Medicaid

Lawmakers say special session likely unneeded to fund Missouri Medicaid expansion

(Missouri Independent) – Legislative leaders of both parties said Tuesday that a special session is likely not needed to appropriate additional funds following a court order to begin covering Missourians who are eligible under voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, and Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis and […]

Cole County Judge Jon Beetem (Screenshot courtesy KRCG-TV)

Judge orders state to immediately allow Missourians to enroll in expanded Medicaid

(Missouri Independent) – The Missouri Department of Social Services must allow newly eligible residents that qualify for benefits under voter-approved Medicaid expansion to enroll and cannot impose greater restrictions on them, a Cole County judge ruled Tuesday. Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem sided with the plaintiffs who urged him to allow Medicaid expansion to take […]

Wolfner Library

Secretary of State announces Bicentennial-Day release of the State of Missouri Constitution in audiobook format

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, in commemoration of the two-hundredth anniversary of Missouri’s entry into the United States, has announced that the Constitution of the State of Missouri will be released in audiobook format on August 10, 2021. This 13-hour recording, produced by the Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library, is the first audio version […]

Medicaid Expansion in Missouri

Audio: Hatfield expects decision in Missouri Medicaid expansion lawsuit case in a few business days

Missouri’s Solicitor General says the state Department of Social Services needs two months to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion. D. John Sauer made his comments Friday to Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem, saying DSS needs more employees and computer upgrades for implementation. Attorney Chuck Hatfield, who represents the three low-income women suing Missouri, disagrees.   […]

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Missouri agency begins implementation of new law to regulate unlicensed boarding schools

(Missouri Independent) – Unlicensed youth residential facilities across Missouri are expected to submit materials notifying the state of their existence by mid-October, but background checks for facility staff required under a new law likely won’t be completed by that time. That’s because the Department of Social Services (DSS) is still working to make hires in […]

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Spickard resident arrested on drug allegations

The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Spickard man on August 4 on three felony counts of distribution of a controlled substance except for 35 grams or less of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoid. Thirty-four-year-old Clifford Eric Dean Neff’s bond is $30,000 cash only, and he is scheduled for the Associate Division of […]

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Four MS-13 gang members indicted for 10 murders, kidnapping and racketeering charges

Four alleged members of La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) have been charged in a federal superseding indictment with a racketeering conspiracy involving multiple murders, kidnappings, and burglaries, as well as drug trafficking. The individuals charged in the superseding indictment are: Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, 27, aka Molesto; David Arturo Perez-Manchame, 22, aka Herbi, aka Walter Melendez; Joel […]

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Holts Summit man indicted for armed robbery

A Missouri man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for the armed robbery of a Dollar General store in Jefferson City, Mo. Tyler Steven Mitchell Williams, 24, of Holts Summit, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Aug. 3. The federal indictment alleges […]

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Missouri AG files suit against Kansas City over mask mandate; obtains restraining order, halts St. Louis County mandate

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt today filed a lawsuit to halt the recently imposed mask mandate in Kansas City. The suit, which was filed this afternoon in Jackson County, argues that the mask mandate imposed is unreasonable, unconstitutional, and arbitrary, and capricious. The suit names Mayor Quinton Lucas, the Kansas City, Missouri Health Department, and […]