Princess Health and House panel OKs "meds for meth" bill; chair predicts passage.Princessiccia

Princess Health and House panel OKs "meds for meth" bill; chair predicts passage.Princessiccia

drugs General Assembly legislation legislature lobbying meth methamphetamine

Gusty 17:29 Add Comment

The bill to limit purchases of the cold medicine used to make methamphetamine cleared another legislative hurdle Monday, and the chairman of the committee that approved it predicted that it will become law despite a heavy lobbying effort by over-the-counter drug makers.

By a 10-4 vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved a version of Senate Bill 3 that differs slightly from the version passed by the Senate. Rep. John Tilley, a Hopkinsville Democrat and the committee�s chairman, predicted the revised SB 3 will pass on the House floor. "Tilley said Senate leaders have signed off on the changes the House committee made," Jack Brammer reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The House version clarifies "language regarding prescriptions" and would ban "criminals convicted of meth-related offenses from purchasing pseudoephedrine for a five-year period," Mike Wynn of The Courier-Journal reports.

The core of the bill would allow consumers without meth records to buy 7.2 grams of medicines with pseudoephedrine each month, approximately a two-week dose, and up to 24 grams per year, without a prescription. Another 7.5 grams a month or 90 grams a year could be available with a prescription. "Experts have testified that those amounts are adequate for most cold and allergy sufferers, and more than 90 percent of all purchasers use dosages that fall below the proposed thresholds," Wynn reports. "State law already limits purchases to 9 grams per month, with a yearly cap of 108 grams, and purchasers are required to present a photo ID and sign a log at the point of sale."

The bill would not apply to gelcaps, which are more difficult to use for meth, or liquids, which are used for children. (Read more)

Princess Health and Amid legislative action on 'Larry's Law,' report says mentally ill and intellectually disabled don't belong in personal-care homes.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Amid legislative action on 'Larry's Law,' report says mentally ill and intellectually disabled don't belong in personal-care homes.Princessiccia

General Assembly legislation mental health mental illness

Gusty 16:58 Add Comment

By Tara Kaprowy
Kentucky Health News

As state legislators move to change the procedure for admitting mentally ill patients to personal-care homes, a new report argues those patients shouldn't be in the institutions at all � and neither should people who have intellectual disabilities.

Kentucky Protection & Advocacy, an independent state agency, argues personal-care homes promote "congregate" and "segregated" living arrangements and, as such, run counter to the Americans with Disabilities Act and a court decision saying disabled patients  should live in the "most integrated setting," meaning one "that enables individuals with disabilities to interact with non-disabled persons to the fullest extent possible."

The report is based on data collected from 218 people in 20 of Kentucky's more than 80 free-standing personal-care homes. Of the facilities visited, 85 percent of the residents living there either had a mental-health diagnosis or an intellectual disability. The visits were unannounced, and individuals were asked at random if they wanted to participate in the survey.

The report found residents in personal-care homes are often restricted from their community either because of lack of transportation � nearly 43 percent said they had to walk in order to go anywhere � or because the home is geographically isolated from most of the community. Staff also rarely plan outings, with one in three respondents saying it never occurs. Another 14 percent said it happens "a couple times a year" and 14 percent said it happens weekly.

Though community mental health centers have programs for counseling and rehabilitation, only 13 percent of personal-care home residents said they go. "Many residents expressed interest in attending the therapeutic rehabilitative programs and the community mental health center for counseling or case management services; however, the staff at PCH would not arrange it," the report reads.

Adding to the argument that residents live in a congregate arrangement, the report points out residents are "subjected to regimented meal times, often with assigned seating, medication, smoke breaks, curfews and bedtimes;" have roommates but are not able to choose them; are not always allowed to refuse to take their medication; and have limited visiting hours.

Still, when asked if they have any complaints about living in a personal-care home, 51.2 percent said they didn't. Nearly 46 percent said they did, and 3.2 said they were unsure. Being lonely or having nothing to do was the single biggest complaint. To download the report in PDF form, click here.

Two bills have been filed to change the way people with mental illness or intellectual disability would be admitted to personal-care homes. Senate Bill 115, which the Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved today, would require that a potential resident receive a medical exam that includes a medical history, physical exam and diagnosis before being admitted. The same would be required by House Bill 307, which would also require more assessment for a person with an acquired brain injury. It hasn't seen action since it was posted in committee Feb. 6. 

The bills are dubbed "Larry's Law," after Larry Lee, who disappeared in August from Falmouth Nursing Home. Lee, who had a brain injury from childhood, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and diabetes. He was found dead four weeks after his disappearance on the banks of the Licking River, which flows through Falmouth. (Read more)

"Larry Lee is not the first person to walk away from a personal care home and die," Beth Musgrave and Valarie Honeycutt Spears write for the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing cases from Grant and Letcher counties. (Read more)

Princess Health andNEW Learn to Run Group!.Princessiccia

Princess Health andNEW Learn to Run Group!.Princessiccia

Gusty 09:22 Add Comment

Health and Performance will be starting a new learn to run group APRIL 5th!  E-mail gillianwillard@gmail.com to register today. 

