federal subsidies

Rural leaders who have worked years to improve broadband access said they were disappointed by the sharp decrease in federal dollars.

Enhanced credits for health insurance purchased from the Affordable Care Act marketplace expire at the end of this year. If they aren’t renewed, premiums will skyrocket for many people in Kansas and nationwide.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services will begin furloughs starting Sunday, affecting about 2,300 employees.

Democrats and Republicans have different proposals to keep feeding hundreds of thousands of Kansans. Food banks are preparing for an influx of demand.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1 as the government shutdown drags on. The cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to some of the Americans most in need unless a resolution is found in just a few days.

The conversation highlighted how the changes will impact Oklahoma's health care landscape, including hospital finances and patient access.

Texas' Planned Parenthood has lost half its clinics, but they continue to see thousands of patients a year.

As Texas develops its application for federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding, rural hospital leaders say stabilizing their facilities should be a top priority. "Without it, all the planning in the world will not matter because there will be no hospital left to transform," one said.

People working to address hunger say the canceled report is a main resource to understand where and how people are experiencing food insecurity across the country.

The Trump Administration asked states to find the lowest-cost option in the latest program to build broadband infrastructure in rural areas. That opens the door for more types of technology, which some worry could be less reliable in the long-term.