The property tax that generates about $70 million annually is meant to benefit the city’s poorest patients. It’s about to come under closer scrutiny.
Health
Posted inHealth
Changes are coming to health care in Missouri. These are the bills Missouri lawmakers are pushing in 2026
Missouri lawmakers have their sights set on health care reform in 2026, including insurance coverage of certain prescriptions, how health professionals can administer and prescribe medicine, patient privacy and maternal health.
Posted inHealth
‘It’s constant whiplash’: Kansas City organizations see mental health grants canceled one day and restored the next
Behavioral health organizations that stood to lose critical funding still worry about future cuts they say could devastate patients and wipeout programs.
Posted inHealth
Why 30 hospitals in Kansas and 12 in Missouri are at risk of closure
A new study of rural hospitals finds that Kansas has more on the brink of shutting down than any other state. Revenue isn’t keeping up with costs.
Posted inKansas City
In Kansas City’s health care sector, 2025 was a nightmare. It may be worse in 2026
Nonprofits turned to private donations to make ends meet after federal funding cuts left major budget gaps. But those dollars won’t be enough.
Posted inHealth
As Missouri stares down Medicaid cuts, it seeks federal rural health funding
The Trump administration’s budget bill included about $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. As part of an effort to offset those costs, Congress created the Rural Health Transformation Fund, a $50 billion bucket of money that goes to states.
Posted inHealth
KC’s largest safety-net clinics push back as city takes hard look at health levy
The city is studying which safety-net providers will get funding from the health levy. Longtime recipients argue they can’t afford to lose their shares.
Posted inHealth
Health insurance slipping out of reach for people across Kansas City as ACA subsidies expire
Enhanced tax subsidies, which helped double enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, will expire on Dec. 31, leaving people across Missouri and Kansas with the choice to pay more or drop coverage.
Posted inRural
As the number of homeless people rises in Missouri, cities confront cross-border “drop-offs”
Joplin officials recently passed an ordinance banning the practice after noticing out-of-state vehicles dropping off homeless people. Columbia, meanwhile, has adopted a voluntary ride home program.
Posted inHealth
A KU researcher on the brink of a breakthrough is stuck waiting for federal funds
A change in how the federal government funds research means fewer projects are moving forward. Scientists said the result will be fewer medical advances.