Missouri voters are beginning to head to the polls to weigh in on the 2026 midterm elections. Voters are casting ballots to elect representatives to the U.S. House, state General Assembly and five statewide ballot measures. To help you understand your ballot, The Beacon has compiled a guide to November’s ballot measures and what a […]
Meg Cunningham
Meg Cunningham is The Beacon’s rural health reporter. She graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism, where she covered state government and health. She spent roughly three years covering national politics, including the 2018 and 2020 elections, at ABC News in Washington. She’s spent over five years covering politics and policy, with the last three of those years focused on Missouri state government, developing expertise on state policy and agencies, democracy and representation, and health outcomes in Missouri. She grew up in the Kansas City suburbs.
Posted inRural
A new owner took over central Missouri hospital. 9 days later, it cut labor and delivery
For pregnant women living north of Interstate 70 in central Missouri, there weren’t many places to deliver a baby. Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall was one of them. Now it isn’t. Fitzgibbon delivered 252 babies in 2025. In April, the hospital filed for bankruptcy protection and began sale negotiations for its 60-bed hospital and its 99-bed […]
Posted inHealth
Missouri doesn’t require asking pregnant patients about their mental health. New moms keep dying
Asking the right questions is just the first step. Actually getting support, especially for moms in rural Missouri, is where providers say things get even harder.
Posted inRural
Rural Missouri families face longer drives, riskier births as maternity wards vanish
Melanie Pierce works with many pregnant women who know they’ll have a long drive ahead of them when labor starts. One of her jobs as a doula living in Mansfield, Missouri, is helping families answer a question that may not be as fraught for women who live closer to a delivery hospital: When is it […]
Posted inHealth
Trump wants to loosen Head Start rules, but Missouri providers say enrolling more kids isn’t so simple
The administration says eliminating more than 1,400 federal requirements could save billions of dollars and make Head Start available to more children from low-income homes. Missouri providers say some rules are burdensome, but question if deregulation can solve the state’s problems.
Posted inHealth
Vast produce supply chain complicates tracking cyclospora in Kansas and Missouri
As cyclospora cases climb in Missouri and Kansas, public health investigators are tracing illnesses through a vast produce supply chain, while some advocates argue regional food systems could make outbreaks easier to contain.
Posted inHealth
Missouri ACA marketplace enrollees drop almost 25% as higher costs take hold
Missouri saw one of the nation’s steepest drops in ACA marketplace enrollment, with experts pointing to rising costs as a key factor. While the drop in Kansas was not as large, more than 20% of those enrolled left the marketplace.
Posted inHealth
Older Missourians who are homeless for the first time point to weaknesses in support systems
A survey by local homelessness outreach group CoMo Mobile Aid and researchers at the University of Missouri found many people experiencing homelessness in Columbia are over 50 and homeless for the first time. Experts say the data follows national trends.
Posted inHealth
Missouri one of six states planning to use AI to manage Medicaid work requirements
As Missouri prepares for Medicaid work requirements under H.R. 1, officials say artificial intelligence could help answer questions, process documents and automate parts of the program.
Posted inHealth
Missouri lawmakers pass sweeping healthcare changes in 2026 legislative session
The Missouri General Assembly passed a number of changes to healthcare in the state, including expanded contraceptive access, doula coverage, 340B drug protections and ambulance district reforms.