Month: January 2015
-
Clinton, Beshear, Humana chief and others discuss Medicaid expansion, other changes in health systems, and chronic illness
By Melissa Patrick and Al Cross Kentucky Health News The economic advantages from expanding Medicaid under federal health reform should outweigh any ideology that is holding states back from participating...
-
Newport school board’s smoking ban, which includes e-cigarettes, would be 38th among 173 Kentucky school districts
The Newport Independent Board of Education passed the first reading of a proposed smoking ban Wednesday, Jan. 28 after adding electronic cigarettes to the ban. The ban would prohibit smoking on...
-
Kynect private-insurance enrollment runs through Feb. 15; exchange works to get taxpayers information to prove coverage
With the close of open enrollment coming Feb. 15, state officials are making a final push to get Kentuckians to enroll in Medicaid or buy private, subsidized health insurance on...
-
Health care changes are driven by more than reform law; Beshear says patients need rewards for changing their behavior
“Your doctor’s visits might get longer, you deductibles probably will be higher and you might be paying cash to be treated at a Wal-Mart near you as Kentucky adapts to...
-
Almost as many Kentuckians support health reform as oppose it, but half say they don’t know how it may affect them
By Al Cross and Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The federal health-reform law is gaining support from Kentuckians, to the point that they are almost evenly divided about it. Those...
-
Researchers blame Walmart, other bulk suppliers for part of obesity epidemic
Part of the rise of obesity in America can be linked to the availability of cheap food sold in bulk from warehouse stores like Walmart, says a study released this...
-
Medicare starts to overhaul the way it pays providers, rewarding them for quality, penalizing them for shortcomings
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The Obama administration on Monday set a timeline for historic changes in how it pays doctors, hospitals and other health providers under Medicare, shifting...
-
Regan Hunt, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health, named national Consumer Health Advocate of the Year
Regan Hunt Regan Hunt, the executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health, has been named Consumer Health Advocate of the Year by Families USA, which calls itself “the national organization for...
-
Appalachian women are more likely to get cervical cancer and die from it, but pass up vaccine partly because of fatalistic beliefs
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A fatalistic belief that getting or preventing cancer is beyond a person’s control is one of many reasons young women in Appalachian Kentucky are...
-
Are nutrition rules for schools and day-care centers too much regulation, or steps in the right direction, toward better health?
Commentary by Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The Paducah Sun’s editorial on Jan. 20 said the Obama administration has overstepped its bounds by expecting child day-care centers to follow stricter nutrition standards....