Author: Melissa Patrick
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Better-off Kentuckians exercise more; foundation CEO says policymakers can help increase access to exercise venues
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Health status and income matter when it comes to being physically active. Kentucky adults who reporting good health and higher incomes also saying they...
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Kentucky lawmakers have passed several health-related bills to deal with the opioid epidemic, and could pass several more
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The 2017 General Assembly has passed several bills meant to put more “tools in the toolbox” as the state works to...
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Legislature passes bill requiring ads against nursing homes to include their correction plan and when problem was corrected
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – The 2017 General Assembly has passed two bills long supported by the nursing-home industry and other health-care providers — one to...
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Though more have insurance and can see a doctor, Ky. shows little gain on health outcomes; Chandler says that takes time
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The percentage of Kentuckians without health insurance has dropped by more than half since the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
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Bill passes to decrease smoking; one doesn’t; lawmakers set to pass resolution for feds to ditch plan to limit tobacco carcinogen
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – Smoke-free advocates would say that this legislative session’s record is 1-2. That’s because Kentucky lawmakers have passed one bill that will...
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Bill sent to Bevin would remove insurance-company barriers that keep Kentuckians from getting smoking-cessation treatments
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentuckians would have an easier time getting smoking-cessation treatments covered by insurance under a bill that is on its way to...
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Kentuckians on public insurance such as Medicaid used ERs more often after full implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Use of emergency rooms was expected to decrease after the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but it rose among people with public insurance such as Medicaid,...
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Bill to make all Ky. schools tobacco-free is likely dead for this session; only 62 of the state’s 173 school districts ban tobacco
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bill that would ban tobacco use on school properties and at school events has all but died in the state...
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Ky. and most surrounding states had fewer companies on government health-insurance exchanges this year than last year
The number of health insurance companies offering subsidized coverage didn’t shrink just in Kentucky, but in most of adjoining states, according to a study done for the Foundation for a...
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State health officials urge spring-break travelers to use caution against the Zika virus
State officials are warning spring-break travelers to take precautions against the Zika virus if they are traveling to areas where the virus has been identified. Specifically, they are encouraging travelers...