Health Care

Now that summer's coming to an end and the new school year is almost here, it's important for parents to start preparing themselves and their children for this transition. As children enter a new school year, they are going to be more prone to catching an illness than they were over the summer months. It isn't a secret that a child's exposure to germs is going to increase when they are around a large group of children every week. However, there are several steps that you as a parent can take in decreasing your child's chances of getting sick.

It's already been a hot summer and more heat is on the way. Those high temperatures can cause some big health concerns. Doctors in Salina say they've already seen more people suffering from heat exhaustion this summer. "We knew we were going to see a large number of people with heat exhaustion," says Keir Swisher D.O. co-medical director at Salina Regional Hospital.   During the afternoon rush inside the emergency room at Salina Regional the staff is well prepared for a wave of people suffering from too much sun. Weakness, nausea, headaches...they see it all. "When it gets to triple digits you just need to be smart about what you are exposing yourself to”, added Swisher.

Do you currently have any kind of health insurance coverage? 84% - Yes 16% - No 1% - Not Sure Asked of  500 Adults Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 3.3% If your coverage is provided through... 69% - Employer 20% - Medicare Or Medicaid 10% - Yourself 1% - Not Sure Asked of 418 who have insurance Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.5% Thinking about the health care bill which was passed into law last March, how familiar would you say you are with that law?

Kansas' new Attorney General asks to join a multi-state lawsuit against the new federal health care reform act. Wednesday, Attorney General Derek Schmidt sent a letter to Florida's Attorney General asking that Kansas be allowed to join a lawsuit challenging the new law. The suit already includes 20 other states. According to a release from the A.G.'s office, Ohio, Wyoming and Wisconsin are requesting to join the suit. There are two other lawsuits from Virginia and Oklahoma.

No matter what you think about the health care plan, it seems nobody knew what they were talking about. Read this article about the findings of a non-partisan fact checker PolitiFact. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/17/1977925/politifactcoms-lie-of-year-government.html And if you have a lot of time, here's the health care plan I saved to my desktop a long time ago. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111uM7NIU::

There is one thing most people agree on when it comes to the new health care reform law. “It's complicated,” says Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. Praeger has held meetings around the state, including Wichita, trying to explain the new law, how it affects you and your employer, and the state of Kansas. About 50 people showed up Thursday to learn more about the new law. “We have to be ready. I have to continue to do what it takes to be ready,” says Praeger.

Via Christi Health and Wichita Clinic have formally closed on the transaction making Wichita Clinic part of Via Christi Health. “We are pleased to move forward with a new model of care delivery that we believe will benefit patients, employers and payers by coordinating services to improve access to and quality of care and to help control the cost of care,” Kevin Conlin, president and CEO, Via Christi Health said in a statement...

GraceMed in Wichita is used to a lot of visitors. "We're seeing a lot of regular folks that lost their jobs and insurance and have health problems," said Dr. Kevin Raymer. The increase in patients is part of the reason former Kansas governor and current Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was there Thursday. "An additional 3,500 patients were able to be seen here last year thanks to the enhancements and investments," she told a crowd at the clinic. Community health clinic GraceMed received $1.1 million in stimulus dollars to renovate, add hours and hire more doctors like Raymer.

The Democratic and Republican candidates for Kansas' 4th Congressional District debated Thursday night. Raj Goyle (D) and Mike Pompeo (R) faced off at the Wichita State Metroplex. The auditorium had hardly a seat to spare. Those attending seemed to be as full of pride of questions as they were pride for the candidates. People told Eyewitness News they were looking for the candidates to talk about everything from health care, to jobs, to the deficit. And with news this week of more layoffs at Cessna, it surprised no one that the first question dealt with keeping jobs here in Wichita.

Six months after it became law, key portions of health care reform went into effect Thursday. They include the following, dubbed the "Patients Bill of Rights" by supporters: Allowing children under 26 years old to stay on their parents' health care plans Prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions Barring insurance companies from rescinding coverage once...