February 2015 – Page 35 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Kansas and Missouri record big jumps in healthcare.gov enrollment

by Jim McLean
Obamacare enrollment grew by nearly 70 percent in both Kansas and Missouri during the most recent sign-up period, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of Kansans enrolled in health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace increased to 96,226 from 57,013. Missouri enrollment jumped to 253,969 from 152,335.

The new totals include those who purchased coverage for the first time as well as those who switched plans or re-enrolled in the coverage they chose during the first sign-up period.

The initial enrollment period ran from Oct. 1, 2014, through March 31, 2015. The second enrollment period started on Nov. 15 and ended Sunday, Feb. 15.
Nationally, enrollment grew from 8.6 million to 11.4 million.

Kevin Counihan, the HHS official who oversees healthcare.gov, the federal website used by consumers in Kansas and 36 other states, said enrollment exceeded expectations by about 10 percent.

“We think people vote with their feet,” Counihan said on a call with Midwestern reporters. “When you see this kind of momentum, it tends to validate a sense that we’re providing some products and services that people value.”

Sheldon Weisgrau, director of the Health Reform Resource Project, said the Kansas enrollment number was impressive given “the continuing opposition (to the ACA) from many of our state and national political leaders.”

“The robust enrollment is a testament to the need in the state — and across the nation — for affordable health insurance,” Weisgrau said.

The resource project is supported by several Kansas foundations, including the Kansas Health Foundation, the primary funder of the Kansas Health Institute, the parent organization of the editorially independent KHI News Service.

Ryan Barker, vice president for health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, said the hope among ACA advocates going into the recent sign-up period was to push that state’s enrollment past the 200,000 threshold. They surpassed that goal by more than 50,000.

“So, we’re ecstatic today,” Barker said.

Because Missouri law prohibits public agencies from being involved with outreach and enrollment efforts, the foundation created the Cover Missouri Coalition, a group of more than 700 private, mostly nonprofit organizations, to coordinate ACA outreach in the state.

The number of Kansans with ACA coverage equals about 40 percent of the 244,000 potential enrollees in the state, according to the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. The picture is much the same in Missouri, where Kaiser estimates there are 632,000 potential enrollees.

Barker said he expected another big enrollment jump in 2016 but that it would get increasingly more difficult to reach all those included in the Kaiser estimates.

“There are still a lot of consumers who have no idea of what the marketplace is,” Barker said.

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

– See more at http://www.khi.org/news/article/kansas-and-missouri-record-big-jumps-in-healthcare.gov-enrollment#sthash.nvs9VkYs.dpuf

Cold today, chance of flurries

Wyandotte County is in an area that is forecast to have about or less than a half-inch of snow or precipitation today, according to the National Weather Service. (National Weather Service graphic)

The high today will be about 20 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and there will be a 20 percent chance of flurries.

The temperature at 9 a.m. was 13 degrees, with a wind chill reading of 5. There is a chance for flurries before noon, then a chance of snow after noon, according to the weather service.

Tonight, there is a slight chance of snow showers between 9 p.m. and midnight, then a chance for flurries, the weather service said. The low will be around 16.

Friday, there may be scattered flurries before noon, with a high that day of 39, according to the weather service.

Friday night, there is a 50 percent chance of rain or freezing rain, the weather service said. The low will be around 31.

On Saturday, there is an 80 percent chance of freezing rain and sleet before 9 a.m., then snow, freezing rain and sleet between 9 a.m. and noon, the weather service said. After noon, there is a chance of snow. The high will be near 34. From 1 to 2 inches of accumulation is possible, the weather service said.

Saturday night, there is a 30 percent chance of snow before midnight, with a low of 13, the weather service said.

Sunday’s forecast will be partly sunny with a high near 21., the weather service said. Sunday night, the low will be around 4.

Predicted snowfall amounts for Friday night to Saturday. (National Weather Service graphic)

Sen. Haley to keep trying on bill that would require vacant elected offices to be filled

A bill to require cities and counties to name a replacement for a vacant elected office within a specified amount of time did not pass in a Senate committee, but there are plans to amend another bill with some of its provisions.

Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., said the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections tied when it voted on the effort to require local governments to fill vacancies, and Senate Bill 10 did not advance. However, he said he plans to make some of its provisions into an amendment to another bill concerning moving elections from spring to fall.

Some of the committee members did not like the idea of a local government paying $150,000 for a special election because it did not appoint a replacement, Sen. Haley said. The bill was opposed by the UG, which cited the cost of the special election, and the UG also was in favor of local control.

In his amendment, Sen. Haley plans to change that provision for a special election to a new plan to break a tie by allowing the chief law enforcement officer of the county to have the deciding vote, he said. In Wyandotte County, that would be the sheriff.

Sen. Haley said this idea for a tiebreaker was first suggested by Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, R-5th Dist.

If a city or county’s charter has another provision to break a tie and fill the position, this law will not be used, Sen. Haley said.

The idea for the bill to fill vacant elected seats came from the Unified Government, where the 1st District, at large, seat has gone unfilled for nearly two years. The UG Commission deadlocked and could not get six votes for any candidate. The UG charter did not contain any provisions for breaking a tie or holding a special election in the event of a tie.

Seven candidates currently are running for the 1st District, at large, seat in the spring elections March 3. Sen. Haley said this bill could be needed if a tie were to ever happen again on a commission appointment.

“I’m embarrassed how this whole thing unfolded, and I’m frustrated that they couldn’t figure it out back home,” Sen. Haley said about the UG’s deadlock.

Sen. Haley said the bill to change local elections from the spring to the fall may have a certain amount of support in the Legislature, and that he favors odd-numbered years for local elections and even-numbered years for state and federal contests.