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Gov. taking cautious approach to Medicaid expansion
A family-friendly tradition
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
John Young/Journal-World Photo
THE CARTTAR FAMILY, CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT, LENE, PETER, DAVID, HANS, STEPHEN AND PAUL, TALK over drinks at Teller’s restaurant on Thursday during the monthly Carttar Sibling Night. Since 2001, on the second Thursday of every month, the six grown children of Maggie Carttar and the late Donald Carttar gather at a Lawrence restaurant for drinks and conversation.
Siblings commit to meeting monthly, enjoying each other’s company
I
n this world of bright reds and bright blues, you’re never really sure when it’s safe to bring up politics as a topic of conversation. Unless, that is, you’re at this table of six. “Most people don’t want to talk about politics because they are afraid of conflict,” Paul Carttar says. “We got over that long ago.” They probably got over it in the front yard of a Lawrence home, where the adult of the house was known to send group members to settle their differences however they wished — as long as the blows didn’t land above the neck or below the belt. Yes, these six have to be siblings. In fact, you’ve landed at Sibling Night for the Carttar family of Lawrence.
Lawhorn’s Lawrence
back to 1997, when Paul’s wife arranged a surprise birthday party at which all of Paul’s siblings camped in the backyard with him. “That campout reminded us that, with a little bit of alcohol, we could enjoy each other,” Peter Carttar says. Enjoy each other they do, every month, without fail. The group is varied enough to tackle a host of subjects: Stephen, 60, head of accounting for a private clawhorn@ljworld.com Kansas City company; Paul, 59, former director of the On the second Thursday Obama administration’s Soof every month, the six cial Innovation Fund; Peter, grown children of Maggie 57, engineer with the KanCarttar and the late Donald sas Department of TransCarttar gather at a Lawrence portation; Lene Carttar restaurant for cocktails and Brooke, 56, an administrator conversation. They have with the Kansas University been doing so since 2001. But film department; Hans, the tradition goes all the way 51, general manager of the
Chad Lawhorn
Target distribution center in Topeka; and David, 44, a geographic computer modeler. All were born and raised in Lawrence, but all have moved elsewhere over the years. Even when they haven’t all been in Lawrence — all live here currently — the monthly gatherings still continued on. “My staff in Washington, D.C., knew when Sibling Night was,” Paul says. “There is a real commitment to this,” Lene adds. “If you are in town, you don’t miss it.” If you did, you might miss conversation about almost any topic. On this night at Teller’s restaurant, there is conversation about the free gingersnap
TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback is taking a wait-and-see attitude about whether to opt-in to expansion of the Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act. “We’re talking with other states about what they are doing, still reviewing options,” Brownback said recently. And like all things related to the ACA, sometimes called, “Obamacare,” politics is involved. A handful of states, all led by Republican governors and outspoken critics of the Affordable Care Act, have ruled out expansion of Medicaid. Those states, which include Texas, Oklahoma, Brownback Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina, have among the highest rates of uninsured citizens in the country. Currently, Medicaid provides health care coverage to about 380,000 Kansans, with the largest portion of them — about 230,000 — being children. The rest are mostly lower-income, pregnant women, people with disabilities and the elderly. The $2.8 billion program is funded with federal and state dollars. Medicaid in Kansas doesn’t cover low-income adults who don’t have children. And a nondisabled adult with children is eligible only if his or her income is below 32 percent of the poverty level, which is approximately $5,000 per year. That is about the most difficult eligibility level in the country. But starting in 2014, the ACA creates an eligibility level of 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $15,415 per year for an individual and $26,344 per year for a family of three. Estimates indicate that Kansas’
Please see FAMILY, page 5A
Please see MEDICAID, page 2A
At public meetings across the U.S., fights over prayer drag on By Jessica Gresko Associated Press
WASHINGTON — It happens every week at meetings in towns, counties and cities nationwide. A lawmaker or religious leader leads a prayer before officials begin the business of zoning changes, contract approvals and trash pickup. But citizens are increasingly taking issue with these prayers, some of which have been in place for decades. At least five lawsuits around the country — in California, Florida, Missouri, New York, and Tennessee — are actively challenging pre-meeting prayers. Lawyers on both sides say
there is a new complaint almost weekly, though they don’t always end up in court. When they do, it seems even courts are struggling to draw the line over the acceptable ways to pray. Some lawyers and lawmakers believe it’s only a matter of time before the Supreme Court will weigh in to resolve the differences. The court has previously declined to take on the issue, but lawyers in a New York case plan to ask the justices in December to revisit it. And even if the court doesn’t take that particular case, it could accept a similar one in the future. Lawmakers who defend
Low: 30
srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — In Kansas, mixing politics and prayer is commonplace. Many public meetings start with a prayer or a moment of silence. In the Statehouse, the House and Senate begin every daily session with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Sometimes the prayers in the Kansas Legislature have stirred up controversy. Scott Rothschild/Journal-World File Photo
Please see KANSAS, page 6A
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THE FORMER SUPREME COURT ROOM in the Kansas Capitol was devoted to groups for prayer and song on Gov. Sam Brownback’s inauguration day in January 2011.
By Scott Rothschild
Please see PRAYER, page 6A
Sunny
High: 55
Prayer in public meetings common in Kansas
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Vol.154/No.330 36 pages