Missouri

Hey Bear – Missouri Hiker Shares Video of Big Bear on His Trail

Published

1 year ago

March 6, 2023

Hey Bear – Missouri Hiker Shares Video of Big Bear on His Trail

For those who enterprise into the Missouri woods because the climate warms up, you will have to attempt arduous to not see a bear primarily based on the latest rush of encounters with these predators which are being shared. There’s one more displaying a hiker who had an enormous ole bear cross the path he was on.

No point out on the video of what a part of Missouri this occurred in, however protected to imagine the southern a part of the state. Easy description was “Walked Up on Huge Missouri Black Bear”. Yep. That about sums it up.

This man does nearly every little thing proper. Nearly. When he sees the bear, he begins saying “Hey bear” in a peaceful voice. What he does subsequent is not suggested although.

So, what did he do flawed?

I am not judging as a result of I would in all probability do the very same factor, however he begins strolling TOWARDS the bear as an alternative of backing away. He did a superb job of calmly letting the bear know he was there, however it was at this level I would advise giving the animal some area.

I’ve heard it stated that while you see a bear begin to transfer their head backward and forward appearing distressed, that is a sign that you may be in for a bluff rush and even worse an assault. A bear assault is uncommon and solely occurs in excessive circumstances like a mom defending cubs or a bear that thinks it is cornered or close to a meals supply.

Happily, this Missouri hiker and bear safely went their very own manner and now he has a narrative (and video) to share and inform.

10 Photographs of Bears I Noticed Within the Wild

I used to be privileged to make a journey to Grand Teton Nationwide Park and Yellowstone Nationwide Park with guys which have been there earlier than to search for bears. That have paid enormous dividends. I’m nowhere near being knowledgeable photographer, however getting these bear photographs was an enormous thrill.

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Missouri

Missouri has lost 200,000 Medicaid enrollees in the last year. More than half were children

Published

5 hours ago

June 2, 2024

Press Room

Missouri has lost 200,000 Medicaid enrollees in the last year. More than half were children

Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment has shrunk by around 200,000 people since last summer, as the state continues the process of undoing a COVID-era pause on eligibility checks.

The federal suspension on annual renewals expired last year and since then, states have been undergoing the process of re-verifying each participant’s eligibility.

From June to April, Missouri’s net enrollment in Medicaid — which is also called MO HealthNet — dropped by 197,525 people.

Over half — 56% — of that net decline was among children, according to recent state data and analysis by the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research at Washington University in St. Louis. There were 110,938 kids who lost coverage in that period.

The number of kids being removed has been a source of concern over the last few months among advocates. Although kids make up around half of the state’s caseload, they are also eligible at much higher household income level than adults.

As the state evaluates hundreds of thousands of current Medicaid recipients each month and processes their updated information, it continues to receive new applications.

Federal data released earlier this month showed Missouri’s application processing times have been among the worst in the nation.

Medicaid applications are generally required to be reviewed within 45 days. Nationwide, most applications were processed within 24 hours last year.

Missouri and New Mexico had the highest rates of late Medicaid determinations last year, according to the federal data, which covers October through December.

In December, more than half of Missouri’s applications took longer than 45 days to process.

Long processing times can mean low-resource and low-income patients must delay or forego needed medical care and prescriptions.

And Missouri has struggled to meet that limit in the past: In summer 2022, the federal government initiated a mitigation plan with the state to get the wait time down.

At the quarterly MO HealthNet Oversight Committee meeting last week, chair Nick Pfannenstiel, a dentist, raised concerns about processing times.

Pfannenstiel said as a provider, he has been told by state eligibility workers that the current average processing time is “60 to 90 days.” Though he knows the state is working to fix those delays, “that’s causing a lot of frustration, not necessarily from a provider standpoint only but from a patient standpoint.”

Todd Richardson, director of MO HealthNet, said that there are a “number of strategies and a lot of focus right now trying to bring that back down to the 45 day window” that is federally mandated.

Part of the issue is the agency is receiving a large number of applications, Richardson added.

From November to mid-January, during open enrollment season for the federal insurance marketplace, the state generally sees an uptick in Medicaid applications and then a decline and plateau, he said.

“We are not seeing that now,” Richardson said. “[Family Support Division] is continuing to experience a high number of daily new applications, and as a result, you can see that increase in the number of pending applications that we have.”

The number of pending applications reached nearly 53,000 in January and stands at just under 18,000 as of April.

“I know [Family Support Division] has been working exhaustively, trying to bring that number of pending applications down and I know they’ve had some success,” he said, “but there will continue to be kind of an intense review on the state’s part to make sure that we’re getting those applications as current as we possibly can.”

Baylee Watts, DSS’ communications director, said the division has “focused its staff and resources on processing applications that have exceeded 45 days” and continues training staff across several programs and “strategically reallocating staff to manage the workload effectively.”

There can be issues when a patient is on Medicaid but needs to change the category of coverage they qualify for, Pfannenstiel also noted, referring to a patient trying to convert to postpartum Medicaid as causing providers confusion as to whether the person is eligible for services.

A patient previously told the Independentshe spent more than a month just trying to switch from adult Medicaid to Medicaid for Pregnant Women. In the meantime, she didn’t go to any doctor’s appointments.

Richardson said it is currently a “manual process” for state workers to move Medicaid participants into the postpartum category. Since last year, women can receive postpartum coverage for a full year rather than 60 days.

It is also a manual process for children to receive what’s called continuous eligibility, which went into effect this year after it was federally required. That policy allows kids to stay insured for the full year after they are renewed, rather than be potentially stripped of coverage between renewals, due to something like temporary changes in income.

There are system changes to automate those processes planned for June, Richardson said.

This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.

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Missouri

Cameron's grand slam highlights 7-run inning for SE Missouri State in 9-3 win over Louisiana Tech

Published

12 hours ago

June 1, 2024

Press Room

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Josh Cameron belted a grand slam and Ian Riley also drove in four runs, leading Southeast Missouri State to a 9-3 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday in an elimination game at the Fayetteville Regional.

SE Missouri State (35-26) stays alive and on Sunday will play the loser of Saturday’s later regional game between Kansas State and Arkansas.

Cameron’s grand slam capped a seven-run fourth inning that gave the Redhawks a 9-1 lead. Earlier in the inning, Riley had a two-run single. Brooks Kettering brought Riley home with a triple. Six of the seven runs were unearned after an infield throwing error to open the inning.

A two-out, two-run double by the Bulldogs’ Adarius Myers in the fifth inning was the game’s final scoring play.

It was the second loss of the day for Louisiana Tech (45-19) after the Bulldogs also lost to Kansas State 19-4 in the completion of a game that was suspended late Friday night.

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