A nation debates: the federal health care law

A new report says Missouri's Medicaid costs could rise by 6.6 percent over 10 years if the state fully implements the federal health care law.

But the report also says almost half of that increase will occur even if Missouri does not expand Medicaid eligibility for adults.

The report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Urban Institute says Missouri can expect to spend an additional $1.2 billion from 2013 to 2022 as more people join the Medicaid rolls because of the federal health care law.

A recently released report shows there is a disparity in health care among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Missourians.  The study by the Missouri Foundation for Health shows LGBT individuals have less access to health care and tend to be less healthy than the general population.

Host Don Marsh talks with Dr. David Ansell about his proposal to reform healthcare by fixing Medicare and providing it to all Americans.  Dr. Ansell is the Senior Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.  He is also the author of “County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital." 

Physicians for a National Health Program in St. Louis are sponsoring talks by Dr. Ansell:

Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has lost another round in his battle against President Obama’s federal health care law.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the Republican Lt. Governor has no legal standing to file suit because the Affordable Care Act poses no immediate threat to Kinder’s legally protected interests.  He filed suit two years ago as an individual, not in his official capacity as Lt. Governor.  The three-judge panel’s ruling did not address the constitutionality of the federal health care law, most of which was upheld last year in a 5-4 ruling by the U-S Supreme Court.