An investigation is underway as to why medical malpractice insurance costs keep climbing even though claims against Missouri doctors keep falling. State Insurance Director Scott Lakin has begun holding public hearings on the issue, with one in Jefferson City attracting a huge crowd to the Truman Building. Governor Holden has instructed Lakin to study the issue and consider solutions. The Department of Insurance reports medical malpractice costs have doubled in some instances for some doctors even though the number of claims filed against Missouri doctors has dropped. Lakin has promised insurance company representatives he will gather facts before proposing any legislation in the upcoming session.
Push Being Made for Nursing Home Reform
October 31, 2002 By
The state’s advocate for senior citizens says they need to launch a petition drive to enact reforms in nursing home laws, if the nursing home lobby blocks reforms in the upcoming legislative session. Nursing home reform has failed to pass the legislature the past three years. Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell says he decided to seriously consider a petition drive after the third failure to get nursing home reforms through the legislature earlier this year. He says the recent series of articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has exposed horror stories that nursing home critics know have existed for some time. Maxwell says good nursing homes should get recognition, but that bad ones should not be able to slip past fines and license losses.
First Radio Ad for Hanson is Paid for by Opponent
October 31, 2002 By
One of the few radio commercials for the state auditor’s race is being aired in Springfield and, for the first time, it’s an ad about Republican candidate Al Hanson, but it’s paid for by Democrats. A Springfield group is running the ad telling Republicans it could be dangerous to vote a straight Republican ticket this year, because that would be a vote for Hanson. Hanson is the candidate the Missouri Republican Party refuses to support, because of the time he did in prison 25 years ago in Minnesota for felony theft. Springfield is considered strongly Republican.
Baptists Elect New President
October 31, 2002 By
The Missouri Baptist Convention has elected Springfield minister Kenny Qualls as its new president. The vote was unanimous. Several other decisions of the organization are showing sharp divisions. Delegates are divided about the convention’s lawsuit against five separate agencies which have changed their bylaws to elect their own trustees. The agencies have rejected delegates elected by the convention to sit on their boards. The convention also has voted to remove the name of the long-time denomination newspaper, “The Word and Way,” from its bylaws. A new publication is the official one.
Racial Assessment of Test Results Underway
October 31, 2002 By
State education leaders are assessing the results of the statewide achievement tests, focusing on the gaps that exist between black and white students. The State Education Department says the wide gap in achievement scores has narrowed in the last four years, but progress is slow and the gap is only slightly narrower than it was four years ago with blacks continuing to trail whites. The results come from achievement tests in the third, seventh and eleventh grades in communications arts, health and physical education, mathematics, science, and social studies. Assistant Commissioner Charles Brown says the overall numbers can hide successes some local school districts have had in boosting the test scores of black students. Brown says closer studies of the numbers, especially at the local level, can identify those practices that lead to greater progress. The tests chart the progress of Hispanic students as well. Educators say the figures do show some encouraging signs, that black and Hispanic students at the top are getting better and that the percentage of black and Hispanic students at the bottom is decreasing.
