Opinion: 4-H clubs host meetings See A4
Sports: Prep standouts earn honors See B1
2017 1867
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Study: GOP plan cheaper, but 24 million fewer covered By NOAM N. LEVEY and LISA MASCARO Tribune News Service
WASHINGTON (TNS) — Twenty-four million fewer Americans would have health coverage over the next decade under the House Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Monday in an anal-
Tom Price
Paul Ryan
ysis that threatens the GOP legislative campaign. Fourteen million fewer
would be insured by next year alone, dramatically reversing the coverage expansion made possible by the 2010 health care law, often called Obamacare. At the same time, millions of consumers would see skimpier health coverage and higher deductibles under the GOP plan, the budget office projected. And although average pre-
miums for those who buy their own insurance are projected to be lower after 2020 than under Obamacare — partly because plans will cover less — many consumers will pay more over the next few years than they would under current law. Hardest hit in the long run will be lower-income Americans and those nearing retirement, according to the budget
office, which estimates that over the next decade, the GOP legislation would cut about $1 trillion in federal health care assistance to low- and moderate-income Americans. The much-anticipated independent analysis from the budget office, which lawmakers from both parties rely on to gauge the potential impact See CBO | Page A3
City now in charge of flags on square By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola soon will have a written policy in place to ensure American flags are on display around the courthouse square on certain holidays. City Administrator Sid Fleming told City Council members Monday he was developing a schedule for their formal approval March 27. In years past, flags have adorned streetlight posts on Memorial Day weekend, Flag Day, July 4, Patriots Day and Veterans Day. The flags were purchased by the city, with Iola American Legion members assisting with placing them on designated days. However, with no written policy or schedule, some days have been missed, Fleming noted. “We’re hoping to get some other groups, but ul-
Iola city officials will assume responsibility for placing American flags around Iola’s courthouse square on certain holidays, such as this recent Veterans Day celebration. REGISTER FILE PHOTO timately, we’d be the ones responsible” for ensuring the flags were erected. Council members agreed See IOLA | Page A3
Humboldt will celebrate 160th anniversary By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT – Humboldt council members were bitten by nostalgia Monday evening, and kicked in $1,000 to help make the town’s 160th birthday celebration more of a party. “The more (money) we have, the more we can afford to do,” said Tom Rutledge, one of four Humboldt Historical Preservation Association members who came with hat in hand. Rutledge explained old-
A Hutchinson family sorts through the charred remains of their home following last week’s raging wild fires that burned more than 1,000 square miles of the state, killed one and injured 11 others. HUTCHINSON NEWS PHOTO/KPA
Governor declares fires a disaster TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a final disaster declaration covering 20 counties following last week’s wildfires that burned more than 1,000 square miles of the state. Brownback signed the declaration Monday. He made an initial disaster declaration
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one in Meade County were destroyed. An unknown number of livestock died. The counties listed in the declaration are Barber, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Harvey, Hodgeman, Lane, Lincoln, McPherson, Meade, Ness, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rooks, Russell, and Seward.
257 asked to change meeting dates By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
time baseball teams from Wichita and Topeka will be on hand May 20 to play a late-1800s vintage game. An honest-to-goodness stage coach, from the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm
verbally on March 5, and the final document covers fires that started March 4. One death and 11 injuries were attributed to the fires. The state said Monday that more than 40 homes and an unknown number of outbuildings were destroyed. The state also said three bridges in Clark County and
Having failed to convince the Iola City Council to reschedule its bimonthly meetings so as to avoid conflict with the district’s school board meetings, Iolan Larry Walden took his appeal to the USD 257 board of education itself. “I would love for you to consider changing your meeting nights. I made the same request of your cohorts at the city but unfortunately they didn’t see it through.” In
January, the city council voted unanimously to maintain their habit of meeting on the second and fourth Mondays of every month. “You see,” said Walden, who believes the double-booking comes at the taxpayer’s expense, “a citizen just simply can’t be at both places.” School board president Tony Leavitt promised Walden that the body would take his request under consideration. The board approved the purchase of a home at 408 E.
Jackson. The property, which will likely be slated for demolition at a future date, abuts district property. The board purchased the house for $15,000. The board approved the 2017-18 school calendar. Tammy Prather, the library media specialist at McKinley Elementary School, briefed the board on the improvements taking place at the kindergarten library. The changes, explained Prather, have See 257 | Page A3
Medicaid expansion bill will pass, Senate president predicts By JIM MCLEAN Kansas News Service
Kansas lawmakers appear poised to pass a Medicaid expansion plan despite objections from Gov. Sam Brownback and uncertainty about the future of federal funding. Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, doesn’t hesitate when asked if the expansion bill, which passed the House in late February, will clear the Senate
later this month. “I believe the bill passes on the Senate floor,” Wagle says, adding that she believes it will be approved by a wide margin. “It will be close to veto proof … because the (Kansas) health care community has become very vocal,” she says. Despite those predictions, Wagle says “the timing is wrong” for expansion because of uncertainty in Washington, D.C., as Congress debates
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how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform law better known as Obamacare. “It could sit there, because what I see the feds doing is winding that program down,” she says. The American Health Care Act, the GOP federal replacement bill, would continue to provide most of the funding until Jan. 1, 2020, for the 31 states that have expanded their Medicaid programs.
That gives Wagle and others pause. She worries that if federal Medicaid support drops below the 90 percent guaranteed in the ACA, Kansas would “all of a sudden” boot low-income adults covered by expansion off the program. But health care providers and others advocating for Medicaid expansion see the deadline in a different light. They say it’s an opportunity See MEDICAID | Page A2
“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” — Winston Churchill 75 Cents
Sen. Susan Wagle
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