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Yelp recently released its updated “Best pastries in every state and province” list, praising Kirkwood's Nathaniel Reid Bakery as the eatery with the best pastries in the Show-Me State.

A bill introduced in the St. Louis Board of Aldermen last week would allocate tens of millions in federal pandemic aid dollars to improve pedestrian and street safety. The current version of Board Bill 120 calls for over $74 million in American Rescue Plan Funds to design and implement traffic studies, create safety improvements at 10 high-crash locations, pave arterial streets, improve sidewalks and more.

by Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Miami Herald. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

Florida’s long-troubled compensation fund for infants born with catastrophic brain injuries has resolved one of its thorniest disputes: the claim that it avoided hundreds of millions in health care costs by raiding the safety net for impoverished Floridians.

The Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, settled a three-year-old whistleblower complaint that alleged the program grew assets of nearly $1.7 billion partly by dumping health care and caregiving costs onto Medicaid, the state-federal insurer for poverty-stricken and disabled Floridians.

Under the settlement, announced Monday by the U.S. Justice Department, NICA agreed to pay $51 million to resolve allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act. NICA’s board of directors, ushered in last year as part of a far-reaching reform, already had voted to cease the program’s reliance on Medicaid.

Beginning in April 2021, the Miami Herald, in partnership with ProPublica, published a series of stories showing NICA withheld and delayed care to many families, focusing on stockpiling assets instead.

Administrators reduced costs, the Herald reported, partly by funneling families into Medicaid — a program already so poorly funded that a federal judge in late 2014 accused the state of rationing care and maintaining an unconstitutionally inadequate system of care for children in poverty.

Monday’s settlement amount is more than twice what was paid by the administrators of a Virginia compensation program to resolve a similar lawsuit — but also far less than the $140 million that Florida health administrators estimated was diverted by NICA from the state’s chronically underfunded Medicaid program.

“The Medicaid program provides a safety net for our most vulnerable populations that do not have access to traditional healthcare coverage,” U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez, who heads the DOJ’s Southern District of Florida, said in a prepared statement.

He added: “The misuse of Medicaid funds will not be tolerated.”

NICA denied wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.

Florida lawmakers created NICA in 1988, responding to dire warnings — critics called them exaggerated — that obstetricians would flee the state to avoid rising medical malpractice premiums. Under the law, the parents of children born with a certain type of brain injury were precluded from filing malpractice suits. In return, NICA was to provide medical care, therapy, medication and in-home caregiving for the life of the injured child.

Most children accepted into NICA either were deprived of oxygen at birth — sometimes as the result of a constricted umbilical cord — or suffered other brain damage or spinal injury. The program is no-fault, meaning parents need not prove their doctor or hospital acted recklessly.

This year, the state Agency for Health Care Administration, or AHCA, which oversees Florida’s Medicaid program, estimated in a report that it had spent more than $140 million over the previous 33 years to cover hospital stays, in-home nursing and other medical needs for children covered by NICA.

NICA’s reliance on Medicaid dollars frustrated and, at times, infuriated parents who depended on the program. Parents complained bitterly that they were forced to exhaust all efforts and appeals for Medicaid reimbursement — a process that could take months, if not years — before NICA would consider paying, even for such necessary items as wheelchairs and medications.

The Herald series led to sweeping changes: NICA’s long-standing executive director stepped down. The program’s board of directors resigned en masse. And the Florida Legislature approved a massive overhaul, including increased payments to parents and fewer restrictions on benefits. Lawmakers also required the program to include a NICA parent and an advocate for children with disabilities on the board.

Jim DeBeaugrine, a former head of the state’s disabilities agency, gained oversight of NICA as board chairman following the previous board’s resignation. He said Monday the settlement helps the program sustain its ongoing reform.

“I think we are all glad to have this behind us,” DeBeaugrine said. “We will focus on continuing to do what we were all appointed to do. That’s improve the way this program serves the families. … It’s important to get this behind us.”

“My main disappointment,” he added, “is that the money we are paying comes from dollars that otherwise would serve our families.”

The path to reforming NICA’s dependence on Medicaid was cleared by a Virginia couple who filed a whistleblower suit in July 2015 challenging the legality of that state’s compensation program for infants born with profound brain damage. Florida NICA was modeled after the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program.

The Virginia program settled that lawsuit by paying $20.7 million to the U.S. government and agreeing to stop shifting costs to Medicaid. The parents of Cody Arven, a severely disabled boy on whose behalf the suit was filed, received $4.1 million of that settlement.

Veronica and Theodore Arven, the latter now deceased, also filed a whistleblower complaint against Florida NICA. Though the DOJ chose not to intervene in the Florida case, the department’s attorneys investigated the claims and helped negotiate the settlement.

