Princess Health and UK quickens drumbeat of tobacco-free policy through report line.Princessiccia

Princess Health and UK quickens drumbeat of tobacco-free policy through report line.Princessiccia

smokeless tobacco smoking ban tobacco tobacco prevention tobacco-free University of Kentucky

Gusty 14:54 Add Comment

The University of Kentucky promotes compliance and enforcement of its tobacco-free policy through a community report line, among many other measures.  Although the report line was established last spring, its mention in recent campus communications suggests a hightened emphasis on compliance measures. 

The line to report violations of the smoking ban engages the community in developing an environment in which compliance is expected, said Dr. Ellen Hahn, a nursing professor and co-chair of UK's Tobacco-free Taskforce and director of its Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy.

"Since these policies are self-enforcing, we need a mechanism by which everyone on campus can easily report violations," Hahn said. "Most people do not feel comfortable approaching a violator, so this is a way to encourage everyone to be involved in promoting compliance." She said the report line was a suggested "best practice" from other campuses with similar policies.

Implementation of the policy, the ultimate goal of the policy is to promote a healthy place to live, work and learn, has been a success, Hahn said: The air is healthier, and exposure to secondhand smoke has decreased. Also, since the policy was established in the fall of 2009, there has been a four-fold increase in the use of nicotine replacement to quit using tobacco, and UK has many low- or no-cost options to help students and employees do so.

Click here to report a violation of the tobacco-free policy, here for a tobacco-free brochure. 

Princess Health and Health-care law addresses the most common chronic health problem in children, tooth decay, by requiring coverage for kids.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Health-care law addresses the most common chronic health problem in children, tooth decay, by requiring coverage for kids.Princessiccia

Affordable Care Act Cabinet for Health and Family Services Centers for Disease Control dental care dental health health insurance insurance insurance exchange teeth tooth decay

Gusty 11:34 Add Comment

Tooth decay is children's most common chronic health problem, and the 2010 federal health-care law addresses this problem by requiring insurers to cover pediatric dental services. But some advocates are concerned that the new benefits may not be sufficiently comprehensive or affordable, Michelle Andrews writes for The Washington Post.

She notes that by the time children enter kindergarten, more than a quarter of them have decay in their baby teeth. As they age, the problem gets worse and nearly 68 percent of those age 16 to 19 have decay in their permanent teeth, according the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
   
Beginning next year, the Affordable Care Act requires individual and small-group health plans cover pediatric dental services, unless a plan has a specific exemption under the law. Those services are already part of the Medicaid benefit package, but most Kentucky dentists don't accept Medicaid.
For the expansion to private insurance, "Coverage requirements will be determined by each state within guidelines set by the federal Department of Health and Human Services," Andrews writes.

Jill Midkiff, chief spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Kentucky is awaiting the publication of the final rule from HHS, which will define essential health benefits for each state and provide further guidance relating to coverage of benefits. Although no specific publication date for this rule has been announced, she said its release is expected within the next several weeks to allow insurers to modify existing health plans to be made available to individuals and small businesses for purchase through health exchanges by Oct. 1. (Read more)

Princess Health and McConnell helped Amgen delay price limits on dialysis drug.Princessiccia

Princess Health and McConnell helped Amgen delay price limits on dialysis drug.Princessiccia

Congress lobbying lobbyists pharmaceuticals politics

Gusty 10:40 Add Comment

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whose public statements usually emphasize the need to cut federal spending on entitlement programs, as they did in Lexington Friday, apparently passed up an opportunity to rein in Medicare spending when he signed off on a big favor for a significant campaign contributor in the fiscal-cliff deal.

The deal delayed for two years price controls on a class of drugs including Sensipar, used by kidney-dialysis patients and manufactured by Amgen, "the world's largest biotechnology firm," Eric Lipton and Kevin Sack of The New York Times reported Jan. 19.

