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A recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found working-age rural residents die from natural causes at a higher rate than their urban counterparts. And that gap has widened over the years.
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Recent data from the Commonwealth Fund illustrates stark differences in the health care system in Kansas for white people and people of color.
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Many hospitals are shuttering their labor and delivery units because insurance companies and Medicaid aren't reimbursing hospitals enough to cover the cost of births.
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Since recreational weed was legalized in Missouri, thousands of residents say they get a greater high than from the pot they used to buy. Plus: Patients in Kansas are losing access to basic health care as independently owned pharmacies close.
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As pharmacies close nationwide, some patients lose access to basic pharmaceutical care. These closures are hitting independently owned pharmacies in places like rural Kansas especially hard.
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When the emergency room in Fort Scott, Kansas, closes next month, the next closest in-state facility will be 40 minutes away — and some patients may not make it that far. Mayor Matthew Wells says the closure shows the need for the Kansas Legislature to pass Medicaid expansion.
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City and county officials are working to save ER services in the southeast Kansas community. If that doesn't work, they're trying to prepare by hiring more ambulance drivers.
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The number of seniors living in rural America is rising, but resources are decreasing and facilities are closing. So residents of towns like Cuba, Missouri, and Louisburg and Osawatomie, Kansas, are rallying to provide elders with services and support.
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Americans are becoming less and less likely to believe our fellow citizens are trying to do the right thing, and that has added to the crisis facing rural health care. Plus: Are Midwest homes prepared for more scorching summer days?
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Hundreds of thousands of people died in the pandemic because they didn’t trust the government or their neighbors to do the right thing. And it’s not getting better. Today distrust is making people sicker, especially where health care is fragile across giant swaths of rural America.
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The state will repay educational costs for health care workers who are willing to work in underserved areas. Another program will increase the number of medical residencies in Missouri.
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A July report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, a national policy group, found that 19 of Missouri’s 57 rural hospitals are at risk of shuttering because of “serious financial problems.”