News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Most water in Kansas safe to drink
The good news about the public water supply in Kansas is that almost all of it is safe to drink. About 96 percent of Kansans receive water from public water supplies that meet or exceed all state and federal regulations for clean water, said Mike Tate, director of the Bureau of Water for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “The vast, vast majority of…
Obesity And Diabetes In KC Area Continue To Rise
While health trends in metropolitan Kansas City are generally headed in a positive direction, two exceptions are obesity and diabetes. Every county from 2004 to 2011 saw growth in the rates of those conditions. There’s a glimmer of good news, however. Measured across shorter time frames, 2004-2007 and 2008-2011, the rates for those conditions have…
Deaf Kansans Request Medicaid Changes
It’s common knowledge that a child’s first years are critical for language development. But what if that child is deaf and has parents who don’t know sign language? Chriz Dally, a board member of the Kansas Association of the Deaf, posed that scenario last month at a meeting of state officials and members of the…
Kansas Officials Cancel Limits On ATM Welfare Withdrawals
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration will not follow through on plans to limit welfare recipients to cash withdrawals of $25 per day. Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said Tuesday that federal officials objected to the limit, saying that it would prevent needy families from having “adequate access to their…
Many Americans are staying away from banks
LaJua Manning works 40 hours a week, and sometimes more than that. She’s a certified nursing assistant, working nights to take care of bedridden patients. Still, she struggles to make ends meet for her and for her two-year-old daughter. When the paychecks do come in, Manning doesn’t deposit them in a bank. In fact, she…
Official reports about the shooting of Ryan Stokes raise more questions than answers. Here’s why
In the early morning hours of July 28th, 2013, Ryan Lee Stokes, 24, died when Kansas City Police Officer William Thompson shot him in an asphalt parking lot near the Power & Light District. Stokes was unarmed. Last weekend, almost two years later, supporters at a candlelight vigil on the steps of City Hall demanded…
Medicare and Medicaid 50 years old today
Advocates of government-sponsored health care gathered Thursday at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, to mark the anniversary of legislation that’s both a local story and a milestone for medical care in the United States. Fifty years ago, on the same stage where speakers sat, President Lyndon Johnson signed the law establishing…
Medicare Turns 50 But Big Challenges Await
Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, has come a long way since its creation in 1965 when nearly half of all seniors were uninsured. Now the program covers 55 million people, providing insurance to one in six Americans. With that in mind, Medicare faces a host of challenges in the…
Changes Ahead For Shawnee County Safety Net Clinics
The switch from county oversight to management by a Wichita-based nonprofit is under way for the four safety net clinics in Shawnee County. Together, the four clinics provide health services to about 8,000 patients a year, regardless of their ability to pay. That sounds like a lot. But for a county with 20,500 uninsured children…
MIDTOWN KC CHARTER WINS APPROVAL FROM STATE PANEL
A band of Midtown Kansas City parents is close to realizing their dream of creating a diverse, high-performing school district aimed at serving young families that might otherwise leave the city for better education options in the suburbs. The Missouri Charter Public School Commission this morning approved a plan put forth by the nonprofit Citizens of…