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This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is responding to the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic by proposing to hide from the public a rating that lets consumers compare hospitals’ safety records and to waive approximately $350 million in financial penalties for roughly 750 hospitals with the worst patient-safety […]

The post Feds want a policy advocates say would let hospitals off the hook for COVID-era lapses appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Nearly six years to the day after beloved St. Paul, Minn., school cafeteria worker Philando Castile was fatally shot by a police officer during an otherwise routine traffic stop, Jayland Walker died in a hail of bullets fired by police officers in Akron, Ohio. While the full picture of that shooting is still emerging as […]

The post More justice, more safety appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In late March, a poll from Trafalgar Group showed the Republican Senate primary in a dead heat. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, with 24.9%, held a slight edge over former Gov. Eric Greitens, with Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt just behind but all within the 3% margin of error. Three months later, after nearly $10 million […]

The post TV ad spending approaches $10 million in Missouri U.S. Senate primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As someone who considers himself pro-life, I should be celebrating the recent Dobbs case that the Supreme Court used to overturn Roe v. Wade.  But I’m very concerned today.  I believe such a ruling will not only fail to reduce the abortion rate, but could very well lead to an increase in maternal death rates […]

The post States with strong antiabortion laws have high maternal and infant mortality rates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A new law signed by Gov. Mike Parson last week will shield nonprofits from being forced to disclose their donors to government agencies and allow for certain limited liability companies to contribute to candidates. Included in a bill modifying various tax credits is the “Personal Privacy Protection Act,” which would bar public agencies from requiring nonprofits […]

The post New Missouri law shields nonprofit donor identities, allows LLCs to give to candidates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon.  The federal gun safety bill passed with bipartisan congressional support in June was heralded as the first notable piece of federal gun legislation in nearly 30 years. Yet Missouri won’t feel its full impact — yet. Missouri will benefit from the millions of dollars in the Bipartisan […]

The post How will the new federal gun law affect Missouri? It’s complicated appeared first on Missouri Independent.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In the nearly 14 years she’s been in the U.S., Ming Zhang has completed her law degree, started a family and moved to Kansas. A day before Independence Day, she celebrated her naturalization alongside 46 other new citizens. Zhang, an Overland Park resident, gave her Oath of Citizenship outside the Children’s […]

The post At naturalization ceremony, immigrants celebrate ‘beginning of a new life’ for Independence Day appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For two hours last week, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson calmly, matter-of-factly testified to the commission of high crimes by the former president and by many of those around him. She told her fellow Americans that Trump had been informed on the morning of Jan. 6 that the mob assembled by his command […]

The post Mark Meadows could come to regret acquiescence to Trump coup attempt appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Two key senators have unveiled the details of a bipartisan plan to lower costs for insulin, a lifesaving drug that some Americans have struggled to afford in recent years as prices have skyrocketed. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, introduced the measure in June, after months of work to […]

The post Lower insulin co-pays, list prices targeted in new bipartisan U.S. Senate bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As we pause to celebrate the birth of our nation, we need to seriously reflect on the state of its health and well-being. The greatest problems we face, while troubling, are not rising inflation, high gas prices, nor rampant gun violence. There is a deeper sickness growing in our land that threatens the very existence […]

The post On Fourth of July, let’s pause and reflect on America’s well-being appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Some Missouri medical providers are fearful that patients with high-risk pregnancies will face delayed care in life-threatening situations because doctors fear prosecution under Missouri’s newly-enacted abortion ban. “I’m following the rules that are made by people that have no understanding of medicine and science, and that’s extremely, extremely dangerous,” said Iman Alsaden, a doctor and […]

The post Missouri doctors fear vague emergency exception to abortion ban puts patients at risk appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri would have a flat income tax that exempts many lower income earners under a proposal floated Friday by Gov. Mike Parson after he vetoed a tax rebate plan overwhelmingly approved by lawmakers. Parson vetoed four bills in all, including a bill extending a variety of tax incentives important to farmers and rural businesses, such […]

The post Missouri governor proposes special session to cut taxes after vetoing rebate plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation Friday weakening the state’s hazardous waste regulations and opening the door for a controversial type of recycling backed by the plastic industry and decried by environmentalists.  Parson, a Republican, signed legislation to bar the Missouri Department of Natural Resources from enacting hazardous waste rules that differ in any way from […]

The post Missouri governor weakens hazardous waste rules, cuts regulation for ‘advanced recycling’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Efforts to eliminate lead in school drinking water got a huge boost on Friday, as Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed off on legislation requiring testing and also gave his approval to $27 million in federal funds to help schools install filters. The new law, which goes into effect Aug. 28, requires schools to test their […]

The post Missouri governor signs bill requiring schools test, filter water for lead appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The reaction to the Supreme Court stripping away a constitutional right to abortion has spurred many apocalyptic forecasts for the country. Most vivid, of course, is the fear that the United States will become a version of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” with a slave-class of women forced to bear children for a […]

The post Post-Roe, herding ourselves over politics will do nothing but further hurt us appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An avalanche of tax revenue is bulging Missouri’s treasury, but tax rebates approved by lawmakers won’t be coming to taxpayer bank accounts. The record surplus does, however, mean schools get more for transportation, college students get more money in scholarships and many Medicaid providers will see a rate increase in the fiscal year that begins […]

The post Missouri governor vetoes tax rebate plan from record $49 billion state budget appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Borne out of frustrations over healthcare facilities’ visitor restrictions during the pandemic, a pair of bills signed by Gov. Mike Parson Thursday will give patients’ caregivers and family clearer means to access their loved ones. Dubbed the “No Patient Left Alone Act” and “Compassionate Care Visitation Act,” the bills establish rules by which patients’ caregivers […]

The post COVID visitor restrictions curbed under new Missouri laws ensuring access to patients appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill into law Thursday that requires antiquated housing restrictions based on race, national origin or religion to be removed in all newly-recorded deeds. Beginning in 1935, the federal government required housing developers to sign agreements, or racial deed covenants, that they would not sell these homes to “non-Caucasians,” in order […]

The post New Missouri law mandates removal of discriminatory covenants from property deeds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On the day that more than 119,000 acres of public land in Wyoming went out to bid for oil and gas leasing, 10 groups sued the Department of the Interior for not properly taking climate change into account in determining the lease sites throughout eight western states. Furthermore, in the federal government’s haste to resume […]

The post Environmental groups sue Biden administration for failing to consider climate change in oil leasing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

An attorney running as an independent for the U.S. Senate in Missouri says Congress’ inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurrection has turned up enough evidence to warrant a criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump by federal law enforcement.  John Wood, a Republican and former U.S. attorney who until last week served as senior investigative […]

The post Independent Missouri Senate hopeful says Trump should face criminal probe over Jan. 6 appeared first on Missouri Independent.