A federal emergency declaration that has allowed children to receive continuous Medicaid coverage throughout the pandemic could end soon, and health providers are worried.

Research suggests access to public health insurance can help curb recidivism. Reentry organizations in Missouri are working to enroll people in Medicaid after they leave prison to keep them from coming back.

The first U.S. omicron case was identified Wednesday about a week after its discovery in South Africa. While there are concerns about the variants transmissibility, the number of mutations it possesses make it easier to detect than other strains.

Public health experts and law enforcement blame the uptick in overdose deaths on fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid that is much more deadly than other derivatives.

Medicaid expansion has been a contentious issue across the U.S., and in Missouri, battle lines are drawn at the highest levels of government.