National Weather Service graphic
It may seem like spring in Wyandotte County today, but wait another day and winter will be back.
There will be a few chances for snow on the weekend, particularly on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Today, the high will be near 54 with increasing clouds and a north wind of 5 to 7 mph, the weather service said.
Tonight, the low will be 32 with mostly cloudy skies and a north northwest wind of 5 to 8 mph, according to the weather service.
Thursday, the temperature will reach only 33 degrees, with a north wind of 8 to 11 mph, the weather service said. It will start with mostly cloudy skies, then gradually become sunny.
Thursday night, the low will be around 14 with mostly clear skies, according to the weather service. A north northwest wind of 5 to 7 mph will become calm after midnight.
Friday, the high will be near 37 with mostly sunny skies, the weather service said. A calm wind will become south 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Friday night, the low will be 29 with mostly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.
Saturday, The high will be near 44 with mostly cloudy skies, the weather service said.
Saturday night, the low will be around 16 with mostly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.
Sunday, there is a high near 23 with a chance of snow showers after noon, the weather service said. The chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
Sunday night, the low will be around 14 with partly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.
Monday, the high will be near 38 with partly sunny skies, the weather service said.
Monday night, the low will be around 23 with mostly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.
Tuesday, the high will be near 35 with mostly cloudy skies, the weather service said.
by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service
Proposed changes to KanCare — the taxpayer-funded health care program that more than 400,000 poor, elderly and disabled Kansans depend on — face increasing resistance from key players in the Kansas Capitol.
A week ago, incoming Gov. Jeff Colyer promised to back off a plan that would have imposed a work requirement and benefit caps on some of the Kansans enrolled in the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
Yet the administration he’ll inherit, when he takes over for Gov. Sam Brownback this week, hasn’t retreated from its call for tougher eligibility rules.
“Please don’t fall for any false promises,” said Tim Graham, a lobbyist for caregivers who work with disabled Kansans.
So advocates for KanCare recipients want lawmakers to block agency officials from securing the federal approval that could lock the pending changes in for years to come.
The Brownback-Colyer administration has already submitted its KanCare 2.0 plan — including its new work requirements — for federal approval and accepted bids from companies seeking lucrative managed care contracts.
Future business partners, administration officials said, would lose faith in KanCare and the state’s willingness to stick with contracts if lawmakers killed the latest plan.
“I just want to be careful that we don’t put ourselves behind the eight ball,” said John Hamdorf, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment official who oversees KanCare.
Members of the Senate budget committee are considering a bill that would expressly prohibit the administration from making any changes to KanCare. The program has generated complaints from providers and patients alike about increased red tape and reductions in services since its launch in 2013.
Key members of the committee say they’re willing to allow the administration to seek federal approval to extend the current program by three years and to invite the companies now seeking KanCare 2.0 contracts to revise their bids.
“That’s a good compromise,” said Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat running for governor.
Under the proposal, the three managed care companies that now administer KanCare would have to compete to retain their contracts.
“The state will get a better contract,” Kelly said, “if there are more companies competing.”
The emerging agreement would require the administration to withdraw the KanCare 2.0 plan it submitted in December to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and replace it with a request to extend the existing program.
Any effort to impose a work requirement or benefit cap would require the state to seek a separate waiver from Washington, according to lawmakers negotiating the compromise.
Several organizations recently filed a lawsuit to block Kentucky officials from implementing the nation’s first Medicaid work requirement.
Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.
See more at http://kcur.org/post/lawmakers-dont-revive-kancare-20.
Hannah Elizabeth Clark, a student from Kansas City, Kansas, was named to the Central Methodist University dean’s list for the fall semester.
Clark studies through the CMU main campus in Fayette, Missouri.
Students on the dean’s list maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 or above for the semester, among other criteria.
CMU, founded in 1854, confers master’s, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees through programming on its main campus in Fayette, through extension sites and online.
