained charges from Midwestelec. These additional charges have not yet been finalized as loss and incorporated into the loss figures.

Under federal statutes, Tatum is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel M. Nelson. It was investigated by the FBI.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge has ordered an Oklahoma paving company to pay a $100,000 penalty for deceiving consumers in its door-to-door sales.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Tuesday a default judgment was entered this week in Shawnee County District Court against Will J. Harrison Jr. Harrison did business as Wester Construction and Will Harrison Paving.

Judge Rebecca Crotty found that the company violated Kansas consumer protection laws. She also ordered the company to pay slightly more than $13,000 in restitution to two Kansas residents.

Schmidt says consumers should be especially cautious of door-to-door home repair salespeople claiming to offer good deals.

By Alex Smith

Medicaid expansion may yet happen in Missouri, according to state Sen. Ryan Silvey.

The Kansas City Republican said on Friday that he believes he has the support he needs to pass a Medicaid expansion bill that addresses the concerns of his more conservative colleagues.

“More and more people are coming to the realization that, while we don’t necessarily like Obamacare — while we aren’t the biggest fans of putting more people on Medicaid — that the way the current system is and the way the courts have continued to uphold it, it’s going to be damaging to our hospitals if we don’t do something,” Silvey said at an Overland Park, Kan., event sponsored by the Mother & Child Health Coalition and other groups.

Under the Affordable Care Act, disproportionate share hospital (DSH) funds, which the federal government pays hospitals to offset the costs of charity care, will be reduced starting Oct. 1, 2015.

The ACA was designed to eliminate the need for DSH funding by providing insurance to those who receive charity care. But neither Missouri nor Kansas has expanded Medicaid, leaving hospitals with the worst of both worlds.

As envisioned under the health care reform law, Silvey’s plan would expand Medicaid to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $16,104 in annual income for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four — and add about 300,000 more people to Missouri’s Medicaid rolls. But it would also create additional requirements.

Money saved by expansion would go into a trust fund to fill funding gaps when federal support for Medicaid is reduced. If the trust fund runs out, Medicaid payments to providers would be reduced.

Under the ACA, the federal government has agreed to pay all Medicaid expansion costs for three years. After that the federal share will gradually decline until it reaches 90 percent, where it will remain.

Silvey said his plan is supported by hospitals and other provider groups.

He said the compromise bill was close to being approved at the end of the 2014 legislative session but was blocked by a handful of influential legislators.

Now that some of those expansion opponents, particularly Republican Sen. John Lamping of St. Louis County, are not seeking reelection, Silvey said he’s more optimistic about the bill’s chances.

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — A South Carolina company that sells minibikes and go-carts has agreed to pay $4.3 million in a settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission — the largest-ever civil penalty levied by the agency.

CPSC alleged that Baja Inc. and its corporate affiliate, One World Technologies Inc., of Anderson, South Carolina, failed to immediately report safety problems with 11 models of minibikes and go-carts.

The vehicles were sold beginning in 2004 and recalled in 2010. CPSC says Baja received reports of fires from leaking gas caps, burn injuries and stuck throttles, but did not immediately report them to CPSC as required by law.

Baja and One World did not acknowledge the charges that the vehicles had a defect or that the company failed to notify CPSC in a timely manner.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A new coalition of Missouri lawyers and law professors that includes a former governor and a retired state Court of Appeals judge is asking Gov. Jay Nixon to commute the prison sentences of 14 women, most of whom it says were victims of domestic violence.

The Community Coalition for Clemency made its public appeal at a Tuesday morning news conference at the Saint Louis University School of Law. The announcement coincides with Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Group members said the women received sentences disproportionate to their crimes, and in some cases more severe than those received by men convicted of similar offenses.
Nixon has granted just one clemency request since taking office in 2009, by far the fewest among Missouri’s previous six governors.