Medicaid

With just days remaining in the 2025 legislative session, unfinished Republican priorities include overturning voter-approved initiatives on abortion rights and paid sick leave.

Thousands of Midwesterners obtained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. A federal work requirement would force states to enforce a policy that could cause a loss of benefits caused by administrative errors and red tape.

Many people relying on Medicaid for health insurance are concerned about potential cuts by the federal government, but in rural Kansas, community members don't like to talk about it. A newspaper editor from Marion, Kansas, explains why that is.

Navigators help people enroll in Medicaid and insurance on the federal marketplace. Federal funding cuts by the Trump administration mean Kansas will have less navigators.

The federal spending cuts proposed by the Republican-controlled Congress could lead to tens of thousands of jobs lost across Missouri and Kansas health care systems and food suppliers, a new study found.

U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, an Ozark Republican, also took a negative view of town hall meetings, claiming that "only political nutjobs show up.” His comments come after several GOP lawmakers faced angry crowds criticizing federal job reductions.

The Joint Economic Committee - Minority report released Thursday by Congressional Democrats projects Republican tax cut proposals could mean a one-third cut to Medicaid nationwide. Children, the elderly and rural residents stand to lose the most.

MO HealthNet covers more than 1.3 million, or one in five people in the state, across different eligibility groups. The majority of Missouri's Medicaid funding, including almost all of its expansion money, comes from the federal government.

More than 400,000 of Missouri's nearly 1.4 million Medicaid recipients lost coverage after the end of the COVID public health emergency. Almost half were children — one of the highest rates in the nation.

Missouri officials doubt the state could stop accepting Medicaid expansion applicants if the federal government provides less money. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley says he'd be "really concerned" about significant Medicaid cuts in a budget bill.

The Republican-sponsored constitutional amendment would require able-bodied Medicaid participants ages 19 to 49 to prove they are working as a condition for receiving health coverage. Tens of thousands of patients lost coverage in other states that implemented similar requirements.

Robert Knodell has been hired to be the next city manager of Poplar Bluff after three years leading the Department of Social Services. Over that time, the department faced criticism over its administration of public benefits and handling of missing foster kids.