Tax credits drop health insurance premiums for Missouri, Kansas consumers
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday outlined the savings, by state, accrued by by consumers through the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace for insurance policies. In Missouri, marketplace shoppers who selected silver plans — the most popular plan type– paid an average of $45 per month after tax credits. In Kansas,…
Johnson County health department in national accreditation vanguard
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has joined the vanguard of local and state health departments that have gained national accreditation. It is one of only 44 across the nation and the first in Kansas. The Public Health Accreditation Board, a relatively new organization bent on standardizing and improving the quality of health…
Kansas sees significant increase in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment
Unlike its neighboring states of Missouri and Nebraska, where significant decreases have been reported, Kansas has seen a significant jump in the number of people enrolled in its Medicaid/CHIP programs, even without loosening its relatively tight eligibility standards. According to a new report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, enrollment in the programs…
KC Week in Review: Rejuvenating the riverfront, Chu confirmed to NEA
This week, city officials announce what is being described as the first “vertical development” on Kansas City’s riverfront in more than 100 years. After decades of inaction, a $65 million development featuring 398 luxury apartments, retail, a fitness club, pool and sky bar is detailed on a five-acre site adjacent to the Berkley Riverfront…
Report: Kansas City Economy Lags Behind That Of Other U.S. Cities
The Mid-America Regional Council presented a sobering assessment of the Kansas City area economy Thursday, one showing the metro is having trouble bouncing back from the recession. The report, called “Prosperity at the Crossroads,” says that fewer than half of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, including the greater Kansas City region, had recovered all the…
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…
KC Week in Review: Fireworks and a happy dance: Is it enough to sway the GOP Convention Committee?
Join Nick Haines and news reviewers Steve Kraske of KCUR, Barbara Shelly of the Kansas City Star, Garrett Haake, 41 Action News and Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star as they dissect this and other of the week’s top stories.
Summer 101
One is trekking through Europe. Another will immerse herself in the performing arts. And many will keep their noses to the grindstone. Those are just some of the summer plans shared with us by teachers from throughout the metropolitan area, as schools closed up shop for the next eight weeks. Here are some of the…
The Makerista uses entrepreneurial hustle to build blog readership
Less than a year after publishing her first post, lifestyle blogger Gwen Hefner has received national recognition that many entrepreneurs would envy. She was chosen to participate in Creating With the Stars, an annual contest for do-it-yourself bloggers, and was selected as one of the top five decorating blogs by “Better Homes and Gardens.” And,…
Aches & Pains? It pays to shop around
Considering a major joint replacement? If you check into the University of Kansas Hospital, you might be charged more than $115,000. But if you go to Olathe Medical Center just 22 miles down the road, you’re apt to be billed just over $50,000. Coping with renal failure? At Truman Medical Center, the bill is likely…
Retiring CEO reflects on his experiences at Truman Medical Centers
After only two weeks as the new CEO of Kansas City’s safety-net hospital system, John Bluford called an emergency 6:30 a.m. meeting of the Truman Medical Centers board. After assurances that he was not going to quit, Bluford told the board members, “I understood when I took this position that the system was broken. It’s…
One in eight Kansas pregnancies in 2013 involved women who smoked
In Kansas last year, more than 4,800 women smoked cigarettes during their pregnancies, according to a preliminary summary of birth statistics released Tuesday by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The finding means that in 2013, about one in every eight births – 12.5 percent – involved mothers who smoked for at least three…
Brownback discusses opposition to Medicaid expansion in Heritage Foundation Interview
The inaugural edition of a Heritage Foundation news site features an interview with Gov. Sam Brownback explaining “how Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion hurts states.” The interview http://dailysignal.com/2014/06/03/interview-brownback-discusses-medicaid-expansion-hurts-states/ is featured in the Daily Signal, a new online publication “supported by the resources and intellectual firepower” of the foundation, which describes its mission as promoting “conservative public policies…
KC Week in Review: Marking 20 years of Casinos in Missouri: Is it an industry in decline?
On this week’s program: Mayor Sly James proposed recognizing Kay Barnes for her contribution to making Kansas City what it is today; Kemper Arena, KU and MU rivalry rekindled, doubled traffic enforcement in KC, Cerner, Casinos and…what would take to get the Super Bowl to Kansas City? Reviewing this week’s news headlines: Neal Jones, KCTV5…
Blunt cites KC shooting in call for VA reform
The weekend shooting death of a former Army paratrooper in Kansas City highlights deficiencies in the care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said during a visit to to Kansas City on Thursday. On Sunday, police shot 26-year-old Issac Sims after he emerged from his family’s home…