Month: March 2011
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Legislature passed few health-related bills; took small steps on child obesity, diabetes, elder abuse
There were proposals to combat childhood obesity, fight methamphetamine production, impose a statewide smoking ban and protect nursing home residents, but Kentucky lawmakers were reluctant to make changes through health-related...
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Most Kentuckians want to treat drug offenders, not jail them
Days after a bill was passed that will reduce prison time for the state’s low-risk, non-violent drug offenders, the 2010 Kentucky Health Issues Poll shows that seven in 10 Kentuckians...
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Kentuckians among least happy and least healthy in U.S.
Kentuckians are among the least happy and healthy citizens in the country, with the state ranking second lowest in a survey that rates the emotional and physical health of Americans....
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Senate blows the whistle on the session, leaving Medicaid at an impasse; Beshear says a special session will start Monday
By Al Cross Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues The state Senate is forcing an early end to the Kentucky General Assembly’s regular session today, without fixing the budget...
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As meds-for-meth bill dies, backer asks colleagues to find solution
The bill that would have required prescriptions for three popular decongestants used to make methamphetamine “was buried today, but not without a eulogy and a promise to resurrect it,” Renee...
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Three Florida women put pressure on Sunshine State’s “pill mills,” legislators, governor
As Kentucky officials ask Florida legislators to crack down on pill mills, three Florida women have started a grassroots effort to spread awareness about the problem. Nurse Renee Doyle, respiratory...
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UK loses branding for high-quality nursing care
The University of Kentucky hospital has lost magnet status, a designation given to facilities that offer high-quality nursing care, the Lexington Herald-Leader‘s Mary Meehan reports. The recent review says UK,...
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Kentucky’s state health plan receives $30 million from federal health reform to offset costs of covering early retirees
Kentucky’s state employee health plan received nearly $30 million from a federal program established under the new health care law meant to help pay for early retiree benefits. Nationwide, $535...
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States can’t reveal drug costs because federal law makes them secret; Montana governor blames drug lobby, Ky. contractor
When Montana journalists asked Gov. Brian Schweitzer to reveal the prices the state pays for drugs in government health care programs, he said he wanted to tell them, but had...
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Almost all nursing homes have employees with criminal past, estimated 5% of employees; background-check bill seems dead
A new federal report says 92 percent of nursing homes employ someone with a criminal record. Most states require such facilities to check the backgrounds of applicants for employment, but the...