A nation debates: the federal health care law

This story will be updated. Corrected at 12:30 p.m. to reflect when the vote was taken.

Employees of the University of Missouri system will now be able to include their same-sex partner on their medical, dental and retirement plans.

The system's Board of Curators approved the benefit changes yesterday, the conclusion of an effort that began in 2011.  A couple would have to be living together for at least a year in order to be eligible.

For the first time, the federal government has released the prices that hospitals charge for the 100 most common inpatient procedures.

The prices for a given procedure can vary by tens of thousands of dollars.

Updated 10:15 a.m. March 27 to note that one building of the old Jewish Hospital complex will remain.

A planned expansion of the Barnes-Jewish medical complex could be underway later this year, now that the city has given its initial approval.

The Preservation Board last night gave BJC HealthCare the go-ahead to demolish four buildings at the corner of Kingshighway and Forest Park. They'll be replaced by nearly one million new square feet of medical space, including an addition to Children's Hospital.

Gov. Pat Quinn says he is taking steps to ensure Illinois has the workforce it needs to fill thousands of new health care jobs.

Quinn says the jobs will be created as Illinois implements the Affordable Care Act, which will expand health care coverage to hundreds of thousands of people.

In a press release Saturday the governor says he's directed Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck to lead a Health Care Workforce Workgroup. The group will assess and plan for the jobs needed to serve a growing and increasingly aging and diverse population.