Princess Health and Food Reward Friday. Princessiccia
Food reward Food reward FridaysThis week's lucky "winner"... an unnamed hot dog-laden Pizza Hut monstrosity with tempura shrimp and mayonnaise!
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Friday, 8 February 2013
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Thursday, 7 February 2013
Princess Health and Statewide smoking ban close to House vote, Stumbo says.Princessiccia
General Assembly legislation legislature smoking smoking ban state government tobacco tobacco preventionFor the second straight year, the state House Health and Welfare Committee has approved a bill that would ban smoking in enclosed public places or workplaces. It is still unlikely to become law, but might get farther in the legislative process.
"The proposal has never been voted on by the full House, and it would probably have a rough road in the Republican-controlled Senate," Beth Musgrave reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said that the government shouldn't tell businesses they cannot regulate smoking on their own property." (Stivers' hometown does just that; it is one of 22 Kentucky jurisdictions with smoking bans.)
House Speaker Greg Stumbo told Musgrave that he supports the measure, House Bill 190, and that sponsors are close to getting the votes it needs to pass the full House. The House has 100 members, but a bill can pass with as few as 40 votes as long as enough members abstain and it has a plurality.
The bill passed the committee Wednesday by a vote of 11-0, with four Republicans abstaining: Reps. Tim Moore of Elizabethtown, Robert Benvenuti of Lexington, Ben Waide of Madisonville and Addia Wuchner of Burlington.
Rep. Julie Adams of Louisville, the bill's Republican sponsor, told Musgrave that 29 states have statewide smoking bans, 24 with bans like the bill would impose. "This is a mainstream issue," she said. "The Kentucky General Assembly is way behind the general public." (Read more)
Basketball star Derek Anderson will join Smoke-Free Kentucky for its annual lobbying day in Frankfort Thursday, Feb. 14. He said in a press release, �Kentucky has so much to be proud of. We are known for our hoops and horses. Unfortunately, we are also number 1 in the number of deaths from lung cancer. This is unacceptable to me. I want to be a part of the movement to change that.� He added, �I am a businessman. Smoke-free workplaces make good economic sense.� (Read more)
"The proposal has never been voted on by the full House, and it would probably have a rough road in the Republican-controlled Senate," Beth Musgrave reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said that the government shouldn't tell businesses they cannot regulate smoking on their own property." (Stivers' hometown does just that; it is one of 22 Kentucky jurisdictions with smoking bans.)
House Speaker Greg Stumbo told Musgrave that he supports the measure, House Bill 190, and that sponsors are close to getting the votes it needs to pass the full House. The House has 100 members, but a bill can pass with as few as 40 votes as long as enough members abstain and it has a plurality.
The bill passed the committee Wednesday by a vote of 11-0, with four Republicans abstaining: Reps. Tim Moore of Elizabethtown, Robert Benvenuti of Lexington, Ben Waide of Madisonville and Addia Wuchner of Burlington.
Rep. Julie Adams of Louisville, the bill's Republican sponsor, told Musgrave that 29 states have statewide smoking bans, 24 with bans like the bill would impose. "This is a mainstream issue," she said. "The Kentucky General Assembly is way behind the general public." (Read more)
Basketball star Derek Anderson will join Smoke-Free Kentucky for its annual lobbying day in Frankfort Thursday, Feb. 14. He said in a press release, �Kentucky has so much to be proud of. We are known for our hoops and horses. Unfortunately, we are also number 1 in the number of deaths from lung cancer. This is unacceptable to me. I want to be a part of the movement to change that.� He added, �I am a businessman. Smoke-free workplaces make good economic sense.� (Read more)
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Princess Health and Beshear calls for action to improve state's health, but says only that 'It's time for us to begin looking seriously' at a smoking ban.Princessiccia
doctor shopping drug abuse governor legislation legislature neonatal care pain pain clinics pill mills prescription drug abuse smoking smoking ban smoking ordinances state government tobaccoBy Al Cross
Kentucky Health News
His priorities were education and tax reform, but Gov. Steve Beshear mentioned several health issues in his State of the Commonwealth speech tonight to a joint session of the General Assembly.
Beshear called for action to correct the state's "fundamental weaknesses," including "a population whose health ranks among the worst in the nation." Near the end of his speech, he said, "We need to continue improving the health of our people," but after about a minute of discussing tobacco and smoking he stopped short of endorsing a statewide ban on smoking in the workplace. (KET photo)
"It's time for us to begin looking seriously at doing this on a statewide level," he said to some applause, after noting that nearly half of Kentuckians live in jurisdictions where smoking is legally restricted, that the state has the highest or next-to-highest smoking rate overall and among teens and pregnant women, and that "Our smoking-related mortality rate is the worst in the nation. . . . Our addiction hurts productivity, jacks up health care costs and kills our people."
