Medicaid

Planned Parenthood To Missouri Lawmakers: End The "Campaign Against Women's Health"

The Missouri legislative session ended last week and one of the many successes the state GOP is celebrating is the passage of a bill to add restrictions to the "abortion pill." It's one of several Republican initiatives that Planned Parenthood is now slamming in the aftermath of the session. It's no ... More >>

Thieves' Bazaar: Hospitals, doctors and dealers have made Medicare the nation's sweetest crime. The feds are now trying to shutter the door.

Missouri Hospital Under Attack For Barring Gay Partner Visitation Rights

A change.org petition is in the works as angry comments continue to accumulate on the Facebook page for Research Medical Center in suburban Kansas City. Yesterday, news broke that it forced a gay man from the bedside of his sick partner. In an interview with FOX 4 News, Roger Gorley says that he w ... More >>

Rep. Paul Fitzwater Likens Federal Health Care Coverage Expansion to Feeding "Zoo Animals"

Buried in a CBS St. Louis story on the local impact of the Federal Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is a rather bizarre quote from Representative Paul Fitzwater (R-Potosi) which is coming under fire. Fitzwater was being interviewed about a study finding that says 525,000 Missourians will be eligi ... More >>

Barack Obama Interrupts Mayor Francis Slay's Workout to Congratulate Him on Historic Win

Last night, Mayor Francis Slay, who officially won his historic fourth term on Tuesday, was at the gym when he got an important phone call. "This is Barack." "The president called from Air Force One," Slay spokeswoman Maggie Crane tells Daily RFT. "The mayor was at the gym. He obviously took tim ... More >>

Gay Marriage: Governor Jay Nixon Doesn't Want to Talk About it Right Now

With the United States Supreme Court considering gay marriage this week, people across the country are talking about the issue of marriage equality. But not Governor Jay Nixon. Questioned about it at a press conference yesterday -- just two days after Senator Claire McCaskill publicly stated her su ... More >>

Beyoncé, Ryan Gosling, Other Celeb Faces In Missouri Medicaid Expansion Campaign

Expanding Medicaid in Missouri may not be super sexy -- but Ryan Gosling and Beyoncé are! This is sort of the thinking behind the Missouri Medicaid Coalition's latest campaign to pressure lawmakers to expand Medicaid in the state. And what better way to spread the word than some good ole' fashion ... More >>

Rep. Chris Kelly: "Not At All Sure I Can Deal (No Pun Intended) with Marijuana"

Last week, we introduced the two state legislators who have publicly expressed interest in either marijuana legalization or decriminalization bills. Rep. Rory Ellinger hopes to introduce bills that would make possession of 35 grams or fewer a municipal infraction and a second bill that would make ... More >>

Tobacco Tax Critics Warn That Prop B Will Shrink City Coffers. But Mayors Ain't Scared!

Critics of Proposition B -- which would jack up the state tax on cigarettes from 17 cents to 90 cents per pack -- are warning St. Louis and Kansas City: Don't vote for this! It will actually shrink your revenue! Perhaps, but the powers-that-be don't seem spooked at all: Both our mayor, Francis Slay, ... More >>

Dr. Abid Nisar Gets Probation and a $250K Fine for Prescribing Misbranded Drugs to Cancer Patients

Dr. Abid Nisar, he of the $2 million manse in Town & Country, received his sentence today for purchasing $352,504 worth of unlicensed and non-FDA approved cancer drugs from foreign distributors and dispensing them to his patients. Nisar had previously entered a guilty plea to receiving misbrande ... More >>

Evil Republican Legislators Cut Aid to the Blind

It's that lovely time of year when it becomes imperative that the state legislature finish wrangling over the budget so everyone can get the hell out of Jeff City and go home for the summer. And so last week, the House approved a $24 billion spending plan, now on its way to the Senate. Facing a $50 ... More >>

