Health, Science & Environment

A federal lawsuit filed before Medicaid unwinding began alleges that a dysfunctional system prevents low-income Missouri residents from getting food aid. Now, advocates say systemic flaws have escalated into a crisis for the most vulnerable.

The fifth National Climate Assessment says a warming climate, increasingly extreme weather and drought are threatening the Midwest’s economy and health.

The Eastern hellbender was raised at the St. Louis Zoo and released into the Gasconade River. Five years later, researchers found him guarding 86 eggs in the same place.

Traditional farming practices such as tilling and monoculture — cultivating a single crop — have come under fire in recent years for their role in harming soil and exacerbating climate change.

The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled the state's strongest-in-the-nation biometric privacy law does, in fact, exempt health care workers' biometric information collected for treatment of patients.

The health insurance company Elevance, known as Anthem in Missouri, is hiring 250 new employees to work at its downtown St. Louis office. City leaders celebrated the news, which comes as other high-profile tenants are leaving the city's core.

Jamaa Birth Village plans to open satellite midwifery birthing locations across Missouri next year. Patients can receive midwifery and doula care and social support services.

BJC Healthcare has finalized plans to merge with St. Luke's, a Kansas City-based health system that operates 14 hospitals in Kansas and Missouri. The two systems expect to complete the $10 billion deal by Jan. 1.

Meteorologists and climatologists often have a tough job explaining climate change to the public, especially in places where audiences may be more skeptical of the science. In the Midwest and Great Plains, strong resistance has pushed some out of the field.

Health workers in Illinois are performing about 1,800 more abortions per month on average than before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.