Health

This week, upwards of 1,000 medical professionals and thought leaders are converging on the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. for the third annual TEDMed summit. It’s a spin-off of TED - short for Technology, Entertainment, Design – which features talks and performances from the group’s biannual conferences centering around the general theme of “ideas worth spreading.” 

Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low income and disabled residents, is no small chunk of change in Missouri. It comprises a huge portion of the state’s budget (more on that in Part 2). It also covers a lot of people: about one in ten residents.

So, to expand or not to expand Medicaid?

Kansas health officials are trying to assure local health groups that a controversial bill dealing with infectious diseases needed an update to response protocols for occupational exposures. Some HIV advocates, however, aren’t completely sold.

What exactly is the role of legal documents, like a power of attorney, in a health care setting, especially if a person is not related to the patient? An incident at a local hospital last week, which has struck a nerve with some LGBT groups and gained some internet buzz, spurred the question.

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.

A competitive bidding program aimed at helping Medicare avoid overpaying for products like scooters, diabetic testing supplies, and oxygen tanks is being expanded to 91 communities nationwide, including Wichita. 

The program began a little more than two years ago as a demonstration project in nine communities, including Kansas City.