Month: February 2017
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Tobacco ban for public-school properties and activities heads to the House on 25-8 Senate vote
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The state Senate passed a bill Feb. 15 to ban the use of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes on public-school properties...
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Mark Pyle, Christian County health director, is named state’s deputy commissioner of public health
Mark Pyle The director of the Christian County Health Department in Hopkinsville will be the new deputy commissioner of the state Department for Public Health. Mark Pyle will serve as...
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Legislature moving bills targeting fentanyl sales, shortening length of most opioid prescriptions to three days
The General Assembly is moving bills to increase penalties for the sale of fentanyl and put a three-day limit on prescriptions of other high-potency painkillers, in an effort to stem...
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About 3/4 of the Kentuckians getting free exams and screenings via Medicaid are covered by its expansion, study finds
More than three-fourths of the Kentuckians who got free medical screenings through Medicaid last summer were covered by the expansion of the program under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care...
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State Senate committee approves bill to remove insurance-company barriers to smoking-cessation treatments
Feb. 22 Update: SB89 passed 35-2 out of the full Senate and now heads to the House for consideration. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentuckians could...
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Ky. uninsured rate has dropped significantly under Obamacare, but many struggle with maintaining stable coverage
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Many more Kentuckians have health insurance because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but more than one in five Kentucky adults under...
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Humana says it will pull out of government health-insurance exchanges next year
Humana Inc. announced Feb. 14 that it would stop selling health insurance through the government marketplaces created by federal health reform. That made the Louisville-based company “the first major insurer to cast...
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Study analysis by Ky. critic of hospital safety estimates more than 200,000 preventable hospital-associated deaths each year
An analysis of two well-controlled studies estimates that the number of preventable hospital-associated deaths are over 200,000 each year, argues a commentary in the Journal of Patient Safety. In an...
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KET examines successful recoveries from opioid addiction, airs a forum to discuss Kentucky’s opioid crisis
Kentucky Educational Television is airing “Journey to Recovery,” a documentary that looks at Kentucky’s opioid epidemic and explores the state’s available treatment options through personal stories of recovery. The program,...
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Republicans will not only keep the Medicaid expansion, they will broaden it, says Lamar Alexander, Senate health panel chair
Sen. Lamar Alexander (Photo by M. Scott Mahaskey, Politico) Republicans in Congress will not only keep the expansion of Medicaid, but will broaden it, says U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of...