Author: Melissa Patrick
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Sedentary older women who don’t exercise are ‘biologically older’ than active women, study of their chromosomes shows
Photo from Center for Advancing Health By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A study has found that older women who sit for more than 10 hours a day and also...
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Judge blocks Humana-Aetna merger; appeal in doubt; Aetna’s ‘leverage’ attempt jeopardized Obamacare exchanges
A federal judge blocked Aetna Inc.‘s bid to buy Louisville-based Humana Inc. on grounds that it would reduce competition for consumers in Medicare Advantage markets, because it would ultimately affect...
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More students eat lunch and breakfast at schools where number of ‘food vulnerable’ students qualifies all for free meals
Students eat breakfast (U.S. Department of Agriculture photo) By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A program that offers free meals to all students using federal money has increased lunch and breakfast participation...
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Health boards support legislative agenda to change how public health is delivered and paid for, to make Kentucky healthier
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News At their first-ever statewide meeting, Kentucky’s local boards of health voted for their state association to adopt a legislative platform aimed at modernizing the...
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In state Trump won in a landslide after pledging Obamacare repeal, fewer than 1 in 5 said they feared losing coverage
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Fewer than one in five Kentucky adults who have health insurance were concerned about losing their coverage in the weeks after Gov. Matt Bevin...
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Study of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion: Enrollees have better health, more financial security, and say it’s easier to keep or find work
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Ohio’s Medicaid expansion enrollees say having health coverage made it easier for them to keep or find work, and most said it gave them...
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Ky. has 25 approved syringe exchanges to reduce risk of HIV and hepatitis C outbreaks; other counties debate proposals
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A minister, a nurse and a physician assistant joined forces in Powell County to educate its citizens about a syringe-exchange program, which should open...
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Jan. 31 is last day to sign up for insurance on HealthCare.gov if you didn’t have a 2016 health plan on Kynect; March 1 if you did
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Jan. 31 is the deadline for Kentuckians who did not have health insurance through Kynect last year to sign up for health insurance through...
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As patient-safety penalties hit hospitals, expert wonders why they aren’t improving more; could be eliminated by Obamacare repeal
This is the third year federal government will apply penalties to hospitals that fall short of patient safety standards, leading one Consumers Union leader to wonder why hospitals aren’t working...
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Reformulation of OxyContin to make it abuse-deterrent is main reason for shift to heroin and deaths from it, study concludes
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The reformulation of OxyContin in 2010 is the main reason for the large increase in heroin overdose in recent years, according to a working paper...