Community health centers have to take patients regardless of ability to pay. More patients are coming in and many don’t have insurance that can cover the cost of care.
Health
Posted inState Government
It is illegal to try certain experimental medications in Kansas. Terminally ill Kansans might soon have options.
New medicines are being developed for individual treatments based on someone’s DNA. Those would be allowed under a proposed bill.
Posted inHealth
LGBTQ+ youth in Missouri and Kansas face higher suicide risk
In Missouri and Kansas, almost four in 10 young people who identify as gay or transgender have seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 15% have attempted it. That’s according to a new survey by The Trevor Project, which asked 18,000 people ages 13 to 24 across the country questions about issues like depression […]
Posted inState Government
Transgender Kansas Citians face growing restrictions and mounting fear
Suzanne Wheeler and her wife don’t want to leave the Kansas City area, their eight adult children and their seven grandchildren. They don’t want to walk away from their friends, their community and their support system. But they are making plans nonetheless. The middle-aged transgender couple already bought property in Portugal, where transgender rights are […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas wrestles with ways to shorten waitlist for disability care
Holly Oleson helps people who are intellectually disabled live as independently as possible. She’s a lead direct support professional at Honey Bee Community Services in the Kansas City area, acting as the “brakes and gas” for the people she serves. “The person served remains at the wheel with full control of their lives,” she said, […]
Posted inHealth
Hospital mergers come with one inevitable: Bigger executive paychecks
Bigger bonuses, higher executive salaries and a few eye-popping retirement payouts. That’s how St. Luke’s Health System closed the books on its final year as a nonprofit independent hospital chain, according to recent tax filings. The $2.5 billion hospital system, which merged with St. Louis-based nonprofit BJC Healthcare at the start of 2024, paid one-third […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas Republicans close to banning gender-affirming care for minors
Kansas Republicans are poised to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The bill bans puberty blockers, hormone treatment and gender-affirming surgeries until 18 years old. The proposal also prevents state employees who work with children from supporting someone’s transition, which Democrats say prevents teachers or social workers from even using a transgender child’s preferred name. […]
Posted inHealth
Threat of federal funding freeze panics KC’s nonprofit health care community
For Wil Franklin, chief executive of KC CARE Health Clinic, Tuesday began with a blizzard of texts and emails. A sweeping plan to freeze federal grants and loans affected $5 million that his community safety-net clinic relies on. The online portal that community health clinics across the country use to access federal money was suddenly […]
Posted inKansas
Is this bill the key to reducing gun suicides in Kansas and Missouri?
Donna Nathan loved two-stepping and The Beatles. The radio was always on at her house. That love of music easily translated to dancing in parades. Nathan and her daughter, Katrina Brees, even worked together at a studio making sculptures for Mardi Gras parades. “She was the type of person that would find some sick animal […]
Posted inState Government
Child hunger rose 6%, and it isn’t clear what Kansas lawmakers will do
From 2021 to 2022, the number of Kansas children who didn’t know where their next meal would come from grew by 37,000. The rise in food insecurity shows up at food banks across the state. Aundrea Walker, the executive director of Just Food, said 30% of the people it serves are under 18 years old. […]