Here are today’s headlines from the Kansas congressional delegation:Sen. Pat Roberts (R)!(Medical Insurance News) GOP Senators Call On Bush To Stop Granting Adults Access To SCHIP: A group of Republican senators on Wednesday sent a letter to President Bush requesting that HHS stop granting waivers to states that allow adults to receive coverage under SCHIP, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 7/12). Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah), all members of the Senate Finance Committee, in the letter wrote, “We believe it is time to do all we can to return SCHIP to its original focus on covering low-income children. Therefore, we respectfully request that you take steps to ensure that HHS] refrains from granting or extending waivers for adult coverage under SCHIP.”[(KC Star) Floods damage about 640 southeast Kansas homes: The floodwaters that hit southeast Kansas this month affected 6,307 homes and 123 businesses in Montgomery County, according to the county’s preliminary assessments. … The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday awarded the state a $10 million grant to temporarily employ workers dislocated as a result of recent floods and to assist with cleanup efforts. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., announced the grant awarded to the Kansas Department of Commerce for 15 counties. They are Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Cowley, Elk, Franklin, Miami, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson.(Statesman.com) Senators: Go Slow On Competitive Bidding Test: A bipartisan group of senators has asked Medicare officials to slow down on plans to test competitive bidding for durable medical equipment providers. The 14 senators sent a letter Friday to Leslie V. Norwalk, the acting Medicare chief, warning that although Congress ordered the agency to begin the competition during 2007, such a project could adversely impact beneficiaries if not done right.The senators listed five areas in which they had concerns, including a bidding timetable they said did not give small companies an adequate opportunity to prepare bids. The senators said they also weren’t convinced that Medicare has devised an adequate way of evaluating the results of the competitive bidding process to ensure that best value was being delivered. The letter was authored by Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and also signed by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Kit Bond, R-Mo.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; Norm Coleman, R-Minn.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Russ Feingold, D-Wis.; Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio.Rep. Jerry Moran (R) !(Topeka Capital-Journal) Moran tours VA center to assess care of veterans: The Veterans Affairs Health Revenue Center has filled more than half of the 90 new positions it announced had been created last fall and may add additional positions before the summer ends. The VA Revenue Center announced in November it would hire 90 people to handle additional calls from veterans across the county, but Congress delayed adopting of a 2007 budget and forced the revenue center to delay filling the positions…. Moran toured the HRC Monday morning. He said the main purpose for his visit was to get a picture of what was going on and ensure “we are taking good care of veterans.” The congressman also sat in on a telephone call from a veteran. … He said current complaints by veterans are related to benefits, not the health care itself. “Over the course of time I’ve been in Congress, health care for veterans has improved,” he said. “We need our health care professionals providing health care as opposed to doing paperwork and answering phones.”