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Missouri’s delays in processing Medicaid applications — among the worst in the nation — have the attention of federal regulators, who will conduct a “focused review” of the problem, according to a letter obtained by The Independent. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a letter sent to the state May 22 and […]

The post Feds to scrutinize Missouri’s worst-in-the-nation Medicaid application delays appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s most prolific political donor dropped another $1 million into the campaign of his preferred candidate for governor last week, bringing the total he’s spent during the 2024 election cycle to almost $3 million.  Retired investor Rex Sinquefield has given more than $45 million in contributions since he became a significant donor around 2006 mostly […]

The post Rex Sinquefield drops big donations into GOP governor, AG primaries appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Cassidy Yermal, 32, began experiencing debilitating migraines when she was 17 years old. As a teenager growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania, she saw numerous neurologists and tried a variety of medications before finding one that provided relief. In 2022, her new insurer asked her to prove it. Yermal now lives in Marlboro, Maryland, where she’s […]

The post States struggle to help patients navigate insurance hurdle known as ‘step therapy’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Supreme Court likely had no idea of the furor it would unleash when it overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. You could see the justices take a tentative step backward Wednesday when they unanimously voted to preserve access to abortion pill drug mifepristone. As the ruling was a technical one, based on […]

The post Surprised by U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion pill ruling? You can thank Kansas voters. appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Tyson Foods, Inc. “devastated” a Missouri town and “chicken farmers who put everything on the line” to raise animals for slaughter when it closed its Dexter plant, a lawsuit alleges.  An owner of three poultry farms in Arkansas that raised chickens for slaughter at the plant, which closed last October, filed a lawsuit against the […]

The post Lawsuit claims ‘fraudulent scheme’ in Tyson plant closure in southeast Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down a rule enacted following a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that defined a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock attachment as a machine gun, which is generally prohibited under federal law. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, reduces the executive branch’s already-limited […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court overturns ban on bump stocks used in Las Vegas mass shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling Thursday to maintain current access to the abortion medication mifepristone, rejecting a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the drug, abortion-rights advocates and opponents vowed to continue their respective battles over the drug. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to treat miscarriages […]

The post Anti-abortion groups say Supreme Court’s mifepristone ruling won’t deter them appeared first on Missouri Independent.

JETMORE, Kan. — An inch or two of corn peeks out of the dirt, just enough to reveal long rows forming over the horizon. Sprinkler engines roar as they force water from underground to pour life into dusty fields. Thunder cracks. The wind whips up dirt as a trail of dark storms looms. The crashing […]

The post ‘Time for a reckoning.’ Kansas farmers brace for water cuts to save Ogallala Aquifer appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — In his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office in January 2021, former President Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, mapped campaign strategy with GOP lawmakers and projected party unity ahead of the November elections. Trump said the meetings brought “great unity.” Surrounded by Republican senators who were smiling and applauding him […]

The post Trump claims ‘great unity’ after talks with congressional GOP  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal judge has temporarily halted enforcement of new rules from the Biden administration that would prevent discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued a temporary injunction Thursday that blocks updated Title IX policy from taking effect Aug. 1 in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana. In […]

The post Biden’s Title IX transgender protections blocked in federal court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress got one step further in their efforts to reverse the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX after the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved a measure on Thursday that would overturn the updated regulations. The U.S. Department of Education’s final rule — which seeks to protect […]

The post Biden Title IX regulation targeted by Republicans in Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats’ attempts to bolster reproductive rights failed again Thursday when Republicans blocked a bill guaranteeing access to in vitro fertilization from moving forward. The 48-47 procedural vote came just one day after Republicans tried unsuccessfully to pass their own IVF access bill and one week after GOP senators prevented legislation from […]

The post U.S. Senate Republicans reject Democrats’ bill on IVF protections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — When Lauren Miller flew from her home state of Texas to Colorado two years ago she felt a moment of relief when the plane took off — not because she had been delayed for hours or because she needed a vacation, but because she was about to meet with doctors who would be […]

The post State abortion bans forcing interstate travel, U.S. Senate panel hears appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Several Republican candidates for Missouri statewide office on Wednesday evening urged stronger state and federal action to clean up St. Louis-area radioactive waste and compensate victims. Parts of the St. Louis area have been contaminated for 75 years with radioactive waste left over from the effort to build the world’s first atomic bomb during World […]

The post Missouri statewide candidates decry inaction on St. Louis area nuclear waste appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a much-anticipated decision Thursday that mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortion, can remain available under current prescribing guidelines. The high court unanimously rejected attempts by anti-abortion groups to roll back access to what was in place more than eight years ago, writing that they […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court rejects attempt to limit access to abortion pill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In a battle that pits some of the biggest players in health care against each other, the Missouri General Assembly has come down on the side of hospitals who want unlimited access to discounted drugs for their pharmacies. On the last day of this year’s legislative session, the Missouri House passed a bill making it […]

The post Billions at stake as national battle over drug pricing plays out in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The recent UM System Board of Curators petition to remove racial and ethnic criteria from 53 donated scholarships and funds is a final step in a year-long process that has already removed such criteria from millions of dollars in student aid. University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi said the university awarded $12.3 million in institutional […]

The post Racial criteria removed by University of Missouri system from millions of dollars in student aid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Months into a new Biden administration policy intended to lower drug costs for Medicare patients, independent pharmacists say they’re struggling to afford to keep some prescription drugs in stock. “It would not matter if the governor himself walked in and said, ‘I need to get this prescription filled,’” said Clint Hopkins, a pharmacist and co-owner […]

The post Biden plan to save Medicare patients money on drugs risks empty shelves, pharmacists say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two years have passed since Missouri outlawed abortion nearly completely. Missouri’s life-begins-at-conception law also seems to outlaw in vitro fertilization (IVF), the medical process that enables many infertile couples to conceive and bear children. If citizens of Missouri wish to protect this procedure then there will need to be a new law. How is IVF […]

The post Where’s the future of IVF and abortion care? In the hands of voters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to release audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with Department of Justice officials. The GOP lawmakers maintain the audio is valuable for their monthslong impeachment inquiry into Biden. House Republicans brought the contempt citation […]

The post U.S. House GOP votes to hold attorney general in contempt in dispute over audio recording appeared first on Missouri Independent.