Advocates Demand Missouri Expands Medicaid Coverage by 2014

A campaign kicked off Wednesday to expand coverage to anyone making 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Advocates say the move would cover an additional 250,000 Missourians.

Grassroots leaders and organizations in St. Louis converged Wednesday to announce a campaign to expand Medicaid coverage in Missouri, a move they say is critical for the state's working poor. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) During a press conference at Kirkwood Baptist Church, faith leaders, advocates and Medicaid customers called for Missouri to adopt legislation that expands coverage to anyone making 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Under the current system, Missouri does not offer Medicaid to single adults, unless they are disabled, and parents or caretakers with dependent children must make 25 percent of the FPL to receive Medicaid. (See PDF for comparison of current …

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Local Voices: ObamaCare, Paranoid Pups and a Business Expelled

"Patch” rounds up seven recent standout blog posts from Local Voices bloggers.

As Patch’s resident Local Voices aficionado, I think it’s safe to say that our bloggers have been on fire this week—and not just because of the oppressive temperatures outside. Between a historic post from Mercy St. Louis, a Patchy post from a lake-lover, some sage advice and a certain adorable kitten, I found myself amused, informed and once again in “aww” of the brilliance of our blogging neighbors. That’s why, yet again, I’m here to share seven of the most interesting, entertaining and/or useful posts I found around Patchland this week. As you might know, this is only a very small cross-section of the Patch Local Voices blogger population. Which blog posts did you enjoy this week? Share your favorites in the comments section, below. Got…

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POLL: Would You Buy Health Insurance or Car Insurance?

Missouri voters nixed federal healthcare requirement in 2010. What if you had to choose?

Which one would be most important to you if you had to choose one to pay? Vote in our poll. In 2010, West County Republican state Sen. Jane Cunningham supported a ballot proposition passed by voters that may have exempted Missouri from the federal Affordable Care Act's requirement to buy health insurance. Since Thursday morning's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upholds the Constitutionality of the federal health insurance measure, Americans are on the hook for health insurance, just like car insurance. What if you got to choose? Which would you rather buy? Take our poll to see how others feel too! Federal law typically trumps state measures in a case like this.

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Archbishop Dolan Protests Healthcare Coverage with eBook

Submitted by Cindy Brovsky/Random House

West County native, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, released an original eBook, True Freedom: On Protecting Human Dignity and Religious Freedom (Image Books, June 19) in conjunction with the U.S. bishops’ call for Catholics and others to protest U.S. health care mandates for contraception and other policies they deem threaten religious freedom. Dolan writes: “In only the last few years we’ve experienced rampant disregard for religious beliefs in this country with the approval of embryonic stem cell research; legal justification for the torture of prisoners; the provision of tax dollars to abortion providers; the HHS mandates; and, most recently, a redefinition of marriage by many of our leading political figures. We can see…

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Free Manchester Clinic Combats Health Care Barriers

A free clinic in Manchester is helping bring medical treatment to residents without insurance.

A free health clinic in Manchester is making an impact on the lives of West County residents without insurance. Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) West County Clinic, located at 14395 Manchester Rd. at Henry Avenue, opened its doors two months ago and operates 2-4 p.m. Sundays, according to the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis. The clinic is focused on providing free non-emergency primary care for uninsured, low-income residents, aged 18-64, who live or work in Des Peres, Manchester, Town and Country, Ellisville, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Wildwood or Winchester, the Suburban Journals reports. According to the Journals, the Manchester clinic is part of a public health project of the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, which is located at …

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Patch Political Potpourri

GOP Senate Candidates Tangle Over Medicare Constitutionality

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) caused a stir with statements he made at a Fulton campaign event on the government health care program.

Two GOP candidates seeking to dislodge Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are in a spat over the constitutionality of Medicare. Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), running for the U.S. Senate, gained attention recently because of comments he made in Fulton, MO. Akin was quoted in the Columbia Daily Tribune saying that he doesn’t “find in the Constitution that it is the job of the government to provide health care.” Akin added as a practical matter, Medicare can’t be repealed. “Now people have contributed their money to it. Now people are dependent on it,” Akin told Tribune reporter Rudi Keller. “Now we have an obligation, and we are between a rock and a hard place on it. I want to manage it to give people who depend on it the best quality health care we can…

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Missouri Baptist Ranked '100 Top Hospital'

Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country was named in the top categories of two separate hospital rankings.

Town and Country's Missouri Baptist Medical Center was recently ranked “100 Top Hospital” by Thomson Reuters and also named among the “Best Hospitals in St. Louis” by US News and World Report. Hospital officials said in a release that this is the third consecutive year that Missouri Baptist has been ranked one of the nation’s 100 top hospitals by Thomson Reuters as part of its annual study that evaluates performance in 10 categories. The study looks at mortality, medical complications, patient safety, efficiency, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia.  Missouri Baptist was the only St. Louis hospital to …

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