Medicaid Vaccination Rates Founder as States Struggle to Immunize Their Poorest Residents
Efforts by states and the private health plans that many states pay to cover low-income Americans has been scattershot and hampered by a lack of data.
Midwest Bureau
吃瓜不打烊 covers health care in the Midwest, with a bureau headquartered in St. Louis and staff reporters based in Iowa, Michigan, and South Dakota.
721 - 740 of 948 Results
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What Missouri Learned the Hard Way About Rapid Covid Testing in Schools
Missouri鈥檚 ambitious school testing plan landed with a thud. What it can teach us now about keeping the delta variant out of classrooms.
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Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color
Suicides have risen among Black, Hispanic and other communities of color during covid. But the rates were already escalating before the pandemic struck.
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Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes
Nursing home operators acknowledge that large numbers of staff members are not getting the shots but fear a federal vaccination mandate could drive away workers in a tight labor market.
By Jordan Rau and Andy Miller -
Covid Politics and Fatigue Work Against Contact-Tracing Foot Soldiers
Local health officials find themselves once again behind the covid curve as the delta variant drives their case counts. With resources already stretched, along with the politicization of covid-19, county and state health departments in places like Missouri and Texas are making tough calls on whom to trace.
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To Stoke Rural Vaccination Rates, Trusted Farmers Are Asked to Spread Word
Rural health experts are calling on trusted agricultural leaders 鈥 like farmers and ranchers 鈥 to use their understanding of science and nudge vaccine-hesitant neighbors to roll up their sleeves for a covid shot. But some farmers say they doubt they can change anyone鈥檚 mind.
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In Rural America, Twisting Arms to Take a Covid Vaccine First Takes Trust
In communities across the country, the Cooperative Extension System, the same organization that supports 4-H clubs nationally, is tapping its roots in rural communities to promote vaccines. But its approach to getting people vaccinated in many communities, including Cairo, Illinois, must be nuanced.
By Cara Anthony -
D茅j脿 Vu? Consumers Scramble for Covid Tests in Hard-Hit Areas
As the nation confronts the delta variant, many consumers are again facing delays getting tested. The problem appears most acute in the South and Midwest, where new infections are growing the fastest.
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Hard Lessons From a City That Tried to Privatize Public Health
Facing bankruptcy, Detroit largely dismantled its public health department in 2012, and the city essentially went two years without a government-run public health system. Five years later, this major American city offers a grim cautionary tale.
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Pharmacies Face Extra Audit Burdens That Threaten Their Existence
Pharmacy benefit managers have curtailed in-person audits of pharmacy claims during the pandemic, switching to virtual audits done by computer. That has markedly increased the number of claims they can review 鈥 and the chances for payment denials 鈥 squeezing pharmacies and bringing in more cash for the benefit companies.
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Bye-Bye to Health Insurance 鈥楤irthday Rule鈥? Kansas Lawmaker Floats Fix
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) introduced a bill to do away with a health insurance rule that dictates which parent鈥檚 plan becomes a new baby鈥檚 primary insurer. This could save some parents from unexpected, sometimes massive medical bills. Davids took up the issue after a KHN/NPR Bill of the Month story on one family鈥檚 unexpected $207,455 NICU bill.
By Cara Anthony -
As Holdout Missouri Joins Nation in Monitoring Opioid Prescriptions, Experts Worry
Missouri is the last state to create a monitoring program to help spot the misuse of prescription drugs. But some public health experts warn that the nation鈥檚 programs are forcing people addicted to opioids to seek deadlier street options.
By Eric Berger -
The Delta Variant Thrives in a State of Political and Public Health Discord
At the center of the nation鈥檚 delta variant outbreak, public health efforts are mired in a political turf war.
By Lauren Weber -
With a Diagnosis at Last, Black Women with ADHD Start Healing
Black women and girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often remain undiagnosed because their symptoms are mischaracterized by the blinders of sexism and racism. Getting treatment and finding the right medication can be even more difficult because they aren鈥檛 taken seriously or, worse, they鈥檙e racially profiled while getting their medicines.
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States Step Up Push to Regulate Pharmacy Drug Brokers
In an ongoing effort to control prescription drug costs, states are targeting the companies that mediate deals among drug manufacturers, health insurers and pharmacies. The pharmacy benefit managers say they negotiate lower prices for patients, yet the nitty-gritty occurs largely behind a curtain that lawmakers are trying to pull back.
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What It Means When Celebrities Stay Coy About Their Vaccine Status
St. Louis Blues leading scorer David Perron took 10 days to explain he had indeed been vaccinated before he caught covid-19, which knocked him from playing in the NHL playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. His case and those of other public figures raise questions about the role of celebrity in enticing people to get covid vaccinations.
By Eric Berger -
More Than 100 Missouri Schools Have Bought 鈥極ften Unproven鈥 Air-Cleaning Technology
Across Missouri, more than 100 schools have spent over $3.5 million 鈥 often at the taxpayers鈥 expense 鈥 snapping up ionization and other air-purifying devices in an attempt to keep kids safe from covid-19. But experts warn the largely unregulated technology hasn鈥檛 been thoroughly tested in classroom settings and is 鈥渙ften unproven.鈥
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For Toddlers, Pandemic Shapes Development During Formative Years
The pandemic created disruption and family stress that may have lasting effects on young children鈥檚 social and emotional development.
By Leah Gullet -
Kidney Experts Say It鈥檚 Time to Remove Race From Medical Algorithms. Doing So Is Complicated.
When estimating how well a patient鈥檚 kidneys are working, doctors frequently turn to an equation that depends on a question: Is the patient Black? Kidney experts are now debating how to remove the race adjustment and whether the question is a function of sound science. It鈥檚 considered just the first step in dismantling institutional racism in kidney care.
By Rae Ellen Bichell and Cara Anthony -
In Missouri and Other States, Flawed Data Makes It Hard to Track Vaccine Equity
Racial and ethnic categories for vaccination data vary widely from one state to another, complicating efforts to distribute shots where they are needed most. In Missouri, some red flags in the data surfaced, making health officials question its usefulness.