�鶹Ů��

A “mega-bill” containing several provisions related to licensure of medical professionals survived a rules dispute to pass just before the Kansas Legislature adjourned early Monday morning. Unless Gov. Sam Brownback vetoes the bill, the conference committee report combined in House Bill 2615 will require acupuncturists to be licensed, enter Kansas into a compact that will license physicians to practice across state lines and expand the authority of nurse midwives. (Marso, 5/2)

The Legislature added several patient protection measures to a bill allowing “step therapy” for Medicaid drugs before passing the legislation early Monday morning. Advocates for Kansans with mental illness and other conditions were pleased with the changes but remain concerned about the possible effects of the underlying bill on vulnerable patients. (Marso, 5/2)

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered his third budget for the new fiscal year, pitching a compromise Monday that cuts his big transportation initiative, while asking legislators to reduce a sales-tax-sharing plan — but not by as much as he originally sought. Malloy would scale back his plans to reduce funding for hospitals, but also would impose deeper reductions on mental health and substance abuse treatment programs than legislators have proposed. (Phaneuf, Levin Becker and Rabe Thomas, 5/2)