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In February 2013, I received the greatest gift of my life, the birth of my son. Over the next three years, I watched him grow into a clever, energetic and humorous little boy. He embodies the best qualities of his mother and his father, in all the ways a parent dreams. And even though I have primary progressive multiple sclerosis, the condition didn’t hinder my ability to be a father to him. His mother and I provided a loving and supportive environment. (Jason DaSilva, 7/24)

Senate Bill 541, introduced last year by Sen. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, would create another avenue for care by adding a mid-level dental professional, much like a physician’s assistant. The bill is currently under review in the House. If it passes, it would create a new licensed professional called a dental therapist who would be able to perform small procedures such as filling cavities. The bill contains a requirement that would mandate dental therapists in private dental offices  ensure half their patients are Medicaid recipients. Public health care providers are on board with this provision. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy suggests that the implementation of dental therapists would ensure Medicaid recipients receive the care they need while reducing Medicaid costs. Many Medicaid patients do not have access to dental care and small issues can grow into dangerous abscesses and infections that lead to expensive emergency room visits, which Medicaid still has to pay. (7/24)

It's a new era for New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy with a state budget that invests in communities and fairness for working families, but that's just part of the story. The governor's stronger and fairer New Jersey is also a healthier New Jersey. The new state budget signed by the governor includes several steps to finally update and modernize New Jersey's Medicaid program. This means better health care options for the 1.7 million New Jerseyans enrolled in this vital program. (Carole Johnson, 7/24)

Conservatives should ask themselves: Just how much tax money are they willing to spend to deny people health care?T his question is becoming more urgent as the Trump administration encourages states to follow Gov. Matt Bevin’s lead by enacting work requirements and other bureaucratic barriers to health care for low-income people. The cost of Bevin’s Medicaid red-tape machine recently caught the eye of Fitch Ratings. The credit rating agency reports that Kentucky’s Medicaid administrative costs are rising 40 percent or $35 million from the previous biennium, mostly attributable to the cost of Bevin’s proposal for new “engagement” requirements, frequent income reporting deadlines, collecting small premiums and co-pays, and temporarily locking out from coverage those who fail to comply. (7/24)

An estimated 87,000 Missourians who could and should have health care coverage today don’t, because of Republican lawmakers’ years-long, hyper-partisan campaign in Jefferson City to ensure that the Affordable Care Act fails. Now, petition-wielding activists in a few other states are charting a path that Missourians of conscience could follow: using ballot measures to get around obstructionist politicians who have until now stymied the expanded coverage that most Americans want. (7/24)