Health News
If the budget proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear is passed, 6,000 Kentuckians on Medicaid could be treated for substance abuse, ultimately saving the tax system hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Ky. Gets $3 Million Grant To Expand Substance Abuse Treatment For Pregnant Women After Big Jump In Drug-dependent Newborns
Kentucky will receive up to $3 million in federal grants over three years to provide expanded substance abuse treatment for pregnant and postpartum women in the Bluegrass and Cumberland regions of the state, according to a news release from the governor's...
- Beshear Budget Would Expand Oral Health, Cancer Screening, Brain-injury Treatment And Alternatives To Institutionalization
Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed state budget includes money to expand oral health programs, screening for cervical and breast cancer, treatment for Kentuckians with brain injuries and programs to held disabled people stay in their homes or communities....
- Oregon May Show The Way For Kentucky In Drug Treatment
In facing up to its need for more drug-treatment facilities, Kentucky could learn some lessons from Oregon, Courier-Journal reporter Laura Ungar writes in the third and last part of her package of stories about drug treatment, or lack of it, in our state: "Oregon,...
- Directory Listing 2,500 Substance-abuse Treatment Resources In Kentucky Released; Every County Has At Least One Facility
There are 2,500 resources for substance abuse treatment in Kentucky, with at least one in each county, research at the University of Kentucky has found. "In addition to the 345 state-certified substance abuse treatment providers listed in the directory,...
Health News
Funding substance-abuse treatment for Medicaid recipients could help 6,000 people, official says
If the budget proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear is passed, 6,000 Kentuckians on Medicaid could be treated for substance abuse, ultimately saving the tax system hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That was the message Monday during a House budget subcommittee on health and human services hearing. "All of the research shows that this is a smart thing to do," said Stephen Hall, commissioner of the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.
Treating a person with intensive drug addiction services costs $2,500. But an adult who is not treated costs taxpayers more than $23,000 in prison and other costs, Hall said.
Kentucky is "one of only seven states that does not offer substance-abuse treatment in its Medicaid program," reports Beth Musgrave for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Beshear has proposed an expansion of drug addiction services in his two-year budget, one of few new spending projects. He is requested $11.6 million in the first year of the budget, which would help about 4,500 people. He wants another $14.9 million in the second year of the budget to help about 1,300 people. Kentuckians who are eligible for Medicaid and who have a mental illness and substance-abuse problems will have priority in the program, as will those with substance-abuse issues and custody of a minor child.
Though "many on the House budget committee applauded the move," Musgrave reports, at a time when state agencies are facing 8.4 percent cuts, the spending project is a hard sell. "It's difficult to start any new programs," said Sen. Robert Leeper, an Independent of Paducah and chairman of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee. (Read more)
- $3.5 Million In Grants Allocated Across State To Treat Heroin And Prescription Drug Addiction And Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
As part of the heroin legislation passed this year, community mental health centers and residential treatment facilities across the state will receive more than $3.5 million in grants to help treat prescription drug and heroin abuse, and address neonatal...
- Ky. Gets $3 Million Grant To Expand Substance Abuse Treatment For Pregnant Women After Big Jump In Drug-dependent Newborns
Kentucky will receive up to $3 million in federal grants over three years to provide expanded substance abuse treatment for pregnant and postpartum women in the Bluegrass and Cumberland regions of the state, according to a news release from the governor's...
- Beshear Budget Would Expand Oral Health, Cancer Screening, Brain-injury Treatment And Alternatives To Institutionalization
Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed state budget includes money to expand oral health programs, screening for cervical and breast cancer, treatment for Kentuckians with brain injuries and programs to held disabled people stay in their homes or communities....
- Oregon May Show The Way For Kentucky In Drug Treatment
In facing up to its need for more drug-treatment facilities, Kentucky could learn some lessons from Oregon, Courier-Journal reporter Laura Ungar writes in the third and last part of her package of stories about drug treatment, or lack of it, in our state: "Oregon,...
- Directory Listing 2,500 Substance-abuse Treatment Resources In Kentucky Released; Every County Has At Least One Facility
There are 2,500 resources for substance abuse treatment in Kentucky, with at least one in each county, research at the University of Kentucky has found. "In addition to the 345 state-certified substance abuse treatment providers listed in the directory,...