KU BASEBALL FALLS TO LOUISVILLE IN NCAA REGIONAL SPORTS 1B
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MONDAY • JUNE 2 • 2014
Galloping toward success
Utility offers prepayment to residential customers
MEDICARE
Hospital pushes for audit relief
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Lawrence is eligible for pilot program from Westar By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Lawrence is set to become a testing ground for a new way for consumers to pay their electric bills. Residential customers in Lawrence are part of a small group of customers eligible to sign up for a new “pay-as-yougo” service being offered as a pilot project by Topeka-based Westar Energy. The program is much like the prepaid phone cards some customers use, said Hal Jensen, Westar’s executive director of customer programs and service development. Instead of receiving a bill for electricity that was used in the last month, customers can make We think an advance it may fit the payment at any time. budget and “We unlifestyle of derstand it won’t be for some of our everybody, customers but we think better.” it may fit the budget and of — Hal Jensen, Westar’s lifestyle executive director of some of our customer programs c u s t o m e r s and service develop- better,” Jensen said. ment The company thinks it could be particularly popular with college students. That’s because the prepayment system will eliminate the need for a customer to provide a security deposit before establishing new service. That deposit can be about $100 for a typical residential property. With the prepaid system, Westar only requires a new customer to make a prepayment of at least $35. Customers on the prepaid plan can receive email and text alerts when their balance is a few days away from expiring. Customers also will have access to a website to track how much is in their account. If an account is depleted, prepaid customers will have 72 hours to put more money in their account to maintain service, Jensen said.
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LMH: Government is holding millions in reimbursements By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Officials at Lawrence Memorial Hospital say the federal government is withholding millions of dollars worth of Medicare reimbursements that are owed to the hospital, and they are looking to Congress for legislation to reform what they say is a flawed auditing system. “LMH has appealed virtually every account that has been disallowed, and to date we’re winning 96 percent of our appeals,” said Joe Pedley, chief financial officer for the hospital. “We have HEALTH a lot of money that they’re holding today — about $4.5 million — that is still under appeal.” At issue, Pedley said, is a relatively new federal policy to scrutinize any Medicare payments for short inpatient hospital stays, defined as any stay lasting less than two nights. Since about 2010, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, the federal agency that oversees those programs, began targeting those short stays for audits. That policy was later formalized in the form of a regulation adopted earlier this year. Under that policy, if a Medicare patient is admitted to a hospital for a minimum of two midnights, the stay is generally deemed to be “reasonable and necessary” as an inpatient stay. But if the stay covers less than
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Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
RIESE WISMER, 15, LEANS OVER ON HER HORSE, BUDDY, as she picks up a flag during a training session in Baldwin City.
Young equestrian has passion for her sport, success to prove it Twitter: @GilesBruce
Baldwin City — Buddy gallops on the sand-covered course, his caretaker and owner, Riese Wismer, 15, on his back. As they ride past an orange traffic cone, Riese, wearing a velvet tortoiseshell helmet, leans down and grabs a small wooden flag sticking out of it. Buddy doesn’t slow a bit. “Goo’ boy, goo’ boy,” she says, patting his neck.
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Graduate work hours
Vol.156/No.151 20 pages
KU’s Human Resources department is proposing a solution to the graduate student work hours issue that would limit their time on the clock. Page 3A
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U.S. junior equestrian team that recently competed for the national title in Lexington, Ky. She’s headed to Europe this summer after qualifying for the International Games Exchange. She hopes to one day compete in the Olympics. “I love it. It is my passion, my hobby, my life, pretty much,” Riese said. “If I could
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Riese does it so effortlessly you start to tell yourself, “Maybe I could do that.” But that’s what elite athletes do: make sports appear so easy armchair quarterbacks think they could be Peyton Manning. Riese, who just finished her freshman year at Baldwin High School, has accomplished quite a bit already in her young equestrian career. She is a member of the fourth-ranked
By Giles Bruce
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