Month: January 2011
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Health reform will be difficult to implement, as faceoff between insurers and state official showed
Huffington Post contributor Don McNay, right, of Richmond, writes that states will adopt health-care reform “kicking and screaming,” as shown by the Kentucky insurance commissioner’s recent face-off with insurance companies over children’s...
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Kentucky doctors’ offices are the least digitized in the country; increase expected nationwide
Kentucky has the lowest percentage of doctors’ offices who have adopted electronic health record systems, says a survey released by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology....
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Private information of Owensboro-area patients found on Web
The private information of thousands of people who visited the Green River District Health Department has been mistakenly available for perusal online since October. Owensboro’s Messenger-Inquirer found 9,986 names and...
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Health advocacy organizations reluctant to acknowledge grant money from drug companies, study finds
A study by the American Journal of Public Health shows not-for-profit groups like the American Diabetes Association get grant money from drug companies but don’t necessarily acknowledge it. Marian Wang...
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State legislator wants to mandate drug testing for recipients of Medicaid, food stamps and other entitlements
A Republican legislator wants to make recipients of government entitlement programs, including Medicaid, take random drug tests in order to keep getting help. House Bill 208, which proposes the drug screening,...
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Fort Campbell soldier who went AWOL, and says his Kentucky PTSD treatment was inadequate, is set to return to Afghanistan
A Fort Campbell-based soldier who went absent without leave because of alleged post-traumatic stress disorder will return to finish his tour in Afghanistan. “My family doesn’t want me to go,...
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UK scientists discover a clue to treating diseases like ‘mad cow’
University of Kentucky scientists may be a step closer to finding a way to treat diseases related to prion proteins, including bovine spongiform encephalitis, or mad-cow disease. They’ve learned that...
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Kentucky gets ‘F’ for tobacco control, but expansion of cessation programs in Medicaid should raise grade
As a proposed statewide smoking ban continues to be debated, Kentucky and Indiana have received dismal grades from the American Lung Association‘s recently released State of Tobacco Control 2009 report. But...
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General revenues up, cigarette tax revenues down as tax is up
New numbers show revenues to Kentucky’s General Fund, which pays for most state services besides roads, increased 5.4 percent since July 1, but money from the state’s cigarette tax declined...
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Number of U.S. adults treated for diabetes more than doubled in a decade; it’s a big problem in Kentucky
Diabetes, a bigger problem in Kentucky than in most states, is exploding nationally. The number of U.S. adults treated for the disease more than doubled between 1996 and 2007, the...