WASHINGTON - The Senate’s hectic schedule has prompted Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to find a new way to hear her constituent’s concerns.

McCaskill held a video teleconference on proposed Medicaid cuts with Kansas City area health care providers Wednesday morning. It’s not exactly YouTube material, but McCaskill said it was the first in what she hopes to be a series of such video sessions.

“It’s not the same as me being there to shake your hand or hug you,” McCaskill told the group, who said proposed Bush administration cuts would devastate health care in Missouri. With the help of a video camera, TV screen and speaker phone, McCaskill pledged to help stave off the move.

Adrianne Marsh, McCaskill’s spokeswoman, said the video conferences offer a way for the Missouri senator to have face-to-face meetings with organizations that can’t come to Washington or aren’t available on the weekends when McCaskill is back in the state. She plans more in the coming months, including potential meetings with St. Louis area police or sheriff’s departments on grant funding, among other things.