Legislature passes public-assistance reform bill with changes that please advocates; health cabinet secretary still sees 'red tape'

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Legislation aimed at getting able-bodied adults off Medicaid and other public-assistance programs and back into the workforce, and decreasing fraud in the programs, has passed the General Assembly in a watered-down form. Rep. David  Meade, R-Stanford "The goal is to make...

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Cameron, 20 other Republican attorneys general sue to overturn CDC's mask mandate in public transportation hubs

Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined 20 of his Republican counterparts in a lawsuit to overturn the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's rule requiring masks to be worn in public transportation hubs. The suit "argues that the mandate exceeds the authority of the CDC, noting that the Biden administration continues to use a failed interpretation of a quarantine statute that has been ruled against in court several times," Cameron's office...

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Most in nationwide poll say they have contracted the coronavirus, but concern about serious Covid-19 illness in their family declines

Most Americans say they have contracted the coronavirus, and the infected are more likely to be Republicans, says a new poll by Monmouth University in New Jersey. "This appears to be the first poll to show a majority of Americans saying they’ve been infected at some point," reports Aaron Blake of The Washington Post. "Other polls from recent months have shown a sharp uptick in those who report testing...

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House-passed bill to expand individuals' vaccine privacy rights fails to make it out of Senate committee as session nears end

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A House-passed bill to keep state and local governments from asking employees and applicants if they have received a Covid-19 vaccination, and to ban colleges and universities from requiring disclosure of immunization status, has failed in a Senate committee with three days left in the...

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Pandemic numbers nearing levels seen before Omicron variant hit

Kentucky Health News graph from weekly state reports By Al CrossKentucky Health News The pandemic in Kentucky has declined to levels not seen since early last summer, when numbers bottomed out just before the surge of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus drove them to record levels. From last Monday through Sunday,...

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One mother's story helps show how recovery from addiction, difficult anywhere, is even harder in much of rural Kentucky

Megan Simpson works after group class at Living Clean transitional housing in Manchester. She recently completed peer support training and passed her certification test. She started as a peer support specialist in Corbin and is scheduled to go to court in April to regain custody of her three children....

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CDC rates fewer Ky. counties at high risk from virus, but levels in some have increased and state's risk level is still relatively high

State version of CDC map, with additional label by Kentucky Health News Kentucky Health News Kentucky as a whole is at lower risk from the coronavirus than it was a week ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But about the same number of counties are rated at low risk, and the risk ratings...

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Bills to address Ky. health-care worker shortage are moving

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustration By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News In the final days of the 2022 legislative session, three bills to address Kentucky's healthcare workforce shortages are moving. One addresses the nursing shortage directly, one works toward recruitment and retention more...

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U of L says it will spend $144 million to upgrade hospital

Artists' rendering from University of Louisville Health The University of Louisville plans to expand and renovate its 40-year-old hospital in Kentucky's largest city. Officials say the $144 million project will include a seven-story tower with 20 new patient rooms, for a total of 360 private rooms at the hospital;...

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After changes to appease county governments, the bill to address ambulance transfer times is raring to go for its final dispatch

Dwayne Oliver and Doug Byers of Lee County's ambulance service refit one after a run. (Photo by Ryan C. Hermens, Lexington Herald-Leader) By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News After yet another round of negotiations, a House bill aimed at improving ambulance transfer times nears a vote on the Senate consent calendar,...

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Bill near final passage would delay lab results of cancer or genetic markers from going on electronic health records for 72 hours

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The legislature is nearing final passage of a bill that would give health-care providers a chance to contact patients to go over certain laboratory results before they go on patients' electronic health records. Rep. Killian Timoney House Bill 529, sponsored by Killian Timoney,...

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Bill Wagner, who headed group of health clinics for disadvantaged in Louisville, wins Gil Friedell Memorial Health Policy Award

Wagner, left, with Foundation President and CEO Chandler William Wagner, retired CEO of Family Health Centers of Louisville, is the latest winner of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky's Gil Friedell Memorial Health Policy Award, for his work expanding access to care and coverage. “Bill’s passion for bettering the...

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Almost six months after going into hospital with Covid-19, and a double-lung transplant as a last resort, patient is heading home

Staff members congratulate Victor Gonzales-Villatoro on his discharge at UK. (Photo by Hilary Brown) By Hilary Brown University of Kentucky Staff at UK HealthCare gathered Wednesday to celebrate the discharge of patient Victor Gonzales-Villatoro, who was hospitalized with Covid-19 in October. The disease ravaged his...

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McConnell, Va. senator poke FDA about lack of action on rules to enforce two-year-old minimum age of 21 to buy tobacco products

Sens. McConnell and Kaine at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center in 2019 (Courier-Journal photo by Pat McDonogh)  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia have complained to the Food and Drug Administration about the agency's delay in implementing...

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Most of Kentucky's coronavirus measures continue to fall, but Covid-19 death reports continue to average about 40 per day

Kentucky Department for Public Health graph, adapted by Ky. Health News; click it to enlarge. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Nearly 40 Kentuckians per day were recorded as dying from Covid-19 last week, even as new coronavirus cases and positive-test rates kept falling.  Kentucky reported 8,639 new...

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Senate sends House a bill to create a pilot program for treatment of offenders with mental-health or substance-use disorders

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill moving through the state legislature would create a pilot program to divert some qualifying low-level offenders away from jail and into treatment for substance-use disorder or mental-health issues. State Sen. Whitney Westerfield While getting his bill through the...

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Asked about more money to fight the coronavirus, McConnell says Democrats need to use unspent money from 2021 relief bill

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that Democrats should be willing to "reprogram" some unspent money from their previous pandemic relief bill to get more money to fight the coronavirus. On CBS's "Face the Nation," McConnell was asked to comment on remarks by President Biden's chief health adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on ABC's "This Week" that Congress needs to appropriate more funds for pandemic work. A partisan dispute kept such...

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Flu cases in Kentucky have ticked up a bit in the last few weeks, and it's not too late to get a flu shot; season can go through May

Kentucky Department for Public Health graph By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Following nine weeks of decline, influenza cases in Kentucky ticked back up. The state Department of Public Health reports that in the week ended March 12, Kentucky had 170 new confirmed cases of flu, up from 140 the previous...

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Registration is open for April 14 conference in Bowling Green on youth vaccine that prevents certain types of cancer

Screenshot of flyer; for registration information, click here. By Melissa Patrick Ky. Health News The Kentucky Rural Health Association is devoting a one-day conference to discuss a vaccine that can protect against infections and cancers caused by the human papillomavirus. The HPV Vaccine Conference will be held at...

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Rand Paul's resolution to end the federal mask mandate in public transit passes Senate, but not by enough to overcome a veto

The federal rule applies to transport hubs and conveyances. (Photo by Brandon Bell, Getty Images) By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The U.S. Senate passed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's legislation to end the mask mandate in public transportation, but not by a margin large enough to overcome a threatened veto by President...

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As most Covid-19 numbers in Kentucky continue to fall, Beshear 'pauses' weekly pandemic press conferences for second time

Ky. Dept. for Public Health graph, adapted by Ky. Health News; for a larger version, click on it. By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News With almost every metric to measure the pandemic in Kentucky keeping on a steady decline, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that he was putting his weekly Covid-19 press conferences...

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House passes bill to allow APRNs to prescribe controlled substances after a four-year collaborative agreement with doctor

American Association of Nurse Practitioners map, adapted by Kentucky Health News By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News A bill to create a path for Kentucky's advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe controlled substances independently has passed the state House with only eight members voting against it.  “We...

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