Category: HEALTH POLICY
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Change in Medicare reimbursement rules will mean more money for 39 rural hospitals in Kentucky, totaling $4 million a year
Photo: Rural Health Information Hub —– The Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services said Friday that it will adjust its Medicare payment formula, starting in October, in a way that will boost...
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Health departments get another year before pension hikes kick in, but some are already raising taxes in anticipation
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News While local health departments are more than grateful that legislation passed in the recent special legislative session gives them another year to manage their...
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State health commissioner named White House fellow
Dr. Jeffrey Howard —– Dr. Jeffrey Howard, the state health commissioner, is leaving to become a White House fellow, a year-long job as a full-time assistant to senior White House...
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Conference speakers call for a more aggressive approach to eliminate hepatitis; Ky leads the nation in both hepatitis A and C
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Elimination of the three main types of hepatitis is possible, but will require a more aggressive approach that includes increasing vaccinations for hepatitis A...
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Appalachian Regional Commission, working on substance abuse and the workforce issues, calls for ‘recovery ecosystem’
The Appalachian Regional Commission hosted six listening sessions this year to better understand the challenges around substance abuse and how it relates to the Appalachian workforce, and came up with themes to...
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Health departments and their employees making tough choices now that the General Assembly has passed Bevin’s pension bill
Bevin at bill signing (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Alex Slitz) —– Kentucky’s health departments and their employees face some difficult decisions in the wake of the pension legislation passed in the...
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Deepest study yet finds 64% of Kentuckians who’d be affected by Bevin’s proposed Medicaid work rules are meeting them already
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Gov. Matt Bevin says “hundreds of thousands” of able-bodied adult Kentuckians on Medicaid should be working but choose not to. But when his new...
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UK gets $11 million grant to decrease cervical cancer in Eastern Ky. with focus on risks: smoking, HPV and low rates of screening
The University of Kentucky has been awarded a five year, $11 million grant to work toward reducing the rates of cervical cancer in Eastern Kentucky, a region that has some of the...
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Republican legislators propose taxing electronic cigarettes, as a health measure and a revenue measure; died in Senate in 2018
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky President Ben Chandler thanks Rep. Jerry Miller as Rep. Kim Moser and Health Commissioner Dr. Jeff Howard look on. —– By Al Cross Kentucky Health News...
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Opinion: Politicians are playing with fire when they erode support for mandatory childhood vaccinations
OPINION By F. Douglas Scutchfield and Al Cross Public health is the nexus of science and politics. Unfortunately, the two frequently do not mix well. A recent example involving childhood...