Prices go up to $60 April 1st, so register now!

Princess Health and Kentucky hospitals say they gave back $1.67 billion to their communities in 2010, mostly by absorbing losses and bad debts.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Kentucky hospitals say they gave back $1.67 billion to their communities in 2010, mostly by absorbing losses and bad debts.Princessiccia

economy health care industry hospitals Medicaid Medicare

Gusty 19:41 Add Comment

By Tara Kaprowy
Kentucky Health News

With the downturn in the economy part of the reason, Kentucky's hospitals say they gave back a whopping $1.67 billion to their communities in 2010, mainly by providing care for which they were never paid.

That's 13 percent more than the hospitals reported last year, and just one of many figures in the latest annual report from the Kentucky Hospital Association, which runs a little over a year behind because it takes a long time to compile the data from more than 100 hospitals.

KHA's 2010 Community Benefits Report shows hospitals absorbed $435.5 million in bad debt in 2010, which accrued when patients came to the hospital and were treated but did not pay their bills.

Shortfalls in Medicare and Medicaid payments cost even more � $456.2 million � because the federal government reimburses Kentucky hospitals for about 85 percent of the cost of Medicaid patients and 95 percent for those on Medicare. That's big, because 71 percent of patient days in Kentucky are covered by one of these programs, said Pam Mullaney, KHA's director of membership services. Hospitals also gave $274 million to charity-care programs that are set up to include free or discounted care to people who are unable to pay. Those three categories of losses increased by more than $158 million over 2009. KHAcalls them community benefits because "you're not getting any type of margin," Mullaney said.

A 2009 Thomson Reuters study showed the average U.S hospital reported an operating profit margin of 3.7 percent. The average operating margin at Kentucky hospitals was 2.44 percent in 2009. Forty percent of hospitals lost revenue from patient services that year, Mullaney said. Still, reported community benefits increased by 13 percent, a total of $190 million.

This is the third year of the report, which was based on a voluntary survey to which 104 of 123 hospitals responded (Eight hospitals were not surveyed because they treat limited types of patients, such as veterans, children or psychiatric cases.) Mullaney said the number of hospitals turning in figures "has grown a little bit each year, but it�s not consequential."

Hospitals are asked to describe and put a value on the programs and activities they provide at or below cost that help their community. Though community benefits are "the greatest single affirmation of not-for-profit hospitals' tax-exempt status," Mullaney said data show Kentucky's 26 for-profit hospitals "do every bit as much as the not-for profits."

In the past two years, Pikeville Medical Center has absorbed $70 million in charitable care and bad debt. The Murray-Calloway County Hospital is in the ninth healthiest county in Kentucky, but has felt the crunch too. From 2010 to 2011, bad debt increased from $7 million to $7.8 million and charity care increased from $5.1 million to $6.2 million.

T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow has also seen bad debt increase and business decrease when the economy crashed and then stagnated. "Our elective procedure volumes have come down. Patients often wait until they're sicker before they come in," said Laura Belcher, director of planning, marketing and development. The hospital has responded by cutting costs, adopting the "lean philosophy" of eliminating waste and streamlining processes.

Interestingly, the hospital is also pushing for more preventive care since the economy went south. "People ask us, 'Aren't you putting yourself out of business?' But we really want people to be proactive about their health. We've done a lot more health fairs, more screenings," Belcher said.

Indeed, the report shows Kentucky hospitals spent $500 million in 2010 to actively help their communities, through such activities as health screenings, support groups, research, training of nurses and doctors, addiction recovery and neonatal intensive care, or simply donating money to community functions. Many of these programs "are provided at no cost or at a financial loss and would not be provided if the decision was based on monetary decisions," Mullaney said.

Realizing there was a need in the area for children with special needs, the Glasgow hospital set up C.A.M.P. T.J. Kids, a weeklong day camp in the summer for children with special needs. "These children often receive services through school and during school," Belcher said. "But we found many of the families could not afford or handle the transportation to get here during the summer. This is almost like a summer booster."

The camp falls under the umbrella of the Discovery Academy, funded by the hospital and money raised by volunteers. The academy also hosts an annual overnight camp for children with autism. While the children swim in the hotel pool or interact with each other, parents are "in a conference setting to learn about ways they can learn to be better parents" to kids with autism, Belcher said. "In the evening, while children are being supervised, the parents get to go for a quiet, romantic dinner."

