Federal investigators say a law allowing rural hospitals to bill rehabilitation services for seniors at higher rates than nursing homes and other facilities has led to billions of dollars in extra Medicare spending.

The report out Monday from the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focused on the remote hospitals’ care for so-called “swing-bed” patients. These patients remain hospitalized after they normally would be released to a skilled-nursing facility. Such care cost the government an additional $4.1 billion over six years.

National Rural Health Association CEO Alan Morgan doesn’t dispute Medicare could save money by modifying the system. But Morgan says dozens of rural hospitals have closed in the past five years and nearly 300 others are on the brink. The policies in place, he says, are keeping those closures from accelerating further.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The annual state handwriting contest is again looking for the best penmanship in Nebraska.

The contest is open to all Nebraska residents. There are four age divisions: 12 and under, ages 13-16, ages 17-49 and age 50 and over.

The Department of Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney will administer the contest, which is in its 25th year.

Contestants will be provided text to copy for the entry.

The judges’ criteria include ease of reading, fluent rhythmic movement and technically correct performance of specifications.

Go online at https://coe.unk.edu/contest for official rules and the text to be copied.

The entry deadline is March 31. All entries should be mailed to: Nebraska Handwriting Contest, Attention: Julie Agard, University of Nebraska at Kearney/College of Education, Kearney, Nebraska, 68849.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 64. Light south southwest wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 26. South southwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm.
• Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 71. West northwest wind 5 to 7 mph.
• Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 28. North northeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
• Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 74. South southwest wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
• Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 35.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Dairy Queen plans to give away small ice cream cones later this month to celebrate the restaurant chain’s 75th anniversary.

The restaurant chain picked March 16 to celebrate with soft serve ice cream because that will be the 75th day of the year.

Dairy Queen Executive Vice President Barry Westrum says the ice cream give away is just the first thing the restaurant has planned to celebrate its anniversary this year.

While giving away ice cream cones, Dairy Queen will be accepting donations for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The Dairy Queen chain is based in Minneapolis, and it includes more than 6,400 restaurants in 27 countries. It is owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska, based Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

THEDFORD, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska ranchers remain uneasy about a high-voltage power line that is planned to cross part of the state’s environmentally sensitive Sandhills region.

Rancher Dan Welch says the project will harm sensitive wildlife areas, create erosion in the sandy soil and scar the landscape with access roads.

But the Nebraska Public Power District says the new line’s route is designed to minimize the effect on the Sandhills.

Plus, utility officials say the line will improve reliability and help wind power development.

NPPD’s board approved the route for the transmission line last year after conducting more than two dozen public meetings and reviewing 2,500 comments.

The transmission line will start near Sutherland and go north to a near Thedford and then east toward Holt County.

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Several hundred people attended a festival this weekend to learn more about the migrating cranes that will visit Nebraska in the next few weeks.

Many families attended the event at the Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River on Saturday.

The sanctuary’s education director Keanna Leonard says the event offered several activities to teach about the cranes.

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes feed in farm fields between Grand Island and Kearney during the day and resting in shallow waters of the Platte each night for several weeks. The cranes then continue their journeys to arctic breeding grounds.

Jen Rodriguez brought her two sons to the sanctuary, so they could learn more and get out of the house.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State education officials have approved a new accountability system that would see public schools get better state rankings if they improve students’ test scores.

The Nebraska State Board of Education also agreed Friday to seek a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind education accountability law.

The state’s new system will sort schools into four performance classes: excellent, great, good and needs improvement. Schools will jump to a higher class if scores on state tests improve from the previous year or kids demonstrate sufficient academic growth.

If a school sees an increase in students scoring below proficient, it may drop to a lower class.

The state’s new system will replace the current system, which numerically ranks public schools in a host of categories.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposal requiring members of the Nebraska State Board of Education to add disclaimers to their written communications has one embattled member accusing the others of unfairly targeting him.

Patrick McPherson lashed out Friday against the proposal, which would add a disclaimer to written and electronic comments indicating they don’t represent the opinions of the board. McPherson says the proposal seems to be an attempt to stifle his free speech.

The proposal follows calls for McPherson’s resignation by those who say he should be held accountable for several blog posts on his former conservative blog, “Objective Conservative,” that referred to President Barack Obama as a “half-breed.”

McPherson has denied writing the posts, but has refused to identify the author

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Labor is looking to get the word out about a federal grant awarded in Nebraska last year that aims to employ dislocated workers, the long-term unemployed and returning veterans.

The $4.4 million Job Driven National Emergency Grant offers training assistance to Nebraska employers. It targets manufacturing, transportation, distribution and logistics industries. It provides reimbursement for on-the-job training for jobs that are full time and permanent.

Grace Johnson with the Nebraska Labor Department says state officials are still recruiting and don’t yet have a count on the number of employers and employees participating.

Rates of reimbursement are 90 percent for firms with up to 50 employees, 75 percent to 250 employees and 50 percent for larger companies.

Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful has added a new location for citizens to drop off recyclables.

KNPLCB, Gary’s Super Foods and the City of North Platte have partnered up to provide a new location at Gary’s Super Foods, 1620 East Fourth Street, bringing the total number of drop off sites in the city to six.

In addition to the new location at Gary’s, the organization has also added an “improved” location at Westfield Shopping Center.

The bins accept plastics #1 and 2, steel, tin, aluminum, and paper.

The bin at Westfield is now accepting mixed recyclables and cardboard, meaning items will no longer have to be sorted before being placed in the bins.  However, paper will have to be bagged and cardboard will need to be broken down.

“We thank Gary’s Super Foods for letting us place a bin at this location for ease of recycling for those on the East side of North Platte,” said Mona Anderson, KNPLCB Executive Director.  “We hope all of the bins get used often and responsibly.”

Additional recycle bins are located at Mid-Plains Community College, Adams Middle School, North Platte Senior Center and First Christian Church.