Beshear called for improving prenatal care and newborn screening, and for minor improvements in last year's bill to fight prescription drug abuse. He said the bill has caused a precipitous drop in abuse of prescription painkillers. "Kentucky at one time had the sixth highest rate in the nation, but . . . we improved 24 spots," he said. "Nearly half of the state's known pain management clinics have closed rather than submit to new rules that protect patients." He said use of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system "has increased nearly seven-fold . . . and prescriptions for some of the most abused drugs have dropped up to 14 percent from a year ago."
However, the problem of babies becoming addicted to drugs in their addicted mothers' wombs has skyrocketed in the last decade or so, Beshear said: "In 2000, reports showed 29 babies in Kentucky born addicted to drugs. But in 2011, there were 730 babies � more than 25 times as many. And that figure is thought to be under-reported." He did not say how he wants to improve screening.
Beshear did not mention perhaps the biggest health policy question facing the commonwealth, whether to use federal subsidies to expand the Medicaid program to people in households earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty threshold. Now the program covers people in households earning up to 70 percent of the poverty line. The federal government would pay all the cost of the additional enrollees through 2016, when the state would start picking up part of the tab, up to 20 percent in 2020.
Some Republicans say the state can't afford the expansion, while some Democrats say it would be a good long-term investment in the state's health and economy. Beshear has said he wants to do it if the commonwealth can afford it, and expects to get cost estimates around the end of March -- about the time the legislature must adjourn.
For a PDF of the speech text, click here. For an audio recording, go here. For video from KET, here.
Kentucky Health News
His priorities were education and tax reform, but Gov. Steve Beshear mentioned several health issues in his State of the Commonwealth speech tonight to a joint session of the General Assembly.
"It's time for us to begin looking seriously at doing this on a statewide level," he said to some applause, after noting that nearly half of Kentuckians live in jurisdictions where smoking is legally restricted, that the state has the highest or next-to-highest smoking rate overall and among teens and pregnant women, and that "Our smoking-related mortality rate is the worst in the nation. . . . Our addiction hurts productivity, jacks up health care costs and kills our people."
Beshear called for improving prenatal care and newborn screening, and for minor improvements in last year's bill to fight prescription drug abuse. He said the bill has caused a precipitous drop in abuse of prescription painkillers. "Kentucky at one time had the sixth highest rate in the nation, but . . . we improved 24 spots," he said. "Nearly half of the state's known pain management clinics have closed rather than submit to new rules that protect patients." He said use of the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system "has increased nearly seven-fold . . . and prescriptions for some of the most abused drugs have dropped up to 14 percent from a year ago."
However, the problem of babies becoming addicted to drugs in their addicted mothers' wombs has skyrocketed in the last decade or so, Beshear said: "In 2000, reports showed 29 babies in Kentucky born addicted to drugs. But in 2011, there were 730 babies � more than 25 times as many. And that figure is thought to be under-reported." He did not say how he wants to improve screening.
Beshear did not mention perhaps the biggest health policy question facing the commonwealth, whether to use federal subsidies to expand the Medicaid program to people in households earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty threshold. Now the program covers people in households earning up to 70 percent of the poverty line. The federal government would pay all the cost of the additional enrollees through 2016, when the state would start picking up part of the tab, up to 20 percent in 2020.
Some Republicans say the state can't afford the expansion, while some Democrats say it would be a good long-term investment in the state's health and economy. Beshear has said he wants to do it if the commonwealth can afford it, and expects to get cost estimates around the end of March -- about the time the legislature must adjourn.
For a PDF of the speech text, click here. For an audio recording, go here. For video from KET, here.
Princess Health and Physician assistants and some doctors urge lawmakers to pass bill that could ease provider shortage in rural Kentucky.Princessiccia
doctor shortage health reform legislation legislature physician assistants physicians primary care state governmentDoctors and more than 150 physician-assistant students urged lawmakers Tuesday to pass a bill they stated involves dropping only one requirement in the law and could ease a physician shortage in Kentucky, reports Ryan Nick of cn|2's "Pure Politics."
Passage of Senate Bill 43 would repeal a law that allows physician assistants to treat patients only when a supervising physician is on site for the first 18 months after their certification. If passed, PAs would still be supervised but would be permitted to perform services in a location separate from the supervising physician, as long as that physician can be reached by phone at all times.
No other state requires PAs to have 18 months of on-site supervision. Colorado, the state with the next-longest mandate, requires supervision only for the first 1,000 hours after certification.
The bill's supporters say the burdensome supervision requirement has led to 55 out of Kentucky's 120 counties being medically underserved and has encouraged many PAs to practice in other states, reports Storm. They also say this rule needlessly complicates patient care, especially in rural areas where doctors are stretched thin, reports Melinda Beck of The Wall Street Journal.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, told Kentucky Health News that he expects the Kentucky Medical Association to seek some changes in the bill, but also expects it to pass because Senate Republican leaders, hospitals and universities support it. "We're educating these PAs at a lot of state expense just to work in other states," he said. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told Storm he sees no reason why the bill shouldn't pass. Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, told KHN that she supports the bill.