When tornadoes struck Kentucky March 2, Pikeville Medical Center kicked into high gear and co-hosted a radio-a-thon that raised $200,000. "We allowed our employees to donate their vacation time, which we converted to actual dollars based on their rate of pay, and we offered employees the ability to do payroll deductions to contribute to the cause," said Cindy Johnson, director of public relations and the Medical Leader, the hospital's community newspaper.

The Murray hospital has increased its community outreach efforts and adopted a mission to provide the local school system with athletic trainers, whose salaries are paid entirely by the hospital, as well as school nurses, which are partly hospital funded. The goal is to promote health and wellness, said marketing director Melony Bray.

The KHA's Mullaney said the annual report reminds people what their hospital does. "A lot of times people think of their hospital as a place to go when they need emergency help," she said. "They don't think of the hospital as one of the big providers in the community for health fairs, health professional education, types of efforts in the community to help improvements like playgrounds and common spaces. Those are things that hospitals often get overlooked for but they do that because they are part of the community."

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Princess Health and How to help your child lose weight? Lose weight yourself.Princessiccia

Princess Health and How to help your child lose weight? Lose weight yourself.Princessiccia

child obesity children's health obesity

Gusty 18:31 Add Comment

If parents want to help their children lose weight, they should lose weight themselves, a new study shows.

"Parents are the most significant people in a child's environment, serving as the first and most important teachers," said Kerri N. Boutelle, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of California-San Diego. "They play a signifiant role in any weight-loss program for children, and this study confirms the importance of their example in establishing healthy eating and exercise behaviors for their kids."

Researchers analyzed 80 adults who were parent to a 8- to 12-year child who was either overweight or obese for five months. Some adults participated in a parent-only treatment program, while others were in a program designed for themselves and their child.

The study looked at "the impact of three types of parenting skills taught in family-based behavioral treatment for childhood obesity, and the impact of each on the child's body weight: the parent modeling behaviors to promote their own weight loss, changes in home food environment, and parenting style and techniques (for example, a parent's ability to help limit the child's eating behavior, encouraging the child and participating in program activities)," reports research-reporting service Newswise. (Read more)

Princess Health and A summary of what to expect when the Supreme Court hears arguments about the health-care reform law.Princessiccia

Princess Health and A summary of what to expect when the Supreme Court hears arguments about the health-care reform law.Princessiccia

health care reform Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act U.S. Supreme Court

Gusty 18:23 Add Comment

How big a deal will it be when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments about the constitutionality of the new federal health-care reform law later this month? Big, concludes Stuart Taylor Jr. for Kaiser Health News.

"It's big enough for the justices to schedule six hours of arguments � more time than given to any case since 1966," he reports. "It's also big enough to attract more briefs than any other case in history ... and, finally, it's big enough to cause the justices to postpone until October half of the 12 cases that they were ordinarily going to hear in April in order to clear time to get started on the health care opinions."

The most pressing issues deal with the individual mandate of the law, which requires people without insurance to buy some or pay fines. The question is whether the mandate "represents an unconstitutional exercise on Congress' power to regulate commerce and to levy taxes," Taylor notes. There is also the question of state sovereignty, since the law requires states "to spend more of their own money or forfeit all of the federal Medicaid money they now receive," Taylor reports.

As for the outcome, that's the million-dollar question, Taylor writes. "It's clear that the court's four more liberal members, like almost all other liberal legal experts, will find the law constitutional in all respects. It's also clear that conservative Justice Clarence Thomas will vote to strike down much or all of the law. It's less clear what swing-voting Justice Anthony Kennedy and conservative Chief Justice John Roberts as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito will do."

As for the major arguments regarding Medicaid and for and against the individual mandate, Taylor provides an excellent summary that is worth reading in its entirety. (Read more)

Princess Health and Ky. recognized for high immunization rate; up 17% since 2007.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Ky. recognized for high immunization rate; up 17% since 2007.Princessiccia

children's health immunizations public health vaccinations

Gusty 18:16 Add Comment

For having childhood vaccination rates considerably higher than the national average, Kentucky's Department for Public Health was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.

Kentucky's childhood vaccination series coverage rate was about 80.6 percent in the last two quarters of 2010 and the first two quarters of 2011. Nationwide, the rate was 73.1 percent. Kentucky was also acknowledged for improving its childhood coverage from 63.3 percent in 2007. The data were collected from the annual National Immunization Survey.

Starting July 1, 2011, immunization requirements started being imposed for infants, toddlers and school-age children that were more in line with CDC recommendations and national pediatric standards.

"We have been working to increase immunization rates among Kentucky's children for several years now, including a campaign to make the public aware of the changes to the immunization schedule that took effect last July," said acting Health Commissioner Dr. Steve Davis. "The improvement in vaccine coverage helps improve the health and well-being of our fellow Kentuckians, and particularly our children." (Read more)