The settlement set aside $12.7 million for Veronica Arven and the estate of Theodore Arven for their role in spearheading the litigation. “We are pleased that this whistleblower lawsuit has resulted in a resolution that ultimately benefits all NICA families and provides relief to a long-overburdened Florida Medicaid program,” said Scott Austin, a Virginia attorney who acted as lead counsel in the litigation.

Groups representing librarians are expected to call on Secretary Jay Ashcroft to drop his proposal.

In the summer of 2020, several St. Louis women took to social media to share serious allegations about safety at restaurants, bars and a tattoo parlor in the city’s Grove neighborhood. Sam Hunerlach later founded St. Louis Against Sexual Assault to help train local bars and restaurants on how to prevent sexual harrassment and assault and make their establishments safe for patrons and staff.

All charges against Grant Gaumer were dropped this month.

Greater North County Chamber to Celebrate The 2023 Business Person of the Year Dec.2 2023 Zykan Family Legacy Winner will be Awarded The Greater North County Chamber of Commerce will celebrate the 2023 Business Person of the Year and the 2023 Zykan Family Legacy Award Winner at Nite of Stars on Friday, Dec. 2 at […]

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MoDOT to Completely Close New Florissant Rd. Between Dunn and Pershall Roads, Nov. 18-20 Drivers who regularly use New Florissant Road (Route N) at I-270 should be aware of this upcoming weekend closure. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will completely close New Florissant Road between Dunn Road and Pershall Road in both directions and […]

The post MoDOT to Completely Close New Florissant Rd. Between Dunn and Pershall Roads, Nov. 18-20 appeared first on flovalleynews.com.

Take a load off and take in the views on a relaxing daytime cruise that shows St. Louis from the river that built it. Narrated by the captain or a

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WOOD RIVER - Mia Seibert is now in her fourth year as an East Alton-Wood River High School cheerleader and she has been highly recognized for her efforts. Mia was an all-conference selection as a junior. Mia is recognized today as a Midwest Members Credit Union Female Athlete of the Month for the Oilers. Mia commended her coach and family for their assistance in her cheerleading career: "I would like to thank my coach, Alison Beachum, she has pushed me to become a better athlete mentally and physically. I would also like to thank my mom and sister, they have been my biggest supporters throughout my cheering career and I appreciate all they do for me." Mia was Rookie of the Year her freshman year for the Oilers and Co-MVP this high school football season by her teammates. "My favorite part about cheerleading is the friendships and lessons I have learned," she said. In her free time, Mia said she enjoys going to the gym and she teaches gymnastics to younger kids for the City of

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Army Corps of Engineers Holding Town Hall on Radiation Findings at Jana School New information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding their testing at Jana Elementary was scheduled to be heard Tuesday night (Nov. 15) at the Hazelwood School Board meeting. (Prior to The Independent News print deadline.) USACE will also hold a […]

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ILLINOIS - The Workers’ Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine collective bargaining rights into the Illinois state constitution, still appears on track to pass one week after Election Day. There were two ways for the amendment to pass: if 60% of voters voting on the question approved it, or if over 50% of all voters - whether they skipped the question or not - approved it. The Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights Campaign held a virtual press briefing this morning providing an update on the current vote count. Using compiled public election results and data from Illinois election authorities , the campaign calculated current support for the amendment at 58.31% of those voting on the question and 53.05% of all voters, giving the amendment a path to passage. Director Samantha McClain said even the remaining mail-in ballots left to be counted could not stop the amendment from passing. “We can confidently assert that the Workers’

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Two St. Louis McDonald's restaurants are participating in a fundraiser Tuesday in memory of the victims of the October shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School.

The Continuum of Care is seeking nominations for several Board of Director positions.

EDWARDSVILLE -The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) provided free dental care to 85 deserving veterans during the fifth annual Veteran’s Care Day on Thursday, Nov. 10. SIU SDM provided more than $45,000 worth of free dental treatment during the event, including cleanings, x-rays, fillings, and extractions. Veteran Marine John W. Smith attended the event for the first time. Due to various circumstances, he had to take three different buses just to get to the dental clinic. Smith wanted to make sure he was not going to miss the opportunity to gain free, comprehensive dental care. “I need to get some teeth pulled. They hurt really bad,” said Smith. “I am thankful that the SIU SDM is doing this for the vets. It is really helping me out.” “We know the veterans are appreciative of this opportunity,” said SIU SDM Director of Community Dentistry Katie Kosten, DMD. “We are incredibly appreciative of them and what

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Parts of the region got up to 3 inches; most of the snow melted quickly.

The government of India continues to increase its monitoring of residents’ day-to-day lives. Like pretty much every other country in the world, India relies on the internet to handle communications, data, and multiple services used by residents. The government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has become less democratic and more authoritarian. To keep dissent to […]