My, the bloom fades fast.

No sooner had many Kansans celebrated the validation of the Affordable Care Act by the U.S. Supreme Court, than our governor Sam Brownback said it was all for naught. 

As a state, we’ll ignore the federal law, he said, gambling that Mitt Romney will become our next president and wipe the slate clean.

For the record, Brownback’s forecasting skills aren’t so hot.

FANS CALLED Thursday’s ruling a hallelujah moment for American families. 

Opponents predicted doomsday for the country.

Could we really be that far apart on how best to provide health care?

The ruling puts the United States, finally, in league with the other industrialized nations of the world by providing health care for all, no matter their sickness, their income, their age.

The ruling broadens access to health care. No longer can health insurance companies cherry-pick the people they cover.

Now, senior citizens can’t be “maxed out” by an insurance company because of a chronic illness. All Americans, not just children, can receive health insurance if they have a pre-existing illness. Poor people who are single or childless, not just those with families, will receive health insurance. 

THURSDAY’S ruling was not an unqualified success. The decision allows states to “opt out” of expanded Medicaid coverage with no fear of losing their current funding for Medicaid programs. As one of the 26 states that pledged itself against “Obamacare,” Kansas could see the bruised egos of its governor and legislators get in the way of common sense and shirk its moral responsibility to lower-income families and opt out. If it does, it will lose multi-millions in additional federal funding that would have covered newly eligible residents up to 133 percent of poverty level, the equivalent of about $30,656 for a family of four. 

Under the provision, the federal government will be extremely generous. Between 2014 and 2016 the federal government will pay 100 percent of the Medicaid expansion; in 2017 it will cover 95 percent, with it slowly declining to 90 percent by 2020 and remain there.

There’s not a hospital or health care facility in Kansas that would favor a state decision to reject the Medicaid expansion.  Every year, Allen County Hospital writes off more than $1 million in bad debts, because of people unable to pay their bills. Having a broader base of insured patients is money to a hospital’s bottom line. No, Medicaid reimbursements don’t meet costs, but any amount of compensation is better than none.

KANSAS ALSO could find itself in trouble if it ignores the Supreme Court’s ruling until November — as if the election could somehow reverse the law’s provisions.

Even if Mitt Romney is elected, the course, in essence, was determined in 2010 when Congress passed the health care act. For much of the legislation there’s no turning back.

 Over the past two years many states have been working on devising their own health insurance exchanges, which take effect January 2014. 

The premise is that each state can develop its own “market place” of insurance programs from which consumers can shop. The first deadline is Nov. 16 for a review of each state’s programs. If a state fails to meet the required criteria for implementation, then it will fall under the federal government’s umbrella of exchanges.

If memory serves correctly, Kansas was at the forefront of developing its exchange system when Brownback pulled the plug and insisted that Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger return the $31.5 million federal grant awarded to the state to help with the computer infrastructure necessary for the program. 

Brownback’s gamble that the Supreme Court would negate the health care act most likely has set Kansas too far back to establish its own exchange system. To gamble again that Republicans will take control in Congress and the White House in November and enact a blanket waiver from the requirement to have exchanges, could put the state even further behind. 

It’s far more prudent to be proactive, than reactive. 

The ideological decisions by Brownback and ultra-conservative members of the Legislature to ignore federal law does nothing but damage our state’s chances to make more of its own health care decisions.

Too bad we couldn’t see that in the cards when we voted them in.

— Susan Lynn

In university circles, the June 10 ouster of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan had her cohorts shaking in their boots.

Unable to balance a budget on dwindling resources, critics shouted,“Off with her head!”

Cooler heads soon prevailed. Sullivan was reinstated when UVA trustees admitted the prestigious school was being held hostage by state legislators who had slashed its funding.

The same scene is being played across the nation, every day.

States are reneging on their obligation to fund higher education, leaving public universities to either change their mission or scope, or both.

