Month: June 2016
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Northern Ky. doctor who treats 300 addicts says many doctors don’t treat them because it’s not easy and often frustrating
“The sooner everyone understands that addiction needs to be treated as a disease, the sooner communities will make progress in battling the problem.” So says Dr. Mike Kalfas of Northern...
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California insurance chief opposes Humana-Aetna merger, but state agency with actual authority approves it after commitments
“Shares of Aetna and Humana plunged Thursday afternoon after the insurance commissioner of the country’s most populous state said he opposes the proposed merger of the two health insurance giants,”...
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Work-oriented requirements in Medicaid plan could hit a snag; feds haven’t approved a plan with such requirements yet
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan for Medicaid might not be approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as readily as he suggested, because...
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Reaction to Medicaid plan is predictably mixed; critics predict federal officials won’t approve work-oriented requirements
By Melissa Patrick and Al Cross Kentucky Health News Reactions to Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan to change Medicaid were predictably mixed, from health-reform advocates saying it is “paternalistic,” too complex,...
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Bevin offers ‘transformative’ Medicaid program with premiums, incentives, work-oriented requirements; expansion at stake
“It’s not about the money for the premiums, it’s about the learningexperience.” –Mark Birdwhistell, Medicaid adviser to Gov. Bevin (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Charles Bertram) By Al Cross and Melissa...
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Kids Count report finds Ky. remains in the bottom 1/3 of states for children’s well-being; is this a predictor of the state’s future?
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News If Kentucky’s future lies in the well-being of its children, there’s reason to worry, because a recent report shows that Kentucky consistently remains in...
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Dangers of HIV and hepatitis from intravenous drug use reach far beyond addicts and families, threatening a wide swath of Ky.
The growing use of heroin and the abuse of prescription painkillers in Kentucky also mean that the state “is being ravaged by the diseases that follow in their wake: hepatitis...
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AMA, led by Ky. doctor, says gun violence is public-health crisis; calls for research, background checks, waiting periods for all guns
The American Medical Association, led by a Kentucky emergency-room physician, declared gun violence a public-health crisis last week and endorsed waiting periods an background checks for purchases of all firearms,...
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Panel considers involuntary, court-ordered outpatient treatment for mentally ill; foe says would infringe on personal rights
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Representatives from five groups involved in mental health offered legislators solutions June 15 for ending the revolving door between hospitalization, incarceration and homelessness that...