Ongoing Coverage:

Health & Wealth Desk

Wednesday mornings during Morning Edition

KBIA’s Health & Wealth Desk covers the economy and health of rural and underserved communities in Missouri and beyond. Reporter Harum Helmy produces a short weekly radio segment, as well as in-depth features and regular blog posts. The reporting desk is funded by a grant from the University of Missouri.

Genre: 

Pages

Health & Wealth Update
7:46 am
Wed February 22, 2012

New program eases debt for rural medical students

Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Brady Didion, fourth-year med student at MU, was recently chosen for an early loan repayment program with the National Health Service Corps.

The average medical school student graduates with close to $160,000 in debt. That heavy burden is one reason why there is a long-running shortage of primary care doctors in rural America. More and more graduating students choose higher-paying specialties over rural primary care. In this weekly update, a new pilot program helps medical students pay off loans as soon as they start residency, so it's easier to choose a lower-paying, but possibly more fulfilling career path.

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
11:09 am
Wed February 15, 2012

Republicans in Congress seek cuts to walking and biking programs

Today the U.S. House of Representatives is debating a Republican-backed transportation bill, which would authorize $260 billion for the next five years. More money would go to highways, but at the expense of stable funding for public transportation, and the elimination of pedestrian and cycling programs. In this Health & Wealth update, among the proposed cuts is a pilot project in Columbia that's responsible for many of the new bike lanes, sidewalks and crosswalks around town.

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
7:00 am
Wed February 8, 2012

'Obamacare' opposition helps Santorum in primary

Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Rick Santorum greets supporters in Columbia on Friday.

Rick Santorum trounced Mitt Romney yesterday in Missouri's "beauty contest" presidential primary. The state's delegates won't be chosen until caucuses on March 17, but the vote added to Santorum's momentum as he also swept Minnesota and Colorado. In this week's Health & Wealth update, how conservative opposition to Obama's Affordable Care Act may have helped Santorum in the Show-Me State.

Health & Wealth Update
7:05 am
Wed February 1, 2012

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks jobs, farm safety net

Credit Andy Dandino / USDA
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at a roundtable in Kansas City last week.

Following up on President Obama's State of the Union address last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is touring the country, touting his boss's job-creation efforts in rural America -- Missouri was his latest stop. In this week's Health & Wealth update, a conversation with Secretary Vilsack: we talk rural jobs, USDA office closures, and the fate of the farmer's safety net in the face of natural disasters and shrinking budgets. 

Read more
Health & Wealth Report
2:09 pm
Tue January 31, 2012

Mormons returning to northwest Missouri, 174 years after 'extermination order'

Ever since Mormon prophet and founder Joseph Smith revealed the Book of Mormon in 1830, his followers have struggled for acceptance. If you want to understand the "why" behind this rocky relationship, the rolling farmland of northwest Missouri might be the best place to start -- the birthplace of the human race, according to Joseph Smith, and the place where Christ will first step down in the second coming. 

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
10:45 am
Wed January 25, 2012

Who's at fault when an emu attacks?

Agriculture and tourism are two of Missouri's biggest industries. But when the two activities meet -- think wine tastings or hay rides -- legal complexities ensue. On this week's Health & Wealth update, farmers in Missouri want the legislature to pass a law clarifying who is liable if someone gets hurt in the corn maze.

Read more
Health & Wealth Blog
8:36 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Getting kids to eat their broccoli: interview with Marion Nestle

Credit foodpolitics.com
Writer Marion Nestle.

In this extended interview with food and nutrition writer Marion Nestle, we discuss Michelle Obama's anti-childhood obesity campaign, what food companies are doing to fight it, and how to get kids to eat their broccoli.

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
7:05 am
Wed January 18, 2012

The exercise commonly known as 'jumping jacks'

In all the political coverage lately, you may have missed Missouri House Bill 1063: it would make "the exercise commonly known and referred to as 'jumping jacks'" the official exercise of the state of Missouri. In this week's Health & Wealth update, could getting more kids jumping help reduce childhood obesity?

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
11:45 am
Wed January 11, 2012

Another roadblock for Missouri health exchange

Last session, Republicans in the Missouri Senate blocked the creation of a state-run health insurance exchange. The online insurance marketplace is required under Obama's health reform law, but has become a political football in states like Missouri, with a Republican-controlled legislature. In this week's Health & Wealth update, Republican senators move to put one more roadblock on the path to a state exchange.

Read more
Health & Wealth Update
11:47 am
Wed January 4, 2012

Smoking in the LGBT community

Credit Willem van de Poll / flikr

Missouri has one of the highest smoking rates in the nation -- at 21 percent, it's double the rate in states like Utah and California. But some segments of the population smoke even more. In this week's Health & Wealth update, I talk with MU researchers who have found that the smoking rate among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Missourians is much higher than in the population at large.

Read more

Pages