Elana Gordon

Firearms related deaths among Kansas City residents have remained steady over the last decade. While that’s still unsettling, health officials have identified an especially troublesome trend.

Over the last decade, homicide rates have gone down in Kansas City. Even so, about 100 residents are killed each year from guns. That breaks down to about two people every week.

Despite the urging of a top state lawmaker and some Catholic groups, Missouri’s Attorney General will not appeal a recent court ruling, which struck down a state law that would have required insurance companies to exclude birth control coverage if employers had religious, ethical or moral objections.

State And Federal Rule Conflict

Last year’s Supreme Court ruling left a key part of the federal health law up to states to decide: whether to expand Medicaid. About half of states have said they’ll go along with an expansion. The rest are undecided or opposed. Leaders in Missouri are still divided on what to do. Missouri’s Governor supports an expansion but he faced one of his toughest crowds yet, when meeting with Senate leadership this week.

A controversial bill in Kansas that has caused outcry from groups like the National Minority AIDS Council appears to be on track for approval by House and Senate negotiators, paving the way for passage by both chambers.

Voters in Kansas City, Missouri, struck down a measure in Tuesday's election that would have prohibited the city from giving incentives to companies that make parts for nuclear weapons. Voters lent their support, on the other hand, to renewing a property tax that funds neighborhood health clinics, ambulance services and Truman Medical Center. Voters also favored a ballot measure requiring that most nonprofits pay an existing city hotel convention tax.

It has been quite a week for one of the biggest sports competitions of the year. And just as march madness comes to a end the Kansas City Royals, kick off their season opener in Chicago.

In honor of these events we’ll be taking a look at the psychology of competition. It permeates not just sports, but almost every aspect of our lives as we compete for money, prestige and more.  But, when is it healthy and when does it become detrimental not just to our personal, but social wellbeing?  And how do we tell the difference?

Kansas City has long supported health services for people without insurance or a means to pay. This is primarily done through a health levy, or property tax, that brings in about $50 million annually. A portion of that tax will soon expire. Renewing it is now up for a popular vote this Tuesday. It’s Question 1 on the ballot. Despite all the contention around health policies and spending right now, there doesn’t appear to be much opposition to the local measure.

It seems like there’s a greeting card for everything these days: for going back to school, for anniversaries, and yes, even for losing your job. But what about a card for being in hospice or at the end stages of life? That’s the idea of a high-profile patient advocate who recently turned her attention to Kansas City.  But as KCUR’s Elana Gordon reports, such a concept is not so easy to materialize.

This story was originally published online last month. Below is the audio and transcript for the radio version that aired on KC Currents March 24.

North Kansas City’s hospital can’t be sold, so long as a dispute over whether the city has the authority to sell it is in court. That’s according to a preliminary injunction issued by a Clay County judge yesterday. While the ruling is good news for the hospital board bringing the lawsuit, the board also took a hit in yesterday’s court decision.

A federal judge has struck down a Missouri law that directly challenges the so-called contraceptive mandate under the federal health law. The result of the judge’s actions mean Missouri health plans have to include no-cost options for contraceptives.

A legal battle over the possible fate of North Kansas City Hospital is escalating in court today. The hospital is asking a judge this afternoon to block the city’s recent appointments of four new members to the hospital’s board.  They worry the move would unevenly ‘pack the board,’ while a broader dispute over the hospital’s ownership plays out in court.

While doctors typically focus their time caring for living patients, one Kansas City cardiologist has spent the last few years examining the health of mummies. Yes. Mummies.

A yearly physical is the norm for most of us, whether for children or their adult parents, and it's considered a part of living a healthy lifestyle. But not all areas of health are examined by one doctor, and one area of our health that is often neglected is oral health.

Kansas City, Mo., is looking to boost its health-tech cred.

So the city that's home to Cerner Corp. and other health information firms seemed a natural to host something called the Hackovate Health Innovation Competition.

A mashup of innovation and old-school hacking (though none of the participants was bent on doing harm, we're assured), the goal of the competition was to improve the nation's health system and help people navigate the complexities of the Affordable Care Act.