Health News
- As Beshear And Williams Equivocate, Hoover And Mcconnell Say State Should Not Expand Medicaid Under Health Reform
Kentucky Health News The Republican leader of the state House said today that Kentucky should not take advantage of an expansion of Medicaid under federal health reform because it would cost too much once the state starts paying 10 percent of the cost....
- 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...
- Senate Blows The Whistle On The Session, Leaving Medicaid At An Impasse; Beshear Says A Special Session Will Start Monday
By Al Cross Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues The state Senate is forcing an early end to the Kentucky General Assembly's regular session today, without fixing the budget gap in the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. Even...
- Optometrists' Well-financed Bill Is First To Clear General Assembly
The bill that would significantly increase the care optometrists can provide passed the House Friday morning by a 81-14 vote. The bill, which now heads to Gov. Steve Beshear's desk, is the first this session to clear both houses of the General Assembly, The...
- As Expected, Beshear Asks Legislature To Move $100 Million From Next Year's Medicaid Budget To Make Up This Year's Shortfall
Gov. Steve Beshear, left, is urging the legislature to pass legislation that would rectify a $100 million shortfall in the 2011 Medicaid budget. If it doesn't, Beshear said payments for health care providers who treat Medicaid patients would decrease...
Health News
Near-unanimous House passes Medicaid plan; Senate mum
By an overwhelming margin of 94-4, the state House today passed a bipartisan bill to fix the state Medicaid budget, again putting the ball in the court of the Republicans who control the Senate. They declined to comment.
The House again adopted Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's plan to transfer money from the second year of the budget amd make up the difference by instituting managed-care plans, but this time included what House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover called "triggered" cuts if Beshear falls short.
"Beshear would have to certify by Aug. 15 the amount he can save within Medicaid in the fiscal year that begins July 1," Beth Musgrave and Jack Brammer report for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "The bill also would let Beshear use about $23 million in one-time money to offset any shortfall if there are no savings in the Medicaid budget. Anything short of the remaining $116 million needed to balance the Medicaid budget would trigger cuts in most other parts of state government." The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus and Deborah Yetter note, "Public schools, universities and a few other selected areas would be exempt." (Read more)
In a video interview posted via Facebook, Hoover said the bill is "a lot better" than the one the House passed 80-19 in the regular session. But he called it only "a first step" toward finding an agreement with the Senate, and said he expected the matter to again reach a House-Senate conference committee. He said House Republicans "want to move above the fray of the politics of this. . . . I hope and think that the Senate now recognizes that we're part of the process." Senate President David Williams was personally critical of the House GOP leader after Hoover rebuffed Williams' plan to make small cuts in basic school funding.
The House again adopted Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's plan to transfer money from the second year of the budget amd make up the difference by instituting managed-care plans, but this time included what House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover called "triggered" cuts if Beshear falls short.
"Beshear would have to certify by Aug. 15 the amount he can save within Medicaid in the fiscal year that begins July 1," Beth Musgrave and Jack Brammer report for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "The bill also would let Beshear use about $23 million in one-time money to offset any shortfall if there are no savings in the Medicaid budget. Anything short of the remaining $116 million needed to balance the Medicaid budget would trigger cuts in most other parts of state government." The Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus and Deborah Yetter note, "Public schools, universities and a few other selected areas would be exempt." (Read more)
In a video interview posted via Facebook, Hoover said the bill is "a lot better" than the one the House passed 80-19 in the regular session. But he called it only "a first step" toward finding an agreement with the Senate, and said he expected the matter to again reach a House-Senate conference committee. He said House Republicans "want to move above the fray of the politics of this. . . . I hope and think that the Senate now recognizes that we're part of the process." Senate President David Williams was personally critical of the House GOP leader after Hoover rebuffed Williams' plan to make small cuts in basic school funding.
- As Beshear And Williams Equivocate, Hoover And Mcconnell Say State Should Not Expand Medicaid Under Health Reform
Kentucky Health News The Republican leader of the state House said today that Kentucky should not take advantage of an expansion of Medicaid under federal health reform because it would cost too much once the state starts paying 10 percent of the cost....
- 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...
- Senate Blows The Whistle On The Session, Leaving Medicaid At An Impasse; Beshear Says A Special Session Will Start Monday
By Al Cross Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues The state Senate is forcing an early end to the Kentucky General Assembly's regular session today, without fixing the budget gap in the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled. Even...
- Optometrists' Well-financed Bill Is First To Clear General Assembly
The bill that would significantly increase the care optometrists can provide passed the House Friday morning by a 81-14 vote. The bill, which now heads to Gov. Steve Beshear's desk, is the first this session to clear both houses of the General Assembly, The...
- As Expected, Beshear Asks Legislature To Move $100 Million From Next Year's Medicaid Budget To Make Up This Year's Shortfall
Gov. Steve Beshear, left, is urging the legislature to pass legislation that would rectify a $100 million shortfall in the 2011 Medicaid budget. If it doesn't, Beshear said payments for health care providers who treat Medicaid patients would decrease...