Affordable Care Act
Area legislator: Missouri lawmakers nearly reached medicaid expansion deal
A last-minute deal to expand Medicaid in Missouri almost materialized in the waning days of this year’s legislative session, briefly breathing life into an issue that had seemed all but doomed. Missouri State Sen. Ryan Silvey, a Kansas City Republican, provided a behind-the-scenes look at high-level negotiations that occurred just before the session ended without an…
MO state dental director briefs oral health advocates in Kansas City
Missouri’s new state dental director has been on board for about half a year, and during a visit to Kansas City on Wednesday, he outlined a number of initiatives aimed at making the state a national leader in oral health. “I want (other states) to come to us,” Dr. B. Ray Storm said at a…
KCK summit tackles food issues among the needy
John Hornbeck came to a Thursday forum in Kansas City, Kan., with two cans of green beans. His point was to illustrate that solving hunger isn’t as simple as merely providing someone something to eat — especially when health is thrown into the mix. The CEO of Episcopal Community Services in Kansas City, Mo., a…
MO governor proposes health assistance for working poor
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is proposing that the state use federal health dollars to subsidize health insurance for low-wage workers. Under a program he is calling Missouri Health Works, Nixon is proposing that the state pay a portion of employers’ health insurance costs for their employees that make below 138 percent of the poverty level,…
Brownback signs controversial health care compact bill
By Dave Ranney — KHI News Service TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback has signed into law a bill that might make it possible for Kansas to join a compact of states that want the power to run Medicare and Medicaid within their borders. The new law also creates the possibility that the compact states could circumvent…
Closing of clinic elicits rainbow of emotions
The pale white walls and beige cloth desk chair pretty much sum up the decor of the medical director’s office at the Shared Care Free Clinic of Jackson County in Independence. Yet just inside the doorway, underneath a seat for visitors, sit two bundles of fluorescently colored socks. The director, Dr. Bridget McCandless, keeps the…
Brownback signs law expanding autism coverage
By Dave Ranney KHI News Service Bryan Thompson Kansas Public Radio OVERLAND PARK — Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law Wednesday a measure that is expected to make insurance coverage for autism services available to about 750 children over the next two to three years. House Bill 2744 was a compromise measure that gained eventual support from…
Moveon.Org poll shows most Kansans support Medicaid expansion
But Brownback campaign skeptical of the results By Jim McLean KHI News Service April 8, 2014 TOPEKA — Poll results released today indicate that the Medicaid expansion issue could be a factor in the Kansas governor’s race. The poll, conducted last week for MoveOn.org Political Action, a left-leaning group dedicated to “progressive change,” showed that 52 percent…
KC Week in Review: "Go big or go home" – Dissecting KC Mayor’s State of the City. Plus, rest of the week’s news…
Kansas City Mayor Sly James delivers his State of the City address. But with a twist. He made his annual speech at Park Hill High School, north of the river, in front of an audience of mostly high school students. Also on Kansas City Week in Review Friday, March 28th 2014 at 7:30 pm…
Medicaid expansion advocates rally at Statehouse
By Jim McLean KHI News Service TOPEKA — Medicaid expansion is nowhere to be found on Gov. Sam Brownback’s list of priorities and those of Republican legislative leaders as they work through a legislative session now dominated by school finance issues. But that didn’t stop nearly 200 expansion supporters from crowding into a wing of the Statehouse…