President Donald Trump’s new budget package cuts funding for programs like Medicaid and SNAP through work requirements.
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 inHealth
From 911 to 988: How does Missouri’s investment in a behavioral health crisis network improve mental health care?
Behavioral health providers are required to provide free mobile response services to Missourians in a crisis.
Posted inHealth
Hundreds of thousands could lose Medicaid and SNAP benefits in Missouri, Kansas
New estimates show that an estimated 75,000 Kansans and 210,000 Missourians could lose access to health insurance coverage, while 43,000 Kansans and 150,000 Missourians are at risk of losing SNAP benefits.
Posted inHealth
Missouri, Kansas saw combined drug, alcohol, suicide deaths decline in recent research
Kansas was one of five states that saw a small increase in the rate of alcohol-involved deaths.
Posted inHealth
Opioid overdose deaths drop in Missouri, but rural areas fight stigmas, barriers to care
Investment in medicines like Narcan, an overdose-reversing drug, has allowed many Missourians to respond to opioid overdoses quickly. But more work is needed to address barriers to care and other stigmas, especially in rural areas.
Posted inHealth
‘Trapped in a fiery kennel’: Lawsuit against Missouri Department of Corrections alleges extreme heat at one prison is a constitutional violation
The lawsuit alleges that those with certain medical conditions and those in solitary confinement are at increased risk in Algoa Correctional Center, which does not have central air conditioning.
Posted inRural
After the Trump administration canceled funding for schools to buy local produce, Missouri farmers hope the relationships continue
Farmers say the program guaranteed fair prices and encouraged them to increase production.
Posted inRural
Air quality worsened in Missouri from 2021 to 2023
An annual report from the American Lung Association found that from 2021 to 2023, ozone levels worsened in the 19 counties where they are measured.
Posted inKansas City
Head Start, utility assistance in danger: Missouri agencies scramble as Trump administration looks to slash federal spending
Missouri has 19 community action agencies that work to support the state’s poorest families. Funding for programs like Head Start and utility assistance is at risk the year ahead.
Posted inRural
Primary care shortage has an outsized impact on rural Missouri
Rural Missourians tend to be older and have more chronic health conditions. It makes a consistent primary care provider more important, but rural patients have the least access to them.