Health

Kansans whose health insurance is provided through the Medicaid and HealthWave programs will begin receiving a very important mailing in the next few days.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says in its annual vital statistics report that the number of abortions declined 4.6 percent from 2010 to 2011.

That continued a trend of declining abortions that began in 1996. And the number of births dropped to 13.8 live births per 1,000 residents, the lowest number recorded since the state started tracking births in 1912.

There were 39,628 babies born in 2011 in Kansas, compared with 40,439 in 2010.

Wichita voters will consider adding fluoride to the city water supply when they go to the polls on Nov. 6, and both sides have waged heavy campaigns over the hotly contested issue.

Wichita’s history with the fluoride debate runs long and deep.

A new report from a health care think tank says workers at small firms are far more likely to lack health insurance- and miss out on needed health care- than their peers at bigger companies.