Healthcare and Insurance

Weekly jobless insurance claims decrease near September’s end

In the week ending September 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 837,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised level. Prior week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 870,000 to 873,000. The 4-week… more

Blue KC to return to Affordable Care Act marketplace

On Tuesday, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City announced it will be making a return to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) market since departing it in 2018. The decision comes from the new, rising need from people who… more

Partnership between UnitedHealthcare and Saint Luke’s, Children’s Mercy leads to new network plan

A new partnership between Kansas City-based Saint Luke’s Health System, Children’s Mercy and UnitedHealthcare out of Minnesota has resulted in an effort to create a new narrow network commercial plan for customers. Set to become available on Jan. 1, the… more

Q&A with Roy Jensen, MD

Q: One of the emerging treatments at KU Cancer Center has been the CAR T-cell program. What does the future of the program look like at KU and what does this particular treatment look like for solid mass tumors and… more

Coping with Covid: State, regional coronavirus cases update

A Friday update from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports the state now has 56,592 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 632 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reported on… more

Construction of second facility for families of local hospitalized veterans underway

A new facility now under construction will benefit veterans receiving care at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and their families, by allowing veterans’ loved ones to live nearby. The new facility is called the Fisher House and is anticipated… more

University of Missouri Health Care data breach exposes patient information

A report this past Friday revealed another victim of cyber-attacks, this time the University of Missouri Health Care experiencing a data breach which has leaked patient information for thousands of patients. The original attack was said to have occurred between… more

Clinical trial testing begins at KU Medical Center for those with mild COVID-19 symptoms

A new study has begun at the University of Kansas Medical Center as it started clinical trials for a new COVID-19 treatment Tuesday. The new treatment aims to help infected individuals with mild COVID-19 symptoms that have not been hospitalized… more

Construction of new Children’s Mercy headquarters to finish this month

A new nine-story, 375,000-square foot headquarters for Children’s Mercy Research Institute is slated to finish construction this month. The new building’s design is said to be more energy efficient and support a more collaborative approach to research between physicians, scientists, academic… more

Coping with Covid: COVID-19 cluster information from KDHE remains undisclosed

A Wednesday statement from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has confirmed they are putting a pause on the release of COVID-19 cluster information. Last week, the department began releasing detailed cluster information for the state which included… more