The leader of the agency that makes grants from the state’s opioid settlements declined to support funding for a syringe-exchange program, saying Attorney General Russell Coleman does not support such programs — which are considered a key tool for reducing harm to people who inject drugs. Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission Director Chris Evans, who […]
Author Archives: Kentucky Health News
Health-care worker shortage hitting Kentucky ‘especially hard,’ says hospital association exec
Written by Melissa Patrick for Kentucky Health News The Kentucky Hospital Association’s annual Workforce Survey Report says Kentucky suffers from an “acute shortage” of health care workers, with nearly 13,000 job vacancies in hospitals across the state at the end of 2022. “While the shortage of health-care workers is nationwide, it has hit the commonwealth especially hard, […]
Kentucky legislature scraps new Medicaid benefits for dental, vision, hearing care
Written by Melissa Patrick for Kentucky Health News In October, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear announced the expansion of dental, vision and hearing benefits for 900,000 Kentucky adults on Medicaid. On March 16, 2023, the Republican-controlled General Assembly took a final vote to take those benefits away, calling the regulation used to install them deficient. Beshear […]

