Author
Deborah Yetter
Distrust of fluoride ‘mind-boggling’; mineral is ‘time-tested’ and a ‘good thing,’ dentists say
As a dental hygienist working with low-income schoolchildren in Louisville, Jennifer Hasch said the untreated tooth disease she saw was shocking. Some teens had decay so severe they had to have all their teeth pulled and be fitted with dentures. Middle school kids reported being unable to sleep because of pain from infected and abscessed […]
Sponsor vows to back off gutting Kentucky open records law after hearing from constituents
A Kentucky lawmaker says he plans to revise a bill rewriting the state’s open records law after it ignited protests from open government advocates and the Kentucky Press Association who warned it would “eviscerate” access to public records. Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, said in an email he plans to eliminate a section redefining public records […]
Public could lose access to many government records under bill that House speaker supports
FRANKFORT—A newly-filed bill one expert said “would eviscerate access to public records” in Kentucky is drawing fire from news organizations and open records advocates even as its sponsor says such claims are untrue and overblown. “Access by the public to disclosable public records will not be hindered in the least,” Rep. John Hodgson, R-Fisherville, said […]
House plan would create ‘a hole’ in Kentucky Medicaid budget, Senate committee told
FRANKFORT — The state Senate began its review of the House two-year budget proposal Wednesday, starting with Medicaid, a $15 billion a year program that provides health coverage and other services to about 1.5 million low income, disabled or other Kentuckians. The Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee heard from Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Cabinet […]
House budget raises fears of cuts to Medicaid services, enrollment
Advocates and state officials, alarmed about cuts to Medicaid in the budget proposal approved by the Kentucky House Feb. 1, hope to make their case for changes as the Senate takes up the approximately $60-billion-a-year spending plan. That begins Wednesday, with the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee scheduled to hear from Eric Friedlander, secretary of […]
Bill would save Kentucky consumers money, help independent pharmacies survive, says sponsor
Four years after leading the effort to cut corporate middlemen out of the prescription drug business for Kentucky’s Medicaid program, Sen. Max Wise now is taking aim at those same companies’ role in private health insurance. Noting his Senate Bill 50, enacted in 2020, resulted in millions of dollars in savings to Kentucky Medicaid, Wise, […]
Youngest Kentuckians increasingly fall victim to accidental overdoses
Kentucky’s youngest children continue to be at risk of drug overdoses from accidental ingestion — with the number of fatalities and the strength of the drug, or combination of drugs, increasing. Eight children died from ingesting drugs and another 47 suffered an overdose in fiscal year 2022 among cases reviewed by the Child Fatality and […]
Cameron’s office agreed to $99,750 settlement in lawsuit over ‘ballot integrity’ task force records
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office agreed to pay $99,750 to settle a long-running open records dispute in December just days before Cameron left to become CEO of an organization devoted to combatting “woke capitalism,” among other objectives. American Oversight, an open records advocacy group based in Washington D.C., had sued Cameron’s office in […]
Citing ‘denials, delays,’ Baptist Health ends contracts with two more Medicare Advantage carriers
A stalemate between one of Kentucky’s largest health care providers and three major health insurers is affecting thousands of Kentucky retirees enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Baptist Health last fall ended its contract agreement with Humana for physician services covered by Medicare Advantage, the Kentucky Lantern reported in October. That means doctors’ visits are considered […]
Kentucky legislature asked to end long, worrying wait lists for adults with disabilities
Kim Thompson is happy her adult son, who is intellectually disabled, lives with her. “I want him at home,” the Louisville woman said of her son, Forest Thompson-Bell, 27. “I want to be very clear about that.” But Thompson, 54, is among thousands of Kentucky parents or other caregivers who worry about what will happen […]
Abortion foe Sen. Westerfield proposes sweeping new supports for Kentucky families
A Republican legislator from Western Kentucky has filed a sweeping measure to provide more support for families through a major financial boost to child care, education, housing, health services and other measures aimed at pregnant individuals and women with children. Senate Bill 34, filed Tuesday by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, carries a $551 million price tag […]
Still crusading for ‘kinship care’ families
For Barry Shrout, raising four granddaughters is a role he willingly took on — and that he acknowledges is exhausting and expensive. “The financial part of it is a big thing with me,” said Shrout, 66, a single grandfather from Maysville who has custody of the girls ages 10, 11, 13 and 17. “I have […]