Kentucky is No. 4 in smoking, down from No. 2, but at 17.4% of adults, experts say the state’s smoking rate is still way too high
By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health News Kentucky still has one of the nation’s highest adult smoking rates, but has fallen to fourth among the states, after many years of either...
Top senators, one of whom lost both parents to smoking, say no advocates spoke to them about increasing anti-tobacco spending
By Al CrossKentucky Health News Kentucky’s top two state senators said Tuesday that none of the advocates for more funding of tobacco prevention spoke to them about it during...
Despite waiting list, a shortage of nurses and plenty of money, governor and legislature don’t fund new building for KSU nursing
Kentucky State University’s nursing program has outgrown the Betty White Health Center, opened in 1971. Nursing classes are spread in buildings across campus. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Jamie Lucke)...
Republicans talk about making Obamacare better, not repealing it, so it is ‘becoming a politically untouchable part’ of the safety net
Washington Post graph from Kaiser Family Foundation polling data Kentucky Health News“A law once derided as ‘Obamacare’ and demonized as a big-government power grab is becoming a politically untouchable...
State House kills bill that would have banned Covid-19 vaccine mandates, after it takes a fast, unusual trip through the Senate
Kentucky Health NewsA 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...
Legislature sends Beshear bill decriminalizing medical mistakes; some in vitro fertilization advocates say bill will protect it
By Sarah LaddKentucky 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...
Bill targeting certificate-of-need process for health-care facilities gets only three votes in House Health Services Committee
State Rep. Marianne Proctor (KL photo by Sarah Ladd) By Sarah LaddKentucky Lantern A bill that opponents said would effectively repeal Kentucky’s certificate-of-need law for health-care facilities failed in...
Medical-cannabis ‘cleanup’ bill passes House; critics disappointed more qualifying conditions not added and say it increases hurdles
By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health News In what the sponsor calls a bill to “clean some things up,” more restrictions are being added to the state’s medical-marijuana law and provisions...
State Senate restores most Medicaid cuts made in the House
Dr. Bill Collins treats a patient at the Red Bird Mission dentalclinic in Clay County. The Senate budget would increasedentists’ Medicaid fees. (Ky. Lantern photo by Deborah Yetter) By...
Bill aimed at curbing Kentucky’s youth ‘vaping epidemic’ passes House; Ky. Youth Advocates calls on Senate to make it stronger
By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health News A bill to curb what its sponsor called the youth “vaping epidemic” in Kentucky passed the state House on Monday and is now in...