Author: Al Cross
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Doctors in emergency rooms say they are busier since Obamacare began; hospitals struggle to handle extra patients
Nearly half of emergency-room doctors say their ERs have seen an increase in patients since health reform went into effect, and 86 percent say they expect the increase to continue,...
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Success of Kynect puts both Senate candidates in a pickle
“The early success of Kentucky’s health care exchange, Kynect, is creating quandaries for both Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes as they address Obamacare” in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race,” James...
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Lexington preschool becomes Kentucky’s first with a farm-to-school food program
About 20 years from now, today’s preschoolers will be purchasing and preparing their own food. What if they spent 13 years in an educational setting that taught farm-to-school practices? Children...
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Smoking increases risk of getting lung cancer by up to 20%, but add other carcinogens and it can go up as much as 300%
If you smoke, your risk of getting lung cancer is as much as 20 times greater than if you don’t. But if you smoke and are exposed to other carcinogens...
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Ashland hospital agrees to pay $40.9 million to settle charges it defrauded Medicare and Medicaid for six years
“King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland has agreed to pay $40.9 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed federally-funded health care programs for hundreds of unnecessary heart procedures” from...
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Tobacco heritage blocks smoking bans in rural Kentucky
“A mural showing a tobacco harvest has been on display high in the second-floor rotunda of the Bourbon County Courthouse for than 100 years,” Mary Meehan writes. (Herald-Leader photo) Bourbon County’s strong...
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Louisville VA hospital defends itself after veteran claims she waited six months for care
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2014/05/23/louisville-va-defends-care-vet-claims-month-wait/9508979/
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McConnell presses Democratic foe Grimes to say how she feels about Obamacare, but won’t bite on questions about Kynect
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News At his first press conference after winning the Republican nomination for a sixth term, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell pressed Democratic nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes...
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Conway funnels $1.5 million in drug-company settlements to develop prevention and treatment plan for kids’ substance abuse
With two lawsuit settlements from drug makers, Attorney General Jack Conway is giving the University of Kentucky $1.5 million over two years to develop a comprehensive plan for the prevention...