The Mega-Mansion of Indicted Town & Country Doctor Abid Nasir

​You may have heard last week about Abid Nisar, a local oncologist who pleaded guilty to selling off-brand chemotherapy drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. But have you seen his outrageous Town & Country abode?According to a federal indictment, Nisar began purchasing unregu ... More >>

Lost Boys: New research demolishes the stereotype of the underage sex worker — and sparks an outbreak of denial among child-sex-trafficking alarmists nationwide

State Senator Jane Cunningham Hints at Death Panels, Blocks Bill for Insurance Exchanges

​State Senator Jane Cunningham (R - Chesterfield) assures Daily RFT that she is not the "black helicopter type." Still, when reading House Bill 609 that would set up a health insurance exchange in Missouri, she came across language that reminded her of the "death panels" critics of federal health ... More >>

Study: "Fair Tax" Would Cost Missouri $2.5 Billion, Reduce General Revenue By a Third

Latest analysis predicts dire consequences of "fair tax."​The Missouri Budget Project is out with a new study that it says shows that several "fair tax" proposals for Missouri would cost the state billions. The report suggests that the efforts of financier Rex Sinquefield to replace Missouri's inc ... More >>

Rugby Burn: Gravely injured in a fluke house fire, Iraq War vet Stephen Ellis is dead set on returning to the sport he loves

Nixon Strikes a Frugal Tone as St. Louisans are Outed as Cheapskates

​Yesterday was a big day in Missouri frugality. Gov. Jay Nixon proposed $300 million in budget cuts during his State of the State address -- even as the website Coupons.com ranked St. Louis as the fourth-cheapest city in the country. Nixon outlined a plan to knock down the state's 2012 budge ... More >>

Interview: Moe Tucker of the Velvet Underground Sets the Record Straight

A 1966 Velvet Underground press shot. Moe Tucker is on the bottom right.​In April 2009, WALB-TV aired a story about a Tea Party rally in nearby Tifton, Georgia. About two-and-a-half minutes into the feature, one "Maureen Tucker, Tea Party Supporter" was quoted as saying, "I'm furious about the way ... More >>

The Straight Dope on Missouri Tobacco-Smokers

​About 23 percent of Missouri's adults still proudly identify as smokers, according to a new report by Washington University's Center for Tobacco Policy Research (CTPR). That means our state has one of the highest population of smokers in the country. Of all those unrepentant smokers, nearly ... More >>

Drug Company Caught Bribing Docs with Cardinals Tickets

​Forest Laboratories makes drugs and money, and plenty of both. And apparently, they bribe docs so that they can make even more money.On Wednesday, as reported by the New York Times, Forest -- and their St. Louis-based subsidiary, Forest Pharmaceuticals -- agreed to pay a $313 million settlement i ... More >>

Obamacare Litigation Update: Missouri's Vote Today Could Actually Count

Today, Missouri voters will weigh a measure that would reject a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care reform package -- the provision mandating that individuals either find insurance coverage, or pay a fine. Missouri votes on a referendum to stop Obama's plan today.â ... More >>

An Immigrant's Heart

To survive the ordeal of escaping Guatemala, Julia needed a big Heart. But not this big.

The potentially explosive "shake-and-bake" method is burning its way through meth land

Missouri Smoking Ban Gets No Opposition During Hearing

The trouble with smoking? It makes not a sound.​I received an email last night from Bill Hannegan, smoking-ban foe and founder of Keep St. Louis Free, alerting me to a Senate hearing yesterday to consider a bill to ban public smoking in Missouri. The fact that state senators held a hearing on the ... More >>

Mo. State Senators Think They're in D.C., Argue Federal Budget, Health Care Reform

Mr. Schmitt goes to Washington, err Jefferson City.​Attention State Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale): The Missouri Capitol may look like the U.S. Capitol. (Indeed, the building in Jefferson City is modeled after the one in Washington D.C.) But let us remind you of one little thing: You're a state ... More >>

Is There a Doctor in the House? Confined to his home for a decade, Doug Lindsay is certain he knows what ails him, and he thinks he knows the cure.

