May 19, 2013

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House wants parent permission for kids to tan

April 15, 2013 By

The state House has approved a bill to require anyone under 17 to have written parental permission to use a tanning bed.

Representative Gary Cross (R-Lee's Summit) sponsored the tanning bed legislation, HB 47. (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Gary Cross (R-Lee’s Summit) sponsored the tanning bed legislation, HB 47. (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

HB 47 would require a parent to go to a facility with a tanning bed annually and sign a form saying he or she understands that tanning beds pose a risk of causing cancer, in order for his or her child to use them.

Some Republicans opposed the bill, saying it goes against party philosophies of smaller government and not adding to regulations for small businesses. One of them, Representative Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg), says there is a bigger cause of skin cancer than tanning beds: the sun.

“Are we going to go on and make our parents sign parental consent forms to be outside in the public pool under the biggest carcinogen of all time, the sun, for an extended amount of time?

Representative doctor Keith Frederick (R-Rolla) says the bill is a measured response to a danger.

“The effects of ultraviolet radiation in these concentrated doses may not be known for many years, but it does still have an effect and it does still cause cancer and it is avoidable, unlike exposure to the sun.”

The legislation now goes to the Senate.

Filed Under: Featured, Health & Medicine, News Tagged With: , , , ,

Medicaid expansion opponents say Obama killed possibilities for 2013 (AUDIO)

April 15, 2013 By

Missouri legislative opponents of Medicaid expansion  say President Obama has killed any hopes that it might happen here this year.  Senate leader Tom Dempsey of St. Charles has not budged from the position he announce last November that Medicaid expansion is not going to happen in Missouri.  Governor Nixon has spent weeks trying to build grassroots support for it.  But the president’s proposal last week to delay Medicaid cuts to hospitals by one year is the last nail in the coffin as far as Dempsey is concerned. “There wasn’t any hope in the first place,” he says.

For northwest Missouri senator Brad Lager, the announcement  also is an admission by the President that  the program is far more expensive than originally promoted. He says the year’s delay will be important in developing a solid Medicaid reform package.

AUDIO: Dempsey comments

AUDIO: Discussion on senate floor

Filed Under: Featured, Health & Medicine, News

Koster: ‘Republicans’ attempt to deny contraceptive coverage to women is plain foolishness’

April 11, 2013 By

Attorney General Chris Koster today announced he will not appeal a court ruling that a Missouri law is unconstitutional. However, he is asking the federal court to make exceptions for certain religious organizations. Legislators had passed a bill that maintains the rights of employers to deny coverage for contraception based on their religious beliefs. The bill exempted Missourians from federal law, but a federal judge struck down the law as unconstitutional.

“The Republicans’ attempt to deny contraceptive coverage to women in Missouri is just plain foolishness,” Koster said in a press release. “The Republican effort to deny contraceptive coverage cannot be supported by case law or sound public policy.”

The federal case was brought by insurance carriers caught between a federal law requiring the inclusion of contraceptive coverage in federally regulated healthcare plans and a state law exempting insurance carriers, businesses, and individuals claiming a moral, ethical, or religious objection to contraception.  U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig found the state law conflicted with the federal mandate that all insurance carriers provide coverage for contraception.  The Court ruled that under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law preempts conflicting state law.

Koster said while acknowledging the supremacy of federal law as it applies to the majority of Missouri employers, he has asked the court to clarify its ruling so that federal exemptions applicable to religious employers, such as the Archdiocese of St. Louis, remain in effect.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Featured, Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government

Missouri legislation would name laws after children: Nathan, Chloe, Bryce (AUDIO)

April 11, 2013 By

Nathan’s Law

Nathan Blecha suffocated in a St. Louis area daycare in 2007. His mother, Shelly, says she thought she was doing the best for her son, when she discovered there were many more children at the center than she was told.

nathanlawCurrently, Missouri law allows in-home daycares that are not licensed to have four or fewer children in their care who are not related to them. However, that means they can have an infinite number of children who are related to them in the home. Nathan’s Law seeks to set a four-child maximum with no exceptions.

