Category: YOUR HEALTH
-
Sports betting has taken off in Kentucky, but counselors for people with a gambling disorder remain in short supply in the state
Legal sports wagering launched in Kentucky in September. Residents can bet online and at brick-and-mortar venues like horse racetrack facilities, no longer needing to cross state lines. Some experts say...
-
Paxlovid is effective against Covid-19, but many people eligible for it are not getting it; it’s free to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries
By Dr. Nicholas Van Sickels University of Kentucky A safe and effective medication designed to prevent mild to moderate Covid-19 infections from becoming more dangerous has been available for almost...
-
State House kills bill that would have banned Covid-19 vaccine mandates, after it takes a fast, unusual trip through the Senate
Kentucky Health News A bill that would have banned Covid-19 vaccines from being required for employment, student enrollment or activities, or medical treatment and licensing, died a quiet death in the state...
-
Anthem is among health insurers now covering anti-obesity drug if it is prescribed to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
One of Kentucky’s major health insurers is among the first that have “agreed to start paying for the popular anti-obesity drug Wegovy for certain people on Medicare with heart-related conditions,” The...
-
Chair of U.S. Senate health committee demands maker of weight-loss drugs, most popular in Kentucky, cut their prices by two-thirds
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chairs the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee says the maker of two popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy should...
-
Government Accountability Office says Medicare and Medicaid each overpaid health-care providers by about $50 billion in 2023
Improper payments, mainly through overpayments, in Medicare and Medicaid are expected to total about $50 billion each for 2023, the federal Government Accountability Office says in its annual report on the...
-
Four-part series from PBS and KET tells the story of public health
Kentucky Health News “Public health saved your life today and you don’t even know it.” That’s the catchphrase of a PBS series that began on KET Tuesday night, about the...
-
Legislature sends Beshear bill decriminalizing medical mistakes; some in vitro fertilization advocates say bill will protect it
By Sarah Ladd Kentucky Lantern A bill giving Kentucky’s health-care providers criminal immunity for medical mistakes — which one lawmaker thinks will enshrine protections for in vitro fertilization by default...
-
Health insurers again win lobbying battle with doctors and hospitals over prior authorization of procedures, treatments
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill to exempt health-care providers who have 90% or more of their claims approved from health-insurance companies’ requirements for prior authorization of ceratin...
-
Emergency-department visits and hospitalizations for respiratory illness keep dropping; at ‘moderate’ level for first time since fall
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News For the first time since December, the state Department for Public Health says both respiratory-virus activity and hospital admissions related to respiratory disease are moderate...