In Kansas, schools have little choice but to push much of the needed revenue onto students in addition to freezing salaries and slashing programs.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved tuition and fee increases to all its institutions of higher learning. 

Incoming freshman to the University of Kansas will see a 4.9 percent increase in tuition and fees, bringing the cost of a typical semester to $4,839. That puts a four-year study plan at more than $38,000. Including room and board, the cost nearly doubles to $72,000.

K-State, Pittsburg and Emporia have been forced to raise their rates even higher percentage-wise. K-State is up by 5.1 percent, Pittsburg State by 6.4 percent and Emporia State by 6.5 percent.

Fort Hays State and Wichita State will exact more modest increases of 3.7 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.

Only 20 years ago, Kansas assumed 70 percent of a university’s expenses. Today, it’s about 38 percent. 

During that same time, tuition has increased 62 percent.

Public education is no longer for the everyman.

THIS IS forcing all schools of higher education — from Allen Community College to Harvard — to transform the way they teach. 

Goodbye, Mr. Chips. 

Farewell to the well-worn tweed jackets; those stodgy professors who seemed to relish seeing the lights go on when a student grasped the thread. 

Instead, say hello to Hal, the computer (“2001: A Space Odyssey”). 

It’s not all bad. Online learning accommodates today’s learners — many now forced to also maintain full-time jobs while “in school.”

It certainly, however, depletes some of the college experience.

Making new friends from different parts of the state — or world. 

Hearing different accents and music, tasting foreign food — be it Louisianan Cajun or Nepalese — makes us more open to different cultures, viewpoints and backgrounds, helping us to become more broad-minded.

The challenges facing college leaders is daunting, as by evidence of Ms. Sullivan’s quick dismissal, which later was revealed to be more of an act of frustration on the part of trustees than any mismanagement by the university president.

A STATE legislature can’t always be the scapegoat. That’s so yesterday.

And because they know this tide will never come back far enough to return lost funding, universities and colleges are forced to make massive changes in how they deliver education.

All this poses even bigger questions for the future.

Will students be allowed to “click” from one college to another to select courses? Will campuses — especially satellite campuses — become a thing of the past as students increasingly opt to stay home? Will there be a greater acceptance of credits from other programs? Will traditional universities become a haven for the elite, eroding that cross-cultural experience? And how will employers view an online degree compared to that from a traditional university? 

Educators are on the cusp of change. It’s only by holding true to their vision of what an  education is that they’ll find the right path. 

— Susan Lynn

If we all practiced 4-H protocol, the world would be a better place.

Carla Nemecek, longtime area Extension agent, recently wrote of what the club’s four “Hs” stand for.

Combined, keeping your head, heart, hands and health under control will make for a well-disciplined, polite and healthy person. 

4-H kids are easy to spot. They say “ma’am” and “sir.” They keep themselves busy with a wide variety of projects that cross stereotypical barriers. Boys are as likely to enter cooking competitions as girls. 

They learn how to play group games and sing songs together. They learn the importance of education.

Grown-up 4-H’ers know Roberts Rules of Order and are natural leaders because they learn from an early age how to take responsibility. 

4-H’ers ARE THE DREAM of teachers, coaches and employers because they know these youths have been taught important social skills such as respect, courtesy and self-confidence.

Today’s teachers and employers are required to spend too much time disciplining their charges because somewhere along the way they missed out on learning those important skills.

The 4-H model continues to work well because it incorporates strong leadership, peer pressure, and a curriculum that has kept up with the times. For more than 100 years 4-H has kept to its principles of developing tomorrow’s leaders. Today, 4-H is just as relevant to a city slicker as to those raised on a farm, thanks to projects that range from digital photography to nutrition.

With the Allen County Fair coming next month, it’s a good time to recognize the contributions 4-H brings to our area. 

Go see the youths’ entries. Watch them compete and admire the long hours they have put into their projects.

And think how good it would be if we all practiced the 4-H’s.

— Susan Lynn