Can Missouri afford not to expand Medicaid?
Even as prospects appear bleak for Medicaid expansion in Missouri, a new report says the state would save $81 million right off the bat and $100 million annually later on if it expands the program. The report by the Missouri Budget Project, a nonpartisan think tank in St. Louis, says the savings would come from money the state currently spends on Medicaid services provided to pregnant women, mental health patients and prisoners in need of medical care.
Unlocking the potential of an under-researched crop: Hemp
Humans have been growing hemp for centuries. Hemp-based foods have taken off recently. So have lotions and soaps that use hemp oil. There’s evidence that different compounds in cannabis could be used as medicine and hope that its chemical compounds could hold keys to treatments for Parkinson’s disease and childhood epilepsy. Scientists studying industrial hemp say the plant holds a tremendous amount of promise. But to unlock its potential there’s very basic scientific research to be done.
Producer’s perspective: A Persian-American family balances assimilation with success
On Sunday, February 9th, 2014, the Your Fellow Americans (YFA) team had their first interview with a Persian-American family in the KC metro. Members of the family were asked to talk about their identity and the American Dream. To talk about issues of race and immigration. And boy … did they talk. We got about halfway into our tagline, “race, immigration, and th…” before Kian Shafé broke in with his experience as an immigrant.
Update: Mystery Man under runway 1
The other shoe is about to drop. New test results on skeletal remains found under a runway at Wheeler Downtown Airport are due soon. The Jackson County Medical Examiner agreed to arrange for radiocarbon testing of the remains after the Hale Center for Journalism offered to cover the $685 cost. Those results should shed important…
How do you build the ‘gigabit city’?
Nearly four years after Google Fiber announced service to the Kansas City area, some key questions remain largely unanswered — particularly questions about how the city will use gigabit-speed internet to grow and thrive. This week in Kansas City, the Gigabit City Summit, organized largely by KC Digital Drive, is assembling representatives from Kansas City…
Missouri health advocates say they’re happy with ACA enrollment numbers
At roughly the midpoint of the second Affordable Care Act open-enrollment period, health advocates say they’re happy with the number of people signing up in Missouri. Ryan Barker, vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, said that more than 102,000 people enrolled in health plans in the first month alone. In the entire first open enrollment period, 152,000 people signed up.
Talking about race at a KC barbershop
This week’s Your Fellow Americans conversations lay out some of the toughest issues in today’s society, and reveal a desire to see change for the better. If this makes the conversation occasionally intense, that’s because this group considers the neighborhoods around Troost, and east of Troost, as theirneighborhoods. And if it’s considered a little bold, or silly, for me – a white guy – to walk in Diamond Cuts and ask probing questions, what does that mean for the thousands of adults and children who call Troost home? What does it mean for your fellow Americans? Have a look at these conversations, and let us know.
A guide to the legislative sessions, from the ‘Week In Review’ crew
Missouri lawmakers returned to Jefferson City this week and on Monday, Kansas legislators will gather in Topeka for the opening of a new session. From what to do about Ferguson to putting toll booths on I-70, legalizing marijuana to expanding Medicaid…Nick Haines and the panel provide a guide to the upcoming legislative sessions in both states.
An entrepreneur, taking on a hidden need – the diaper gap
A child in diapers uses an estimated 6 to 10 diapers per day. That means the average family spends $18 per week or $936 per year on diapers for each child. The costs add up quickly. And because of this, the National Diaper Bank Network estimates that one in three moms in the United States…
KC Checkup: Five Questions For Dalyn Schmitt
Dalyn Schmitt formed the Heartland Regional Alcohol and Drug Assessment Center (RADAC) in 1998, following on from state-funded services previously provided by Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.
Will Kansans support lowering the sales tax on ‘healthy’ food?
A Kansas City-based nonprofit organization says a recent poll shows widespread support for exempting some foods from the Kansas sales tax.
Ashley Jones-Wisner, state policy manager for KC Healthy Kids, says the survey conducted for the Kansas Health Foundation showed that 86.6 percent of Kansans supported exempting fruits and vegetables from the state sales tax.
Irish beef imports approved after 15-year European ban
Ireland will be the first European Union country allowed to send beef to U.S. dinner tables, more than 15 years after a deadly outbreak of mad cow disease in Europe led U.S. regulators to ban European beef imports. The ban on EU beef imports was lifted in March and Ireland’s beef production systems passed a…
Edward Snowden on cyber warfare
When Sony pulled ‘The Interview’ from theaters in December it turned the spotlight onto cyber attacks, and their power to disrupt. In an exclusive interview with Edward Snowden, for an upcoming new film about cyber warfare, journalist James Bamford talked with the former National Security Agency contractor who made headlines after leaking thousands of classified…
Primary care docs in Kansas and Missouri face medicaid cuts
Starting this month primary care physicians in much of the country, including Kansas and Missouri, will be paid less for seeing Medicaid patients. The expiration of a federal incentive program in the Affordable Care Act is responsible for the reduction. Nationally, the average fee reduction is expected to be nearly 43 percent, according to a recent…
From ‘Half the Sky’ to ‘A Path Appears’
Two years ago, PBS stations across the country broadcast “Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” a documentary dedicated to examining gender equality. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the film examines issues including sex trafficking, maternal mortality, education and economic equality for women and…