Health

Domestic abuse isn’t a new problem, but a recent study about it may surprise you. It turns out that the victims suffer high rates of chronic illnesses.

Now that healthcare.gov has undergone some major tweaks, supporters of the Affordable Care Act hope that a lot more people will go online and compare insurance rates. But what might surprise shoppers is how rates and subsidies vary depending on their address.

In Missouri, insurance buyers in different parts of the Show-Me State are seeing some of the most extreme cost differences in the country. 

On Monday morning, Kansas Department of Health and Environment director of Health Care Finance, Kari Bruffett, addressed a packed legislative oversight meeting about issues with Kansas' new privatized Medicaid program, KanCare. Her department oversees the work of the three managed care companies that started administering the program that was rolled out this year.

She said that most of the glitches that came at the start of KanCare have been fixed, and the new system is now working nearly as well as the old Medicaid system.

Missouri will allow health insurance companies to continue offering policies that otherwise would have been canceled under the terms of the new federal health care law.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon announced Thursday that the state will let insurers sell individual and small-group policies in 2014 that were to be canceled because they didn't meet federal coverage requirements taking effect next year. 

As part of KCUR’s ongoing reporting on health care in the Kansas City area, we wanted to know more about your experiences with gaps in health insurance.

We reached out on social media and on the air, asking Kansas Citians about their longest breaks from insurance. On Twitter, we asked people to tell us through the #TellKCUR hashtag.

At the beginning of the year, Kansas launched KanCare, the first fully privatized managed care system for delivering Medicaid coverage. It was introduced as a way to cut costs, but some people are finding the cost-cutting is coming at expense of services.

On KCUR's news program KC Currents we discussed how well KanCare is meeting its goals and what plans there are to address concerns. 

Guests:

It wasn’t until the second half of the 20th century that expectant parents could see and hear their baby through means of ultrasound and Doppler. With those advances also came a dramatic change in how we view early pregnancy loss.

In the first part of Tuesday's Up to Date, we talk with a historian of women’s health about the impact of technology on first trimester miscarriages and how what was once considered an abnormal period is now the lossof a baby.

Even if we try to deny it, we can't escape getting older. Almost three-fourths of people who reach the age of 65 are going to need some kind of long-term care. So why is it that so few of us plan for those needs?

The Cash Money Crew is on Central Standard Monday to talk about how to prepare finances for old age and the possibility of needing long-term care.

How do I prepare, and when should I start? And if I didn't start preparing early, what should I do now? Plus, we explore the poor health of the long-term care insurance industry. 

A new report shows the number of child fatalities in Kansas in 2011 was the lowest on record. Those records date back to 1992, when the Child Death Review Board was established.

The annual report from the review board says 391 children died in Kansas in 2011. Of those deaths, 230 were due to natural causes. Almost two-thirds involved babies who died in their first month of life, most of those deaths were due to premature birth and congenital conditions.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the first official tally of how many Americans signed up for health insurance through the new exchanges during their first month of operation.

Enough Kansans have purchased a plan through the website, to fill an entire Kansas town—specifically, the town of Hartford, population 371. That figure led Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts to declare the health law a failure.

Protests and legal challenges are common when you’re the regional head of the prominent family planning organization, Planned Parenthood.

In the first part of Monday's Up to Date, we sit down with Peter Brownlie, the retiring president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. Brownlie discusses his legal battles with former Kansas Attorney General and District Attorney Phill Kline, protests, and why he wore a bulletproof vest to work.

Guest:

State and local health officials have confirmed a case of tuberculosis in Johnson County, Kan. A patient who was treated at Overland Park Regional Medical Center last September has an active case of the airborne disease.

Officials say spread of the disease requires very close contact with an infected person, so it’s highly unlikely that it has spread to anyone else. Health officials have identified about 100 people who need to be tested for TB, as a precaution.

A few years ago, a lesbian couple in Kansas posted an ad to Craigslist asking a man to donate sperm so they could have a child. William Marotta responded, refused their offer of $50, and signed over his sperm.

The couple gave birth to a child, however,  when the child started receiving state aid, Marotta found himself being sued by the state for thousands in child support.

We live in a wired, digital world where our work is as portable as a smartphone or tablet. It’s tempting to check our email or reply to a message when we should be more focused on ‘living in the moment.' For many people, the work week is stretched far beyond the typical 40-hours per week. But in a fast-paced work environment, how does one rationalize between putting food on the table, and still being able to enjoy life?