Thespians on Wheels: Joan Lipkin's DisAbility Project is on a roll

Clayton's "Heartbreak Hotel," a dirty mouth and criminal foot doctors all make headlines

Podiatry and Crime: Who Knew?

focusedfootcare.comUntil this past week, we here at Daily RFT had no idea about the clear connection between foot medicine and crime. But certainly such a connection exists. Consider the case of David Quang Pham. He's the St. Louis podiatrist indicted last week for fraudulently billing Medicaid and ... More >>

Podiatrist Charged With Bilking Medicaid; Billed Amputees with No Feet

flickr.com/photos/noprawnsDr. Pham, I presume?At first glance a press release today from the U.S. Attorney's office looks like dozens of dull media alerts the prosecutor routinely sends out alleging Medicaid fraud. Then I noticed this outrageous line in the release regarding podiatrist David Quang P ... More >>

How Rich, a Clinic for Downtown Loft Dwellers

www.flickr.com/photos/nicholasianAt long last, downtown loft dwellers suffering from, say, a bad sore throat, have a place nearby to go for treatment -- a walk-in, no-appointment-needed clinic where they can expect to see a doctor faster than you can say Marcus Welby. No more coo ... More >>

Vanishing Act: Six years after the fact, the disappearance of nine-year-old Christian Ferguson remains a mystery. A Riverfront Times Special Report.

Bertelson Moves off Post-Dispatch Editorial Page

Mac-a-nude-o!

The polls say St. Louis isn't an adventurous city, but we disagree as we smoke a fat one on a bus, vote Republican and take on The Friendliest Stores in Town.

Going Down Slow

Bennie Smith and a dwindling cadre of St. Louis music pioneers have a right to sing the blues

Keeping Up With the Jasarevics

Bosnian refugees found safe haven in St. Louis in the 1990s. Many are on the move again -- this time to the suburbs.

Sweet Willie

Friends of local musical treasure Willie Akins want to help erase his medical bills

Butter -- No Salt

Week of February 27, 2002

The Gap

Medicaid's toothless protection for poor kids

Hard to Heal

Fred Rottnek, doctor to the downtrodden, tried his luck playing the boardroom politics of one of the city's most prestigious charities, Grace Hill. He lost. So did the homeless of St. Louis.

Living on a Thin Line

When Chris Nilhas learned he had cancer, his wife, Beckie, knew she might lose him. She didn't know she and their three young sons would also risk losing everything else.

This Ain't No Party

Ross Perot launched the Reform Party as the voice of the American people. Eight years later, it's a shrill, staticky free-for-all, and the moderates can't get heard.

Letters to the Editor

Published the week of May 24, 2000

The Olmstead Challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court says it's time to end segregation: People with disabilities must be allowed to leave institutions and move into the community. Sounds great -- except the state's overwhelmed and the community's nowhere near ready.

The Lead Menace

In its lawsuit, St. Louis is eager to blame the lead industry for making the area one of the most contaminated in the nation. But the city itself is guilty of doing little to prevent the poisoning of thousands of children like "Little Al" Evans.

A Tale of Two States

Missouri could learn from Massachusetts, a model for how to get the lead out

State of Pain

Fayzen Woods simply wanted to get rid of her toothache. Then she had to deal with Missouri's Medicaid mess. That's when the real suffering began.

Seeing Red

After years of taking it on the chin, Bob Goeggel struck back at his competitor. Thanks to his accusations of fraud, the state's largest ambulance company is on the operating table and the feds are doing the cutting.

Shooting Back

As gun makers stockpile money for a PR and marketing battle to convince still more citizens to take up arms, besieged cities such as St. Louis aren't taking it lying down. They're returning fire with lawsuits.

Squeals of Delight