"The news was so welcome that the company�s chief executive quickly relayed it to investment analysts," the Times reported. "But it is projected to cost Medicare up to $500 million over that period. Dennis J. Cotter, who studies the cost and efficacy of dialysis drugs, told the newspaper, �Everybody is carving out their own turf and getting it protected, and we pass the bill on to the taxpayer.�

McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer said the senator did not push for the provision. The Times story did not focus on McConnell, saying "Supporters of the delay, primarily leaders of the Senate Finance Committee who have long benefited from Amgen�s political largess, said it was necessary to allow regulators to prepare properly for the pricing change." And it noted the firm "also has worked hard to build close ties with the Obama administration." It did note that former McConnell chief of staff Hunter Bates is among "a small army of 74 lobbyists for Amgen, which was "the only company to argue aggressively for the delay, according to several Congressional aides of both parties."

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzes lobbying and campaign contributions, Amgen's political action committee gave McConnell $7,000 during the 2011-12 election cycle, an amount exceeded by only seven other senators, none of them in the Senate leadership. McConnell was the main negotiator on the fiscal-cliff deal with Vice President Biden.

UPDATE, Jan. 25: Writing on BillMoyers.com and then on Salon, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship report that since 2007, "Amgen employees and its political action committee have contributed $73,000 to Senator McConnell�s campaigns," almost $68,000 to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee, and $59,000 to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. They also note that Republican Rep. Richard Hanna R-N.Y., and Democratic Reps. Peter Welch of Vermont and Jim Cooper of Tennessee have introduced a bill "to repeal the half billion-dollar giveaway to Amgen. The story includes Moyers' video interview with Welch.

Princess Health and UK, not questioned mental-health agency, will run Eastern State.Princessiccia

Princess Health and UK, not questioned mental-health agency, will run Eastern State.Princessiccia

audits mental health state government

Gusty 15:56 Add Comment

Herald-Leader photo by Mark Mahan: Hospital nears completion

The University of Kentucky will manage the new Eastern State Hospital, replacing the Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board, which has operated the current facility since 1995. The new hospital, being built on UK's Coldstream Research Campus off Newtown Pike, will replace an outdated facility along that boulevard in central Lexington.

Gov. Steve Beshear "said the state and UK intend for Bluegrass Regional to remain an 'integral part' of the new hospital, and would help with the transition, but he provided no details," Linda Blackford reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. The state and UK HealthCare have signed a letter of intent to enter into a contract, but details remain to be worked out, said Audrey Tayse Haynes, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. She said the initial contract would be for one year and $43 million.

"Beshear said talks between the state and UK began before the Lexington Herald-Leader reported in June 2012 on questionable spending at Bluegrass," leading to a state audit, Blackford reports. "The audit found lax board oversight and lavish spending on executives while front-line workers went without pay raises."

"Beshear said the new partnership would put Kentucky at the forefront of mental health care because of the clinical expertise that UK brings in neuroscience, psychiatry, pharmacy, nursing and social work," Blackford writes.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/18/2481231/university-of-kentucky-expected.html#storylink=cpy

Princess Health and Poll shows depth of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Poll shows depth of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky.Princessiccia

Appalachia drug abuse drugs pain poll prescription drug abuse prescription drugs research

Gusty 14:41 Add Comment

By Molly Burchett and Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

One-third of Kentucky adults have friends or relatives who have experienced problems from abusing prescription pain relievers, and 8 percent have used pain medicine when it wasn't prescribed or for the feeling it caused, according to a statewide poll conducted last fall.

The Kentucky Health Issues Poll found that in Eastern Kentucky, 45 percent reported that prescription drug abuse have caused problems for friends or family members. In the 17-county Bluegrass Area Development District, which includes some Appalachian counties, the figure was 37 percent. It was 32 percent in Northern Kentucky, 31 percent in the seven-county Louisville area and 25 percent in Western Kentucky.

The poll found that young adults are more likely to have the problem. Among those 18 to 29 years old, 13 percent said they had used pain medicine when it wasn't prescribed or for the feeling it caused, and 49 percent said they had a friend or relative who had been affected.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, which co-sponsored the poll, noted that drug-overdose deaths in Kentucky correspond to a steep increase in the sales of opioid prescription pain relievers, which include OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet and codeine. More than half of Kentucky adults in the poll reported being prescribed such drugs.

