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December 9, 2011Capitol Reports, Dec. 9, 2011

MPANewsBook: Statehouse News for MPA Members
Go to http://www.mdn.org/mpanews for the latest version.



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Headline:  A note from Phill (Entered: 12/09/2011)

Friends,

I wanted to give you a one-week advance notice that next Friday, Dec. 16, will be the last issue of MPANews for the year. And, we might ship it to you a day or two early because I will be heading out of town for holiday break at the end of the week.

I do not expect next week's issue to be particularly heavy. My reporters will be departing for the holidays and state government will be slowed down considerably until the start of the legislative session.

My Capitol Perspectives column will be another on the budget process -- the increasing secrecy by which state budgets are developed. I've focused a bit on the budget because it promises to be a truly dreadful financial situation that legislators will face next session. Yes, I know we've been hearing those warnings for more than a few years. But I think that this time it's for real.

We will resume MPANews with the start of the legislative session. It begins on Jan. 4, so we'll have our first issue emailed out on Jan. 6, 2012. It might not be a particularly ... continued

November 18, 2011Capitol Report, Nov. 18, 2011

Headline:  A note from Phill [Entered: 11/18/2011]

Friends,

A couple of notes for the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays.

First, we will not be producing a version of MPANews for the week of Nov. 21-25. All of my reporters will be on holiday break and state government promises to be very inactive.

However, I will be in town and will update the web edition of MPANews [http://www.mdn.org/mpanews] along with NewsBook [http://www.mdn.org/newsbook].

Also, if you were planning on a column and need or desire one from me, give me a call (573-353-7525) and I can put one out. I have several pre-written ones, so it would not be a problem. I can post it on the column archive site [http://www.mdn.org/mpacol].

Second, I noticed that a few of you have been posting material on MPAShare [http://www.mdn.org/mpashare]. If you have not already registered, please do so and try it out. And let me know if there is anything you would like changed.

Starting in December, I'm thinking about including submissions from you into MPANews -- not necessarily all, but the ones I think would be of interest.

I'll write you more on that later.

Have a great Thanksgiving and remember to grieve for the turkeys.

Phill ... continued

November 11, 2011Capitol Reports, Nov. 11, 2011

MPANewsBook: Statehouse News for MPA Members
Go to http://www.mdn.org/mpanews for the latest version.


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Lawmakers grill Missouri's health director about SynCare [Entered: 11/10/2011]

By Jenner Smith [Email: JJSR4C@mail.missouri.edu, Cell: 913-220-5700 - Please remove contact info. if published.]

The Missouri Department of Health's director dodged legislators' questions Thursday [Nov. 10] about what her department is doing to assure home health care for the state's elderly.

Health department director Margaret Donnelly told the House of Representatives Government Oversight Committee that more than 1,000 Missouri critical-needs patients are still awaiting a decision on whether Medicare will provide in-home services.

The backlog of cases began after the state contracted with a private firm, SynCare, to certify whether applicants were eligible for home services to avoid being placed in institutions like nursing homes.

The contract with SynCare was terminated, and the health department took over responsibility for evaluating the applicants.

A few weeks ago, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said that the department had not cleared the backlog and that the agency's inaction was endangering ... continued

November 4, 2011Capitol Report, Nov. 4, 2011

Headline:  Cap on medical malpractice damages comes under fire in Missouri Supreme Court [Entered: 11/02/2011]

By Alysha Love [Email: alysha.s.love@gmail.com, Cell: 417-425-6975 - Please remove contact info. if published.]

The right of those harmed by doctors to collect high-dollar damages came before the seven justices of the Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday [Nov. 2].

When Ronald Sanders' wife died of brain damage in 2005, he sued.

He sued doctors for wrongful death and medical malpractice. At the end of the trial, the jury awarded Sanders and his daughters nearly $1 million to pay back medical bills as well as $9.2 million in non-economic damages, those that aren't related to medical or monetary costs.

There was just one problem: The doctor's attorneys whipped out a state statute that caps the non-economic damages a jury can award in medical malpractice lawsuits. That statute knocked down Sanders' non-economic awards to $1.2 million; his attorneys responded that the statute was unconstitutional. The case was appealed and cross-appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Judges in the state's high court heard arguments from the attorneys on whether the legislature's cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice ... continued

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