She tells a House committee that she thought she did all of her homework, but that wasn’t good enough. Follow up reports indicate the home had as many as a dozen children at a time under the care of just one woman.

AUDIO: Shelly Blecha gives emotional testimony about the death of her infant son six years ago (4:25).

Nathan Blecha died from asphyxiation after he was laid down on his stomach on loose bedding. Shelly Blecha says current law now requires licensed daycares to lay children down on their backs, which would have saved her son’s life.

Chloe’s Law

Chloe’s Law would require newborn screening requirements to include a critical congenital heart disease screening. There are two bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, which would require the Department of Health to implement the screening by use of pulse oximetry. A pulse oximeter is an inexpensive device that is placed on the finger and gauges how much oxygen is in the blood.

chloeThe Centers for Disease Control says Congenital heart defects account for nearly 30 percent of infant deaths due to birth defects. In the United States, about 7,200 (or 18 per 10,000) babies born every year have critical congenital heart defects.

Chloe’s Law (SB 230), the Critical Congenital Heart Defects Screening Bill (Pulse Ox), has passed the Senate unanimously and now heads to the House.

Chloe Manz, who is now four years old, still suffers from heart problems, but is lucky to be alive.

Kelly Manz says it was a mother’s intuition that made her question the nursing staff after Chloe was born.

“I felt like something was wrong,” she says. “I can’t explain it. I just had a bad feeling. I mentioned it to the nurses and they reassured me everything was fine.”

Manz says she wouldn’t take no for an answer and Chloe be taken to the nursery for further observation. Her oxygen levels showed she was only getting about 60 percent. A healthy newborn should measure at 94 percent to 100 percent.

You can follow Kelly’s crusade to save lives through pulse oximetry requirements on Facebook.

Bryce’s Law

Photo courtesy House Communications

Photo courtesy House Communications

Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst (R-St. Louis) has been pushing for a bill that would help children like his grandson, Bryce. The legislation would give a tax credit to those who donate to organizations that offer scholarships for programs that treat children with autism. Scharnhorst’s grandson died from the disorder several years ago.

He says the state has a responsibility to help pay for them.

“Our Constitution promises a free public education to every child. It does not designate that this one will cost more than that or this one will cost less,” he tells a House Committee. “It says a free public education, and we are not delivering it. We’re actually violating the Constitution of our state right now by not putting these children where they can be educated.”

Read more here.

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) has indicated he would like to see the bill clear the chamber this year.

Filed Under: Children, Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government

Medicaid: Nixon says discussions are promising, GOP caucus says it’s made no promises (VIDEO)

April 10, 2013 By

The Medicaid debate continues between the Governor and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Gov. Jay Nixon has met with the Republican caucus leaders from both chambers, as well as Senate Democrats.

Nixon indicates the talks about whether to expand Medicaid have been positive. However, Republican leadership says they made no indication they’re willing to budge on the expansion.

At issue is whether to increase Medicaid to provide coverage for those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which the federal government mandates. Republicans aren’t willing to stretch it beyond 100 percent.

After meeting with GOP leaders, he spoke to the press, followed by meetings with Democrat leadership and finally, with Director of U.S. Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

“The Secretary and I had a positive and productive conversation this afternoon about strengthening and reforming Medicaid,” Nixon said. “It is clear that moving forward and strengthening Medicaid will give us the flexibility we need to give Missourians the health system they deserve: one that protects taxpayers, rewards work, promotes personal responsibility and brings the tax dollars they send to Washington back here to Missouri.”

Democrat proposals to expand Medicaid have been squashed in committee with Republican leadership at the helm. Rep. Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) has written a counter proposal that would reform Medicaid to include those who make 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, fellow Republicans have said Missouri should seek a waiver from the federal government so the 138 percent mandate would be excused.

Nixon at first said he would not seek such a waiver, taking a hard position against doing so. However, after recent talks with Republican legislators, he has indicated that might be a possibility down the road.

Filed Under: Featured, Health & Medicine, Legislature, News
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