The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
(Vol. 17 No. 28)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
I'll give a very brief update on the state budget outlook for FY2012. The general reduction to all state agencies including higher eduction remained at roughly 1.2%. At this time we are awaiting information on specifics within the budget bill and its impact to K-State Research and Extension. The budget information must go through the Board of Regents and the University for clarifications and adjustments before it is passed to the Colleges and K-State Research and Extension. For me to predict the final outcome would only add rumor. So, for now, anticipate at least 2 weeks before we have clear indication of the budget KSRE will be working with in FY2012. Stay tuned.
On another note, I along with several other KSRE faculty participated in the National Extension Urban Conference in Des Moines, IA two weeks ago. Many of the presentations given at the conference are now linked within the schedule for the conference. One presentation that was especially appealing to me was by Dr. Dorothy Freeman, State 4-H Program Leader at the University of Minnesota. Her presentation titled: Oh No! Not the Welfare Model of Cooperative Extension Outreach was truly outstanding. Through that link you can view the PowerPoint slides from her presentation. I enjoyed it because so much of her message reminded of the foundational elements of true, outstanding extension work that lead to transformational learning. And, that the welfare model of extension sells short on the extension approach to educational programming and learning.
One other thing I learned at the Urban Conference..... extension programming principles, when appropriately applied, work across both urban and rural settings. The urban conference had great learning opportunities for every extension professional in Kansas. Kansas will be hosting the national extension urban conference in Kansas City, KS in May 2013! I hope you will plan to participate!
Have a great week. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
JUST TWO WEEKS TO SUBMIT BREAKOUT PROPOSALS
Breakout session proposals for the 2011 K-State Research and
Extension Annual Conference are due June
1. The theme for the October 18–20, conference is Building Communities with an
underlying social media focus. The
breakout sessions will be on Wednesday afternoon, October 19, after the awards
luncheon. Please consider submitting a proposal to share an interesting
project, program results, experiences, or educational materials with
your colleagues.
The conference schedule and main speaker bio information are
posted online at www.ksre.ksu.edu/annconf, or go to the annual conference link on the Employee Resources page, http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=70. --Stu Warren, conference chair, slwarren@ksu.edu
WEBINAR: PARKING LOT RETROFITS
The K-State Pollution Prevention Institute, housed in Engineering Extension, will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, May 26, at 2:00 p.m. CDT. Focus of the presentation will be on Johnson County Community College's recent retrofit of their parking lot system to more closely mimic natural hydrology. This green infrastructure project, which includes constructed wetlands, bioswales, and infiltration basins, allowed the college to prevent runoff from 11 acres of impervious surface. Attend this webinar to hear about the lessons learned from this project and to gain insight and ideas in completing similar projects. Speakers include Jay Antle (executive director for the JCCC Center of Sustainability), Scott Bingham (Bowman Bowman Novick Inc.), and Dennis Haag (Burns & McDonnell).
Registration is required to receive log-in instructions. To register and for more information, please visit www.sbeap.org (look in the gold box) or call 1-800-578-8898 or 785-532-6501. Please contact Ryan Hamel, rhamel@ksu.edu, if you have any questions. --Ryan Hamel
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
My picks this week include outcomes and just a few of the success
stories from SHICK agents: Mary Lou Odle, Central Kansas District; Susan
Jackson, Harvey County; Susie Latta, Marshall County; Sarah Taylor, Sedgwick
County; Cindy Evans, Shawnee County; and Carol Young, Family Financial
Management Specialist:
With an intended medium-term outcome that the target audience (e.g., Medicare and Low Income Subsidy eligible
individuals and their family members) will
make informed decisions about their healthcare insurance and will receive the
maximum financial assistance available to them based on their financial
situation.
The intended long-term outcome is Increased family financial
security.
Evidence:
In early 2010, thirteen (13) agents who are fully Certified
SHICK Counselors reported counseling 3,105 Medicare beneficiaries in
re-evaluating their Medicare Prescription Drug coverage. The new coverage
choices resulted in $1.3 million saved for Kansas beneficiaries overall, or a
savings of $343 per person who switched to a different Part D plan.
**During
the Annual Election Period of November 15 to December 31, Medicare
beneficiaries who met with Sedgwick County Extension SHICK volunteers saved
more than $800,000 on their medication costs-an average of $571 per person.
**Over the
past three years, clients have come in each year to look at their Medicare
Prescription Drug Coverage. Even though these clients still need
assistance in using the Medicare Plan Finder, they are more confident in the
decisions they make. They ask better questions and really are sure about the
decisions they have made when they leave the office.
**Many
beneficiaries had originally enrolled with a familiar company and chose the
most expensive plan. Several of these beneficiaries only took generic
medications. They were paying $91 per month to be on the drug plan, and a $7
copay for each generic medication. SHICK volunteers switched the beneficiaries
to a $40 per month plan that had a $0 copay on generic medications, saving many
beneficiaries thousands on their drug costs each year.
**A
woman in her 40's was laid off and lost her insurance. Her husband was disabled
and on Medicare and her insurance. After she was provided information about
Extra Help for the Drug plan and how to apply to have his Medicare Part B
premiums paid, they qualified for both and now could buy his high dollar
medication.
**One
Medicare beneficiary saved $5000 in total drug cost by switching to a new drug
plan because her drug plan was leaving the service area.
**While
many people saved money by comparing plans and making changes, eight individuals
saved more than $1500 each.
The public value then is experienced when non-participants/other
community members benefit from increased economically viable communities. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
|