In any given month, about 450,000 Kansans rely on Medicaid to pay for health care. The program is paid for by the federal government with states providing a match and administering the program. As with any assistance program, it can be difficult to determine if you qualify. Who qualifies depends on many factors, only one […]
Health
The Wichita Beacon provides the latest trustworthy health care news stories for the Wichita, Kansas community.
Posted inHealth, How To
Half a million Kansans need to review Medicare coverage before Dec. 7
More than 540,000 Kansas residents receive health coverage through Medicare, government-funded health insurance available to nearly all citizens once they reach the age of 65. Nothing about choosing a Medicare plan is simple, and for that reason, free help is available from the state.
Posted inHealth, How To
PrEP is a drug 99% effective at preventing HIV. Here’s how to get it in Wichita
“We can stop the spread of (HIV) if we do two things: get people who are engaging in high-risk behavior on PrEP and, for the people already infected, get them in therapy and keep them on therapy,” Sweet said.
Posted inHealth, Lea en Español
Las muertes por sobredosis de drogas causadas por el fentanilo se están disparando en Wichita. Esto es lo que usted necesita saber.
Esta historia fue traducida por Claudia Yaujar-Amaro. Esta historia también está disponible en ingles. Lea aquí En los últimos cuatro años, el número de personas que murieron por sobredosis de drogas anualmente en el condado de Sedgwick se duplicó, un aumento dramático atribuido casi en su totalidad a las muertes por fentanilo. Es un problema reciente […]
Posted inHealth, How To
CDC recommends new bivalent COVID boosters to prevent common omicron strain
Update Oct. 13, 2022: This story has been updated to add the latest recommendation from the CDC. On Sept. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended newly formulated bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccines for people ages 12 and up. The new boosters target the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the COVID-19 virus which […]
Posted inHealth
Community is key after experiencing a loss to suicide, Wichita mental health leaders say
This story on mental health contains data analysis by Gretchen Lenth, The Wichita Beacon’s Dow Jones data intern from this summer. Content warning: This story discusses suicide, suicide attempts and mental health in general. If you or someone you love is struggling with their mental health, check out The Beacon’s local mental health resource list. […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government
Who loses – and by how much – with legalized sports gambling in Kansas?
In 2020, the National Council on Problem Gambling told the Kansas Legislature the estimated social cost of Kansas adult problem gamblers is $829 million a year, from gambling-related bankruptcy, divorce, crime and job loss. Using the same methodology, adjusting for inflation and the new population census, The Beacon found that problem gambling would incur an estimated cost of $1.126 billion for Kansas taxpayers, families and communities in 2022.
Posted inHealth, Local Government
‘Much more death now than there was’: How fentanyl changed opioid addiction treatment in Wichita
The risk of an overdose is high while patients wait for addiction treatment. Specialists want more resources and fewer obstacles to harm-reduction measures.
Posted inHealth, Local Government
Drug overdose deaths caused by fentanyl are skyrocketing in Wichita. Here’s what you need to know.
In the past four years, the number of people who died from drug overdoses annually in Sedgwick County more than doubled, a dramatic increase attributed almost entirely to fentanyl. The rise in fentanyl overdoses is a recent, growing problem that’s required an urgent response from the city, according to law enforcement and forensic scientists. Fentanyl […]
Posted inHealth, Local Government
Who do you call in a mental health crisis? Hotlines and hospitals to know in Sedgwick County.
Editor’s note: We updated this story on Feb. 23 to include the Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas. Sedgwick County is in the midst of a communitywide conversation around mental health, law enforcement and juvenile justice in the wake of Cedric Lofton’s death. One question has been recurring: whom to call in a mental […]