Tagged: health care

Most of the time, hacking isn't the first word you want to hear coupled with technology. At Hackovate, a legion of computer-savvy gurus are using their powers for good.

If you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered Missourian your chances of finding and getting the same level of health care as the rest of the state are significantly reduced.

A growing number of health experts are warning of potential collateral damage if the Supreme Court strikes down the entire 2010 Affordable Care Act: potential chaos in the Medicare program.

Medicare patients who reach the annual gap in coverage for prescription drugs known as the "doughnut hole" are 57 percent more likely than those with continuous insurance coverage to stop taking drugs for heart-related conditions such as high blood pressure or heart disease.

By now it's hardly news that the U.S. spends more than every other industrialized country on health care. But a new study suggests that at least when it comes to cancer care, Americans may actually be getting decent value.

What if when you’re sick and need to see the doctor, you could just log on to your home computer for a virtual visit instead of going to the office?  That idea and others were kicked around among area health leaders last week at a meeting about what Google’s soon-to-be-installed high speed internet, Google Fiber, could mean for the region’s health care sector.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri's fifth district representative Emanuel Cleaver says he doesn't think yesterday's passage of a bill to repeal the federal health care law poses a real threat. The Senate's likely to reject the measure. But Cleaver, a democrat who strongly supports health reform, says he is concerned with GOP plans to try to defund the law in the coming months.

"If the funds are withheld or if significant dollars are withheld, there won't be the change we had hoped for, particularly in poor communities and disaffected communities," Cleaver says.

Kansas City, MO – Missouri's high risk insurance program has announced it's dropping premiums by as much as twenty five percent.

The state launched the pool this summer as part of the federal health law. But state insurance director John Huff says only a couple hundred people have enrolled in it so far. Huff says lowering the monthly premiums, which range from about $250 to $1,000, will hopefully change that.

"I hope it makes health coverage more affordable and accessible for Missourians - that's the intent," says Huff.