What is balance?

A study by researchers at the Universities of Kansas and Notre Dame shows cell phones can be a powerful tool to help reinforce home-based parenting training.

The study focused on parents who experience higher levels of depression, stress and family violence. KU’s Judith Carta says these families need better parenting strategies, yet they’re most at-risk of dropping out of the very programs meant to help them.

Fido’s making strange sounds, and Fluffy’s decided to carve your couch into a masterpiece with her claws. If all your solutions so far seem to be barking up the wrong tree, we’ve got another option for you.

In the first part of Tuesday's Up to Date, animal behavior expert and veterinarian Wayne Hunthausen joins us to answer your questions about pet behavior.

Guest:

On November 5, Jackson County voters will decide whether to fund a translational medicine institute. A proposed half-cent sales tax would raise $800 million over the next 20 years to be divided among Children’s Mercy Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.

Ten percent of the $800 million and 20 percent of profits the program generates would fund local public health initiatives.

No one says that caring for a sick relative is easy, especially when Alzheimer’s disease is involved. However, the day to day struggles of caregivers are often lost in the shuffle. 

It's early evening at the Bullers' house in Prairie Village, and the family gathers around the table. The Bullers kids, Alora and Christian, talk school while their mother, Anne, serves dinner.

For many of us, our teen and young adult years can be some of the hardest years of our lives. Just as dramatic physical and hormonal changes occur, so do questions about identity, belonging, autonomy and purpose.

When we talk about breast cancer, much of the conversation often centers on treatments such as chemotherapy and mastectomies. But once the cancer’s gone, patients still have a long recovery ahead.

On Thursday's Up to Date, we talk about how reconstructive surgery options have changed and the new options available to women that can help them retain core muscles.

Guests:

The open enrollment period for Medicare prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans got underway Monday.  The Kansas Insurance Department says people need to be alert for potential scams.

The concern is heightened this year because the Medicare signup period coincides with the opening of the insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that more than a million people are living with HIV in the U.S. In spite of widespread education and prevention efforts, there has been little change in the number of new HIV infections. The good news: new treatments have allowed people with HIV to live a normal lifespan with reduced risk of transmitting the disease to others. But social stigma and the psychological and economic impact of HIV/AIDS still take a toll on those diagnosed with the disease.

The annual enrollment period for Medicare's prescription drug coverage and privatized Medicare Advantage plans is now open. It's the one time of year when people can make changes to their coverage without being penalized.

This year, many senior citizens have been confused. The enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act started just two weeks ago. Many people are under the mistaken impression that they need to sign up for coverage on the exchange, even though they have Medicare. 

Divorce presents difficult situations for any family, but it can be especially disruptive to teenagers. Just how much it affects them depends on how parents shape the situation.

On Monday's Up to Date, psychologist Wes Crenshaw joins us with a few teen guests to talk about what it’s like to be caught in the middle, what parents can do to make the transition easier and what factors mark the difference between a clean break and a chaotic split.

Guests:

If the federal government shutdown continues longer than two more weeks, 70,000 young mothers, babies and preschoolers in Kansas stand to lose access to some of the food they rely on.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has ordered local WIC offices to withhold checks for November and December until federal funding is assured. WIC checks are normally issued for three months at a time. 

Now more than ever, our society seems preoccupied with sex. Sexting and twerking are a part of our lexicon. Whether we’re talking about television, popular music or movies, sexual images and innuendo are everywhere. And access to pornography is as easy as a click of a mouse for the over 40 million people who log into porn websites. Given the highly sexualized society we live in, can a person really become addicted to sex? And at what point does sex become an unhealthy addiction—a bad habit that interferes with work, relationships and mental health?

Kansas health officials say the number of residents infected with West Nile virus is on the rise. There have been 32 cases so far this year.

Twelve new cases were reported last week, according to KDHE spokeswoman Aimee Rosenow.

"Cases are most common in late summer and early fall months, and until we have that first really hard freeze, you know, mosquitoes are still out there," says Rosenow. "So it’s really important for Kansans to take precautions against mosquito bites."

Obsessive thoughts can lead to obsessive behaviors. According to psychologist Dr. Bruce Liese, obsessive compulsives typically have a recurring, persistent and unwanted thought or thoughts that won't go away. These thoughts tend to be irrational and very closely correlated with anxiety and can often cause anxiety themselves.