Health News
- Smokers Shouldn't Get Medicaid Or Medicare, Says Freshman Republican Lawmaker Who Grows Tobacco
State Rep. Jonathan Shell of Lancaster, a young Republican who grows tobacco, is against a statewide smoking ban. No surprise there, but how about this: He also says people who use tobacco should't be able to get Medicaid benefits. ?As I don?t think...
- Legislature Likely To Tweak, Clarify And Limit Last Year's 'pill Mill Bill'
State lawmakers could narrow the focus of last year's "pill mill bill" during the legislative session that begins tomorrow, to concentrate on adults with long-term prescriptions for frequently abused painkillers, John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader...
- Smoking Ban Can't Get A Vote Due To Republican Boycott Over Chairman's Block Of Measure For Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients
There could have been a vote Thursday on a bill for a statewide smoking ban, but a Republican boycott of the Democratic-controlled House Health and Welfare Committee over another bill prevented that. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...
- Abortion Bills Die In House Health And Welfare Committee
Four bills that would have made it more difficult to have an abortion in Kentucky won't make it past the House Health and Welfare Committee. House Bill 390 and House Bill 215 would have prohibited a woman from having abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy...
- Idaho Study: Drug Testing For State-aid Recipients Inefficient
As discussion continues among Kentucky lawmakers over whether public-assistance recipients should undergo mandatory drug testing, an Idaho study has concluded such an undertaking is not cost-effective. "The costs of legal action alone during the first...
Health News
No vote taken on bill for drug tests for recipients of public aid
Despite motions to do so Thursday, the House Health and Welfare Committee did not vote on a bill that would require Kentuckians who receive public assistance to submit to random drug testing. The bill did not receive a vote because there is no money to pay for the drug testing and rehabilitation that would be required, said committee chairman Tom Burch, D-Louisville.
Maysville native Ruth Chamblin spoke at the meeting, saying her 12-month-old great-niece might still be alive if such a bill had been made law, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Beth Musgrave reports. Chamblin's great-niece died after she was allegedly beaten by her niece's then-boyfriend. Fearing investigation, Chamblin's niece neglected to take her daughter to the doctor for four days after the alleged attack, and the baby consequently died. The family was on public assistance at the time, and the boyfriend was reportedly a drug abuser.
House Bill 208, sponsored by Republican Rep. Lonnie Napier of Lancaster, right, would require random drug testing for people who receive Medicaid, food stamps and other kinds of public assistance. Those who test positive on the drug screening would have 60 days to get treatment. They would continue to receive public assistance in the meantime, but if they repeatedly failed more tests their assistance would be cut off. The reasoning behind the bill is to stop people from selling food stamps to buy drugs, Napier said.
Napier said the drug testing would cost about $1.5 million a year. One Idaho study has concluded drug testing for state-aid recipients is inefficient. (Read more)
- Smokers Shouldn't Get Medicaid Or Medicare, Says Freshman Republican Lawmaker Who Grows Tobacco
State Rep. Jonathan Shell of Lancaster, a young Republican who grows tobacco, is against a statewide smoking ban. No surprise there, but how about this: He also says people who use tobacco should't be able to get Medicaid benefits. ?As I don?t think...
- Legislature Likely To Tweak, Clarify And Limit Last Year's 'pill Mill Bill'
State lawmakers could narrow the focus of last year's "pill mill bill" during the legislative session that begins tomorrow, to concentrate on adults with long-term prescriptions for frequently abused painkillers, John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader...
- Smoking Ban Can't Get A Vote Due To Republican Boycott Over Chairman's Block Of Measure For Drug Tests For Welfare Recipients
There could have been a vote Thursday on a bill for a statewide smoking ban, but a Republican boycott of the Democratic-controlled House Health and Welfare Committee over another bill prevented that. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...
- Abortion Bills Die In House Health And Welfare Committee
Four bills that would have made it more difficult to have an abortion in Kentucky won't make it past the House Health and Welfare Committee. House Bill 390 and House Bill 215 would have prohibited a woman from having abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy...
- Idaho Study: Drug Testing For State-aid Recipients Inefficient
As discussion continues among Kentucky lawmakers over whether public-assistance recipients should undergo mandatory drug testing, an Idaho study has concluded such an undertaking is not cost-effective. "The costs of legal action alone during the first...