�While these types of medications are important for controlling pain in patients who need them, opioids also carry the potential for abuse,� said Dr. Susan Zepeda, President and CEO of the foundation. �Our state ranks sixth in the nation for prescription pain reliever overdose deaths, and these data provide a window on how many Kentuckians are impacted � directly or indirectly � by prescription misuse.� (Read more)

The poll was conducted for the foundation and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati from Sept. 20 through Oct. 14 by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati. A random sample of 1,680 adults throughout Kentucky was interviewed by landline and cell telephones. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Kentucky Health News is an independent service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Health Kentucky.

Princess Health and Williamsburg in line to pass smoking ban next month.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Williamsburg in line to pass smoking ban next month.Princessiccia

cigarettes local government smoking smoking ban tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 14:00 Add Comment

An ordinance imposing a smoking ban in Williamsburg is ready for a City Council vote. The council listened Monday to the first reading of the ordinance, required before a vote, which could follow the second reading, planned for Feb. 11. If approved, the ban would take effect immediately, reports Mark White of the Corbin-Whitley News Journal.

The new ordinance says �Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed areas within all enclosed buildings open to the public and within places of employment,� reports John Ross of The Times-Tribune of Corbin. �Enclosed buildings� includes libraries, bars, bingo houses, child- and adult-care facilities, public and private educational facilities, gaming facilities, restaurants, pool halls, lobby areas and hallways in all multi-residential buildings, such as apartments and condominiums, and hotels and motels, Ross reports. In December 2011, the Corbin City Commission implemented a ban that prohibits smoking in similar locations and within 25 feet of main entrances and exits.

Ross's account of the meeting included no negative comments. Mayor Roddy Harrison said, �I know both sides of the issue � but our job is to protect everybody.� Harrison said he found extensive research to back up the negative effects of secondhand cigarette smoke while researching the ordinance.

Princess Health and School nurses start getting scarcer, due to Medicaid problems.Princessiccia

Princess Health and School nurses start getting scarcer, due to Medicaid problems.Princessiccia

children's health county health departments health departments managed care Medicaid nurses school nurses schools

Gusty 11:36 Add Comment

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

Students in many Kentucky counties will find it harder to see a school nurse due to changes in the state Medicaid program and lack of payment from managed-care companies.

Takirah Sleet, 7, and school nurse Michelle Marra looked at Takirah's
lunch tray to calculate her insulin dosage at Lansdowne Elementary
in Lexington. (Lexington Herald-Leader photo by Pablo Alcala)

In Crittenden County schools, budget woes have forced the Pennyrile District Health Department to request additional money from the school district to keep its school health clinics fully-staffed and open, reports Jason Travis of The Crittenden Press. Allison Beshear, director of the health department, told Travis one reason from the budget crunch is a lack of payment from Kentucky Spirit, which owes the health department $266,000.

Without additional money from the school district, Beshear says, the health department cannot maintain the current level of service at school clinics through the end of the school year.  Proposals have been made to offer services to the district that entail reducing clerical staff without reducing the number of nurses; but in order to do so, trained school staff would have to handle daily medication distribution and help to answer the phones for the clinic.

"Kentucky Spirit has filed two appeals with the Cabinet of Health Services and the Finance Cabinet in which it claims to not be financially responsible for healthcare given in school clinics," reports Drew Adams of WKMS-FM in Murray reports in a story about similar problems in Hopkins County.

Other school districts facing similar problems include those of Bell, Clark and Pike counties. Eleven school health clinics in Bell County could be shut down by the end of this school year, reports WBIR-TV of Knoxville. In Clark County, a lawsuit between the state and Kentucky Spirit has put a halt to reimbursement for health services provided in county schools, reports Rachel Gilliam of The Winchester Sun.

Last month, the Pike County Board of Health filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Spirit because the managed-care firm has stopped reimbursing the Board of Health for school-nurse programs, reports Jordan Vilines of WYMT-TV in Hazard. The money has to be reimbursed in order to provide school nurses.

�I think having someone in the school to ensure that our children are healthy is imperative for the quality of life of our kids, especially in a very rural area," Pike Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford told Vilines.  He said that without reimbursement, school nurses could lose their jobs, which would leave hundreds of kids without immediate medical care.

Kentucky Health News is an independent service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Health Kentucky.