Author: Al Cross
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Patients confused, providers worried, Democrats and advocates upset over decision to limit Medicaid dental and vision benefits
The end of dental and vision benefits for 460,000 Kentuckians on Medicaid caused some pregnant women and children to be denied care because of a reported glitch in the system....
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Studies put numbers on what Eastern Kentucky employers know: High rates of opioid use make it hard to find employees
“Kentucky’s drug crisis has affected the workforce, causing higher turnover, bringing additional costs to train new employees and fueling employee thefts,” Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Research shows that...
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Blocked from starting new Medicaid plan, state comes up with a question-and-answer sheet to help providers and their patients
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News As the Cabinet for Health and Family Services scrambles to deal with the fall-out from a court ruling that vacated the state’s new Medicaid plan, which was set...
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460,000 Kentuckians on expanded Medicaid have lost their dental and vision benefits; officials blame judge’s ruling against new plan
By Melissa Patrick and Al Cross Kentucky Health News One of the major objections to Gov. Matt Bevin’s changes in Medicaid was that people who are covered by the program’s...
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Federal judge blocks new Medicaid plan, which was to go into effect Sunday
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News A federal judge has blocked Kentucky’s new Medicaid plan, which was to go into effect Sunday, July 1. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of...
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Hepatitis A outbreak worst ever; Ky. leads the nation; state health commissioner advises Kentuckians to wash hands, get vaccinated
State health officials say the hepatitis A outbreak in Kentucky is the worst ever, and the crisis isn’t over. “It’s the worst on record across the nation and in Kentucky,”...
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Kentucky’s cigarette tax goes up 50 cents a pack, to $1.10; health advocates say it’s a great time to quit smoking
Kentucky’s cigarette tax just went up 83 percent, from 60 cents per pack to $1.10 a pack. Anti-smoking and health advocates hope the 50-cent increase, effective Sunday, will prompt smokers...
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Adam Meier, the state’s new health secretary, has moved from creating policy to delivering it
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The state’s new health secretary moved from a policy job that he loved to one that puts him squarely into a position of delivering...
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Feds charge 10, mainly in Louisville, with various health-care fraud schemes, call them ‘drug dealers in lab coats’
A doctor, a psychiatrist, a chiropractor, a medical assistant and six other people in Louisville and Cave City have been indicted as part of a federal crackdown on health-care fraud...
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“Kentucky Substance Use Epidemic: A Solutions Update” is title of Bost Health Policy Forum to be held in Lexington Sept. 24
As Kentucky continues to struggle with the health and economic impacts of the opioid epidemic, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky‘s 16th annual health policy forum will explore medical marijuana...