Top Of The Morning News: December 24, 2012

Gun shows, Missouri Medicaid expansion & more: Your morning news from KCUR.

Gun buyers flocked to gun shows over the weekend

Buyers were anxious to buy weapons they fear may soon become illegal to market.   KCUR’s Frank Morris reported that gun shows over the weekend in Kansas City, Pennsylvania and Texas were packed with people looking for assault-style rifles and high-capacity bullet clips, weapons used in used in the Newtown massacre.

Shane Gibbs, a dealer at the Kansas City show says business is great—“this is unprecedented. And what I understand, from my distributors, who I buy my guns from, they had a record breaking week.”

Kansas City will soon know more about the quality of its primary care system. 

The region is one of three nationwide, slated to receive doctor specific information on Medicare claims. Cathy Davis is with the Kansas City Quality Improvement Consortium, the group receiving and analyzing the confidential data.  In her words, “It will give us the opportunity to also compare the treatment, or if there’s any disparity between Medicare and commercial care. It gives just a bigger picture of what health care in our community is like.”

Boost For Expanding Missouri Medicaid

Governor Jay Nixon's administration is bolstering his plan to expand Missouri's Medicaid program with an analysis estimating that it could save the state money in the near future. Figures released this past week by Nixon's budget office show Missouri could see a nearly $47 million increase in general revenues during the first year of the Medicaid expansion in 2014.