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Missouri faces a backlog of child abuse and neglect investigations — the Kansas City region has the most, with 3,036 cases that have been open for at least 46 days. With a shortage of investigators at the state's Children’s Division, lawmakers consider hiring private contractors to help.
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With about 85 members, including individuals with just a single plant as well as those with acres of land, Kansas City Black Urban Growers, or KCBUGS, works to address obstacles faced by Black farmers and improve community health.
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Ballot initiatives are one way for voters to assert their power over the political whims of Missouri's state legislature or courts. They are often viewed as more stable and harder to undo.
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Doulas and birth centers are considered part of the solution to Missouri’s "unacceptable" maternal mortality crisis. But current law makes it difficult to help mothers most in need, because many doulas aren't eligible for Medicaid reimbursements.
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The Missouri House advanced a bill that would prevent pregnant inmates in their third trimester from being restrained, except under extraordinary circumstances. The bill would also create certain health care requirements for pregnant inmates and reverse the prohibition on nonviolent drug offenders receiving SNAP benefits.
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The four pharmacy owners formed their own pharmacy benefit manager to take on the huge companies that influence how much people pay for medications.
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A new report suggests just 22% of hospitals in Missouri are fully complying with regulations intended to help consumers know the true costs of medical services. Statewide organizations and Kansas City hospitals disagree.
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About 1,000 nurses at Research Medical Center in Kansas City and Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park want more support and higher staffing levels. They started negotiations for a new contract this week with the hospitals’ owner, HCA Healthcare, a for-profit hospital giant with profits topping $5 billion.
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Unlike Kansas and 22 other states, Missouri does not have licensing or registration laws for naturopathic doctors, or primary care physicians with a focus on holistic care. The bill would allow naturopathic doctors only to perform minor office procedures, but not perform surgeries or prescribe opioids.
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En los estados centrales de Estados Unidos, la información acerca de las tasas de mortalidad materna entre las mujeres hispanas no es fiable. Eso es un desafío para las organizaciones de salud que dependen de esas estadísticas para enviar recursos a esa población.
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EMS workers across Missouri are receiving training on how to give overdose victims a dose of buprenorphine, which manages cravings and withdrawal symptoms, after reviving them from an overdose with the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
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A group called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is collecting signatures to put abortion rights on the state's November ballot. A recent St. Louis University/YouGov Poll found that 44% of Missourians surveyed would vote for the measure, while 37% were opposed.
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Results from recent polling suggest that there’s enough political will to end the practice of switching between daylight saving time and standard time every spring and fall.
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Missouri has a 4.225% sales tax on period products and diapers, because they're considered luxury items in the state tax code. Meanwhile, other health care-related products are not taxed at all.