Planned Parenthood website

Planned Parenthood sues Missouri social services agency over restricted Medicaid funds

(Missouri Independent) – Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Thursday against Missouri’s Department of Social Services, alleging the agency unlawfully plans to restrict Medicaid payments to the provider. A March 4 notice sent to Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region cites a supplemental budget bill lawmakers passed last month that bars abortion providers or their affiliates from being […]

Mark Twain Teacher Workshop

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum hosting teacher workshop

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri is offering a workshop for teachers and media specialists. The 2022 Mark Twain Teacher Workshop will be held July 11 – 15. The weeklong workshop will focus on Twain’s short stories, including The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Eve’s Diary, The 1,000,000 Bank-note, and […]

Laredo R-7 School

Laredo Board of Education accepts health insurance bid; field trips approved for kindergarten through eighth grade

The Laredo R-7 Board of Education on March 7th took action on health insurance for 2022-2023. Ozarks School Benefits Association was accepted. The school will pay $540 plus vision and life insurance. Secretary Robin Griswold reports employees can choose between seven different plans, including HSAs and PPOs. Some of the plans cost more than $540. […]

Planned Parenthood

Missouri budget bill blocks Medicaid patients from accessing Planned Parenthood

Missouri’s supplemental budget bill signed into law Thursday includes a provision to block patients who rely on Medicaid from accessing Planned Parenthood health centers. Federal Medicaid law protects patients’ rights to choose their providers, including Planned Parenthood. Michelle Trupiano, executive director of the Missouri Family Health Council, noted because of the Hyde Amendment, Medicaid cannot cover abortions, […]

Gallery View of Missouri Senate

Missouri Senate passes $4.6B spending bill with pay raises, federal school funds

(Missouri Independent) – With a deadline looming that could cost Missouri almost $2 billion in federal education aid, the bill to distribute the money passed the state Senate on Wednesday after Democrats slammed a zero-dollar funding line as a partisan attack on Planned Parenthood. The $4.6 billion spending bill approved on a 25-7 vote is the first legislation requiring […]

Generic City Water

Experts say federal funds for lead pipe replacement needed in Missouri

Missouri has roughly 330,000 lead service lines, the pipes connecting water mains to buildings including people’s homes, and federal funding could help speed up the process of removing and replacing them. The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year includes $15 billion for lead-pipe replacement, building on funds from the American Rescue Plan. Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director at […]

Law and Settlement scroll with gavel

Missouri Attorney General announces finalization of opioid settlement

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his Office has finalized opioid settlements with Johnson & Johnson and major opioid distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen. The Attorney General was joined by families of victims of opioid overdose and representatives from treatment centers and nonprofits across the state. Combined, these settlements bring a total of […]

Planned Parenthood

Missouri state health agency seeks control of Title X funds that go to Planned Parenthood

(Missouri Independent) – Missouri’s state health department has applied to oversee federal family planning funds, a move reproductive health advocates fear would give the state power to cut off funding for providers who refer patients for abortion services. During his confirmation hearing late last month, former Department of Health and Senior Services Director Donald Kauerauf’s […]

Donald Kauerauf, the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, speaks during a press conference at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on July 21, 2021

Before ouster, Missouri health director drafted a letter to senators that was never sent

(Missouri Independent) – On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment.  The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine […]

Missouri Governor Mike Parson delivers State address in Missouri House January 19, 2022 (Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel - Missouri House Communications)

Governor Mike Parson touts Missouri’s COVID-19 response in annual State of State address

(Missouri Independent) – Gov. Mike Parson praised his administration’s handling of the still-unfolding COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday, telling a joint session of the Missouri General Assembly that the state has emerged ready to make long-term investments in its future.  “The bottom line is Missouri’s economy is strong,” Parson said in his annual State of the State […]