Though 25 percent of Americans still live in rural areas, only 10 percent of doctors do, according to the National Rural Health Association, and finding physicians and other medical professionals willing to work in the hinterlands remains a serious, growing problem in Kansas and other parts of the United States. But in Kearny County, on the High Plains near the Kansas-Colorado boundary where there are only about five residents per square mile, one small hospital has adopted a distinctive approach to recruitment that in a relatively short time has produced a staff that includes five doctors, five physician assistants and a growing volume of patients. A sixth doctor and a sixth physician assistant are scheduled to start work at the hospital next year. “We have more candidates interested in coming here than we have room to hire,” says Benjamin Anderson, chief executive at Kearny County Hospital. “It’s not rocket science, but to do it requires a hospital to be mission-focused and it requires the right kind of mission-focused governance and leadership, and I think not every organization has that. “But any hospital has the ability to do this,” he says, "and we would hand the blueprint to anyone who wants it for free." Four types of doctor Earlier in his career, Anderson worked as a physician recruiter and saw four general types of doctors willing to work in rural areas: A person born and raised in the area who chose to return home. Foreign doctors who gained U.S. resident status by agreeing to work - usually temporarily - in an…...

Unlike its neighboring states of Missouri and Nebraska, where significant decreases have been reported, Kansas has seen a significant jump in the number of people enrolled in its Medicaid/CHIP programs, even without loosening its relatively tight eligibility standards. According to a new report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, enrollment in the programs — together branded as KanCare — rose in April to a historic high of 426,642 people, or roughly one in seven Kansans. That’s up from 396,374 in April 2013. KanCare provides health coverage for adults who are poor and elderly or disabled. It also covers children and pregnant women from low-income families. KanCare is paid for mostly by the federal government, but the state covers about 43 percent of the cost, making it one of the single largest areas of spending for Kansas government at $3.2 billion a year, of which about $1.2 billion is state money. KDHE officials attributed the increase in enrollment largely to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Since January, the federal law requires that most people obtain health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Federal subsidies are available for most people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but otherwise can’t afford private insurance premiums. The law originally included provisions requiring states to expand Medicaid eligibility to provide coverage for the poorest adults, but the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that was an option for each state to decide. Unlike their counterparts in states like New York, California, Oregon and Colorado, Kansas policymakers chose not to ease Medicaid…...

Mike Shields — KHI News Service LENEXA — Gov. Sam Brownback today said he will ask the Kansas Legislature to approve spending an additional $2.6 million in state funds to help reduce the waiting lists for in-home, Medicaid services for the disabled. If approved, an estimated 209 additional people would receive the services. There are about 5,000 people on the waiting lists; more than 3,100 are developmentally disabled. About 1,800 physically disabled people also await services, though administration officials said they were still in the process of verifying the accuracy of that number. If the governor’s funding request is approved by lawmakers, 77 of the 209 beneficiaries would come off the developmental disability waiting list and 132 from the physical disability list, according to Brownback officials. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services reported there were 8,759 developmentally disabled Kansans and 5,467 physically disabled people receiving in-home services as of April 15. “Reducing the disability waiting lists has been a priority of this administration for the past three years,” Brownback said during a press conference at Johnson County Developmental Supports to announce his budget amendment. Johnson County Developmental Supports is a county agency that assists the developmentally disabled with job support and other services. The reaction to Brownback's announcement from advocates for the disabled was mixed. “For the 77 (developmental disability) families, it’s very good news, absolutely,” said Tom Laing, executive director of Interhab, the association that represents most of the state’s Community Developmental Disability Organizations or CDDOs. “But as regards the system as a whole, it’s really nothing…...

By Mike Shields — KHI News Service In the state that has proudly called itself the nation’s breadbasket, the problems of poverty — including hunger, homelessness and mental illness — reach farther into classrooms than many Kansans might expect or care to believe. In hundreds of public schools across the state, there are students that each Friday — or before holidays — are sent home with “backpacks” or “kits” of donated food put together by volunteers to be sure the children will have something to eat until they return to class the next school day. Full story available at www.khi.org. Major Funding for Health coverage on KCPT provided by Assurant Employee Benefits and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City....