In the News
When Kayla Kjelshus gave birth to her first child, the infant spent seven days in the neonatal intensive care unit, known as the NICU. This stressful medical experience was followed by an equally stressful financial one. Because of an obscure health insurance policy called the "birthday rule," Kjelshus and her husband, Mikkel, were hit with an unexpected charge of more than $200,000 for the NICU stay.
By Katie Adams
In January, a Kansas couple shared the story of how they received a $270,951 medical bill after the birth of their first child — even though they're both insured. Now, a state representative is proposing legislation to ensure stories like theirs don't happen again.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., on Thursday introduced a bill aimed at helping expecting parents make the choice over which parent's insurance will cover their newborn's health care.
The bill will cut red tape, avoid surprise bills and let parents, not an insurance company, make the decision on insurance, according to Rep. Davids.
A bizarre insurance loophole put one Olathe couple $270,000 in debt after their newborn's NICU stay.
This loophole gives insurers the power to decide which parent's health care policy will cover the new baby. The deciding factor? Whichever parent's birthday comes first in the calendar year.
Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids' new bill seeks to change the little-known law nicknamed "The Birthday Rule" and ensure this doesn't happen again.
- Rep. Sharice Davids, Kansas Representative (D-KS-03)
- Mikell Kjelshus, member of local family affected by "Birthday Rule"
By Johnathan Shorman
When Mikkel and Kayla Kjelshus' daughter, Charlie, was born in the Kansas City area with complications that required intensive care, it was obvious the medical bills would be expensive.
They were prepared. Both parents had insurance and planned to use Kayla's, with its better rates, for Charlie's primary coverage.
Last week, Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas District 3 toured Dentec Safety Specialists in Lenexa, a manufacturer that used federal funding to pivot their business from construction materials to needed medical supplies during the pandemic, according to a press release.
Davids and Dentec Chief Executive Officer Claudio Dente highlighted the company's reusable respirators — a product recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — as a "critical" innovation for healthcare workers.
By Chris Oberholtz
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids announced Friday that the Restaurant Revitalization Fund granted more than $46 million in pandemic relief aid to 165 small businesses in Kansas City.
The Biden administration launched the program in January to give a lifeline to restaurants across the country that were forced by the government to either shut down or limit their operations. The fund provided a total of $28.6 billion in aid to more than 100,000 US restaurants, according to the US Small Business Administration.
By Shia Kapos
Women athletes have never been so inextricably linked to political discourse as they are today — speaking out on criminal justice reform, #MeToo, Senate races, publicity rights for their name, image and likeness (NIL), and inequalities in the NCAA.
And when the U.S. Women's Soccer Team takes the field at the Tokyo Olympics, we can expect a renewed discussion on pay equity.
By Leah Wankum
Downtown Overland Park could have looked vacant this summer.
When the global COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread shutdowns in March 2020, a handful of small businesses were at risk of staying permanently closed. But a loyal, supportive customer base paired with federal COVID-19 relief programs like the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan have kept those businesses afloat, some business owners say.
By Heidi Schmidt and Tia Johnson
Families in Kansas and Missouri have started to receive child tax credit payments from the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan.
Critics labeled it another unnecessary government handout adding to the deficit, but on Monday, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids and supporters hailed it as a big boost for families struggling with the pandemic.
5 things to know before child tax credit checks arrive this month
"While we were saving for all of the things we were expecting, we weren't expecting all that," Kansas mom Crystal Henry said.