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Kansas won't have legal medical pot or expand Medicaid for at least another year

Apr. 26, 2024 20:17 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will remain among the handful of states that haven't legalized the medical use of marijuana or expanded their Medicaid programs for at least another year. Republican state senators on Friday blocked efforts to force debates on both issues before the...

Mississippi legislative leaders swap proposals on possible Medicaid expansion

Apr. 26, 2024 16:53 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Senate leaders on Friday said for the first time that they are willing to expand Medicaid to the full level allowed under a federal law signed 14 years ago by then-President Barack Obama. But as part of negotiations with fellow Republicans in the...

Missouri's GOP lawmakers vote to kick Planned Parenthood off Medicaid

Apr. 24, 2024 14:58 PM EDT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday passed a bill to ban Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood, a move they have tried for years in a state where almost all abortions are banned. The bill, approved 106-48 Wednesday in the House,...

Mississippi lawmakers haggle over possible Medicaid expansion as their legislative session nears end

Apr. 23, 2024 20:10 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Top Mississippi lawmakers started negotiating Tuesday on what could become a landmark plan to expand Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands of people in one of the poorest states in the U.S. But even with Republicans controlling both the state House and...

Idaho group says it is exploring a ballot initiative for abortion rights and reproductive care

Apr. 19, 2024 19:07 PM EDT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A new Idaho organization says it will ask voters to restore abortion access and other reproductive health care rights in the state after lawmakers let a second legislative session end without modifying strict abortion bans that have been blamed for a recent exodus of health...

Advocates push for full Medicaid expansion as Mississippi legislators enter negotiations

Apr. 16, 2024 18:35 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A coalition of advocates rallied for full Medicaid expansion Tuesday at the Mississippi Capitol as lawmakers prepare to negotiate a final plan that could extend health care coverage to tens of thousands of residents in one of the poorest states in the U.S. ...

Editorial Roundup: Missouri

Apr. 16, 2024 17:59 PM EDT

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 12, 2024. Editorial: Having won on abortion, Missouri GOP just can’t stop attacking women’s health care Not content with having already imposed the first statewide abortion ban in America in half a century (and one of the most...

New York's high court hears case on abortion insurance coverage

Apr. 16, 2024 17:30 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s highest court took up a case Tuesday that seeks to throw out a regulation requiring health insurance policies to cover medically necessary abortions — a lawsuit that could jeopardize a similar state law. The challenge was filed by the Roman...

It's the first drug shown to slow Alzheimer's. Why is is it off to a slow start?

Apr. 13, 2024 08:12 AM EDT

The first drug shown to slow Alzheimer’s disease hit the U.S. market over a year ago, but sales have lagged, major hospital systems have taken months to start using it and some insurers have rejected coverage. Doctors also expect some patients will hesitate to take Leqembi due to...

One-fourth of people dropped from Medicaid still aren't insured, survey shows

Apr. 12, 2024 10:10 AM EDT

Almost a quarter of people who were dropped from Medicaid during the post-pandemic eligibility reviews are still uninsured and high costs are preventing them from getting on another plan, a new survey from KFF showed Friday. At least 20 million lower-income Americans have lost their...