Missouri Archives

Where Gun Violence Defines Daily Life

Searching For Safety: Where Children Hide When Gunfire Is All Too Common

The overall crime rate has dropped during the pandemic, but unfortunately gun violence has not. In St. Louis, at least 11 children have been killed by gunfire so far this year. Living in neighborhoods with frequent violence has forced some families to improvise ways to keep their children safe, even in the place they are supposed to be most secure: their home. The stress of growing up in these conditions could lead to chronic health problems into adulthood.

By Cara Anthony

May 28, 2020

COVID-19

Economic Blow Of The Coronavirus Hits America’s Already Stressed Farmers

At the start of the spring planting season, farmers across the U.S. heartland were already trying to recover from last year’s flooding amid worsening economic conditions when the pandemic struck. Farm bankruptcies and suicides continue to climb. A lack of mental health resources in rural America makes finding help more complicated.

By Sandy West

May 7, 2020

COVID-19

The COVID-19 Bailout That’s Left Every Hospital Unhappy In Its Own Way

Despite intense lobbying for a piece of the $100 billion bailout pot, big New York hospitals and rural systems alike say they aren’t getting a fair share.

By Rachana Pradhan and Lauren Weber

April 16, 2020

Postcard From East St. Louis

‘I Wasn’t Eating’: Senior Twin Sisters Battle Pandemic Anxiety Together

Twins Edna Mayes and Ethel Sylvester, 92, are relying on each other through the pandemic, in which one of the hidden dangers is to their mental health.

By Cara Anthony

April 16, 2020

COVID-19

‘Staying Away From Grandma’ Isn’t An Option In Multigenerational Homes

About 1 in 5 U.S. residents live in multigenerational households. Many of those have three or more generations all under one roof. While the living arrangement has financial and emotional benefits, those families face a unique set of challenges as COVID-19 continues to spread.

By Cara Anthony

April 6, 2020

COVID-19

The Nation’s 5,000 Outpatient Surgery Centers Could Help With The COVID-19 Overflow

A coalition of anesthesiologists wants to repurpose the country's more than 5,000 surgery centers to serve as emergency overflow amid the coronavirus pandemic. The centers have trained medical staff largely sitting idle, anesthesia machines that could be turned into ventilators, and empty medical space. But obstacles such as federal payment rules, logistics and some skepticism are getting in the way.

By Cara Anthony and Liz Szabo

March 27, 2020

COVID-19

Coronavirus Threatens The Lives Of Rural Hospitals Already Stretched To Breaking Point

Almost half of the nation's rural hospitals operate in the red on a good day. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, rural hospital CEOs warn that soon some may be unable to pay their workers. And their doors may close when the community most needs them.

By Lauren Weber

March 21, 2020

COVID-19

Looking For Answers After Coronavirus Contact? Welcome To The Gray Zone

The COVID-19 outbreak has spawned confusion among health officials, doctors and the public, especially for people who fall into the gray area for testing and deciding whether they need to quarantine themselves. Where to turn for answers about isolation and quarantine varies by locale. All this means agencies are sometimes delaying needed advice and giving people incorrect information.

By Laura Ungar

March 13, 2020

Listen: Missouri Efforts Show How Hard It Is To Treat Pain Without Opioids

KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber was interviewed by KBIA’s Sebastián Martínez Valdivia to discuss the challenges Missouri faces in managing patients’ pain amid the opioid epidemic.

Feb. 20, 2020

COVID-19

Coronavirus Tests Public Health Infrastructure In The Heartland

While Missouri has yet to have a confirmed case of coronavirus, the threat of the disease is siphoning resources from an already stretched-thin public health system.

By Lauren Weber

Feb. 13, 2020

No Quick Fix: Missouri Finds Managing Pain Without Opioids Isn’t Fast Or Easy

In the first nine months of an alternative pain management program in Missouri, only a small fraction of the state’s Medicaid recipients have accessed the chiropractic care, acupuncture, physical therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy meant to combat the overprescription of opioids.

By Lauren Weber

Feb. 13, 2020

Battling The Bullets From The Operating Room To The Community

St. Louis trauma surgeon Dr. Laurie Punch is on a mission to stop the bleeding of her patients and the violence-plagued communities around her. But the single mom worries she and her 7-year-old will have to move from their home, where bullets buzz in her backyard.

By Laura Ungar

Dec. 12, 2019

Record Number Of Legionnaires’ Cases In 2018 Risk Lives, Cause Cleanup Headaches

Legionnaires’ disease cases hit an all-time high in 2018, with eight times more cases than 20 years ago. Even though many facilities in Missouri and elsewhere have water management plans in place to deal with the potentially deadly disease, they are still finding the underlying bacteria that causes it in their water.

By Lauren Weber

Nov. 5, 2019

Obamacare’s Star Ratings Offer A Glimmer Of Insight ― But Not For All

Federal officials unveil new ratings for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace plans. Missouri is one of eight states that has no plans earning at least three stars on a five-star scale.

By Lauren Weber and Phil Galewitz

Nov. 1, 2019

The Deep Divide: State Borders Create Medicaid Haves And Have-Nots

State borders can highlight Medicaid’s arbitrary coverage. On the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, low-income people struggle with untreated health issues. But on the Illinois side, people in similar straits can get health care because their state expanded its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.

By Laura Ungar

Oct. 2, 2019

Missouri Firm With Silicon Valley Ties Faces Medicare Billing Scrutiny

Amid an overall crackdown on private insurers’ Medicare billing practices, a new government audit and a whistleblower suit allege St. Louis-based Essence Group Holdings Corp.'s Medicare Advantage plans overcharged taxpayers.

By Lauren Weber and Fred Schulte

July 23, 2019

Insurers Running Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions As Feds Struggle To Stop It

An enhanced government effort to catch insurers that overcharge Medicare faces resistance from the insurance industry.

By Fred Schulte and Lauren Weber

July 16, 2019

Sobering Up: In An Alcohol-Soaked Nation, More Seek Booze-Free Social Spaces

A national trend of boozeless bars is cropping up nationwide to create social spaces without the hangovers, DUIs and alcoholism culture. It’s part of a new push for sober options.

By Laura Ungar and Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today

July 8, 2019

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Who Will Pay To Fix Problem Of Surprise Medical Bills?

Lawmakers and patients want to eliminate “surprise” out-of-network medical bills. Hospitals, doctors and insurers say they want to eliminate them, too, but their opposition to one another’s proposals could complicate legislative efforts. Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this, plus the latest in news about reproductive health and health care sharing ministries.

June 13, 2019

Podcast

KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Fetal Tissue Research Is Latest Flashpoint In Abortion Debate

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail federally funded research using fetal tissue, the backlash from former Vice President Joe Biden’s support for the anti-abortion Hyde Amendment and how health policy intersects with both trade and immigration policy.

June 6, 2019

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