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State borders can highlight Medicaid’s arbitrary coverage. On the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, low-income people struggle with untreated health issues. But on the Illinois side, people in similar straits can get health care because their state expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.
Amid an overall crackdown on private insurers’ Medicare billing practices, a new government audit and a whistleblower suit allege St. Louis-based Essence Group Holdings Corp.'s Medicare Advantage plans overcharged taxpayers.
An enhanced government effort to catch insurers that overcharge Medicare faces resistance from the insurance industry.
A national trend of boozeless bars is cropping up nationwide to create social spaces without the hangovers, DUIs and alcoholism culture. It’s part of a new push for sober options.
Lawmakers and patients want to eliminate “surprise” out-of-network medical bills. Hospitals, doctors and insurers say they want to eliminate them, too, but their opposition to one another’s proposals could complicate legislative efforts. Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus the latest in news about reproductive health and health care sharing ministries.
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail federally funded research using fetal tissue, the backlash from former Vice President Joe Biden’s support for the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment and how health policy intersects with both trade and immigration policy.
For our 100th episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Sandhya Ramen of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to take a deep dive into the abortion debate, discussing everything from the latest news to the history of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence as well as how states are trying to further expand or restrict abortion rights and access. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Weber about the latest “Bill of the Month” installment.
While Missouri’s final abortion clinic may stop providing the procedure this week, women in the state had already been seeking care in neighboring states as regulations increasingly limited abortion access.
KHN’s Julie Rovner is among a panel of experts who take questions about the future of abortion restrictions from listeners on WAMU’s “1A.”
For the seventh year in a row, Missouri will retain its lonely title as the only state without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. Fears about privacy violations and gun control scuttled the bill yet again, leaving a pastiche of half-step measures in place to fill the void in the fight against prescription drug abuse.
Lauren Weber, one of Kaiser Health News’ new Midwest correspondents, joined St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jeremy Goodwin on “St. Louis on the Air” Friday to discuss how syphilis is making inroads into rural counties across the Midwest and West.
Syphilis is spreading from big cities into rural counties across the Midwest and West. One Missouri clinic has seen more than six times as many cases in the first few months of 2019 compared with the same period last year. Communities grappling with budget cuts and crumbling public health infrastructure also lack experience in fighting the disease.
Psychiatric treatment for children in Medicaid managed-care plans in Missouri has declined and suicide risks are up, reveals a study sponsored by the state hospital association.
State health officials say several factors, including the improved economy, are behind the 7 percent drop last year in Missouri and 9 percent reduction in Tennessee of Medicaid recipients. But advocates for the poor are worried the states’ efforts to weed out residents who are improperly enrolled has led to people mistakenly forced off the rolls.
A new study followed patients with severe chronic pain for a year and found that opioids relieved pain and increased function no better than common drugs like acetaminophen and lidocaine. But the opioids carry the risk of more serious side effects, including addiction and death.
Although the potentially fatal disease is common among the incarcerated, treatment with the latest hepatitis drugs isn't.
Medical debt is down across the country. In states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the reduction is sharper.
Since 2010, at least 79 rural hospitals have closed across the country, and nearly 700 more are at risk of closing. The Republican repeal of the health law could hasten their demise.
The U.S. government has been struggling to balance a surge in applicants for disability benefits with shrinking funds. An updated application process could make getting benefits even harder.
"I'm not going to risk my son's health on the political whims of Jefferson City," says one Missouri father, whose son requires about $20,000 to $30,000 in medical care expenses a year. The new GOP health bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act lets states decide whether or not insurers must cover people with preexisting conditions, such as birth defects.
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