Health

Kansans with developmental disabilities and their caregivers have been among the most vocal critics of the new privatized Medicaid system.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has stopped providing free HIV/AIDS testing for most Kansas counties.

A Wichita clinic formerly operated by slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller is expected to reopen soon.

Dr. George Tiller’s former building was recently purchased by an organization called Trust Women Foundation. It’s headed by Julie Burkhart, who used to run Tiller’s political action committee.

Abortion services have been unavailable in Wichita since Tiller was gunned down in 2009. Burkhart says each year, women in the Wichita area have to travel to Kansas City or to Oklahoma to get an abortion.

The number of mentally ill prisoners in Kansas has increased by 126 percent since 2006. Nearly two out of every five adult inmates in Kansas are classified as mentally ill.

Republican Senator Steve Fitzgerald blames the spike on the state's failure to develop an effective, community-based system of treatment. His district includes Lansing Correctional Facility.

Fitzgerald says Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts is by default the provider of last resort for a growing group of people with mental illness.