Missouri politicians hopeful of Medicaid expansion compromise

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism Missouri policy makers might be inching toward middle ground that would expand Medicaid eligibility while reforming the safety-net program to encourage recipients to work, two key participants in the talks said Monday. The comments came from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, and state Rep. Noel Torpey,…

Read More

Consumers, advocates rushing toward health-reform deadline

Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism As an uninsured agriculture worker, Salvador Lopez said he’d welcome health coverage so he could afford diabetes medication. Health insurance would also help his wife, said the Excelsior Springs, Mo., resident. Not feeling well on Saturday, she actually had her blood pressure checked at the health fair…

Read More

Health law helps thousands of area Latinos, feds say

Approximately 95,000 uninsured Latinos in Missouri and Kansas combined are eligible for health coverage through the marketplaces established by the federal health reform law, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The department broke out state-specific numbers in the report, which concluded that approximately 8 in 10 of…

Read More

Sebelius pushes health exchanges

Kathleen Sebelius

Alex Smith — KCUR Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged the uninsured to enroll in the federal health exchange at a press conference in Kansas City, Mo., Monday morning. At the Full Employment Council near 18th and Vine, Sebelius touted the benefits of the health exchange for both the uninsured and for the…

Read More

Local efforts aim to curb Medicare costs

  Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism Established five decades ago, the Medicare program has a budget rivalling that of the Pentagon, and congressional budgeters project the roughly $600 billion price tag will double within the next decade. But three Kansas City-area physician partnerships, serving both sides of the state line, are on…

Read More