PAs are expected to be in even greater demand when the health-care reform law brings hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians into the health-insurance system. Beck notes the state is expected to face a greater shortage of physicians, particularly in primary care and rural areas. Buford said, "We're going to provide all this health care for everybody, and there's nobody to go see." For more from cn|2, including video interviews, click here.
Passage of Senate Bill 43 would repeal a law that allows physician assistants to treat patients only when a supervising physician is on site for the first 18 months after their certification. If passed, PAs would still be supervised but would be permitted to perform services in a location separate from the supervising physician, as long as that physician can be reached by phone at all times.
No other state requires PAs to have 18 months of on-site supervision. Colorado, the state with the next-longest mandate, requires supervision only for the first 1,000 hours after certification.
The bill's supporters say the burdensome supervision requirement has led to 55 out of Kentucky's 120 counties being medically underserved and has encouraged many PAs to practice in other states, reports Storm. They also say this rule needlessly complicates patient care, especially in rural areas where doctors are stretched thin, reports Melinda Beck of The Wall Street Journal.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, told Kentucky Health News that he expects the Kentucky Medical Association to seek some changes in the bill, but also expects it to pass because Senate Republican leaders, hospitals and universities support it. "We're educating these PAs at a lot of state expense just to work in other states," he said. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told Storm he sees no reason why the bill shouldn't pass. Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, told KHN that she supports the bill.
PAs are expected to be in even greater demand when the health-care reform law brings hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians into the health-insurance system. Beck notes the state is expected to face a greater shortage of physicians, particularly in primary care and rural areas. Buford said, "We're going to provide all this health care for everybody, and there's nobody to go see." For more from cn|2, including video interviews, click here.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Princess Health and Kasich of Ohio is fifth Republican governor to accept Medicaid expansion; he and others cite need to protect rural hospitals, poor.Princessiccia
Affordable Care Act health care access health care costs health care reform health insurance health reform insurance Medicaid Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act poverty state governmentsSeveral Republican governors have decided to expand Medicaid under federal health-care reform, saying their conservative principles were outweighed by a need to protect their state's rural hospitals and low-income people. Yesterday, the governor of one of the biggest states got on the bandwagon.
John Kasich of Ohio joined Jan Brewer of Arizona, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota in saying they will take heavy federal subsidies to expand the program to households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty threshold.
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky has said he wants to expand Medicaid if Kentucky can afford it, and he expects to get cost estimates around the end of March.
While Kasich is not an "Obamacare" supporter, he said expanding Medicaid �makes great sense for Ohio� because it would save $235 million over the next two years and free about $100 million in local funds for mental-health and addiction services, reports The Columbus Dispatch.
Kasich said the decision could extend health coverage to as many as 578,000 uninsured Ohio residents, and could keep everyone else�s health insurance premiums down because there won�t be so many uninsured people going to emergency rooms for their medical care, reports David Nather of Politico.
Kasich emphasized that he would like to see the 2010 law repealed, but the federal money it would pump into the state � about $13 billion over the next seven years � was too much to pass up, reports Stateline. The federal government will pay the full cost of expansion through 2016; then states will have to pitch in, rising to a limit of 10 percent by 2020.
Brewer likewise said it doesn't make sense for Arizona to pass up federal dollars, reports Howard Fischer of the Arizona Daily Sun. "We will protect rural and safety-net hospitals from being pushed to the brink by growing their cost in caring for the uninsured," Brewer said. She also said the expansion will create enormous economic benefit, inject $2 billion into the Arizona economy, save and create thousands of jobs and provide health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income individuals, reports Fischer.
Brewer said going along with expansion will save Arizona money because the costs of providing care to the uninsured are not simply absorbed by hospitals but passed along through increased insurance premiums. Supporters of the expansion hope the five Republicans' decisions will prompt more GOP governors to follow suit. Twenty governors from both political parties are still undecided. (Read more)
John Kasich of Ohio joined Jan Brewer of Arizona, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota in saying they will take heavy federal subsidies to expand the program to households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty threshold.
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky has said he wants to expand Medicaid if Kentucky can afford it, and he expects to get cost estimates around the end of March.
While Kasich is not an "Obamacare" supporter, he said expanding Medicaid �makes great sense for Ohio� because it would save $235 million over the next two years and free about $100 million in local funds for mental-health and addiction services, reports The Columbus Dispatch.
Kasich said the decision could extend health coverage to as many as 578,000 uninsured Ohio residents, and could keep everyone else�s health insurance premiums down because there won�t be so many uninsured people going to emergency rooms for their medical care, reports David Nather of Politico.
Kasich emphasized that he would like to see the 2010 law repealed, but the federal money it would pump into the state � about $13 billion over the next seven years � was too much to pass up, reports Stateline. The federal government will pay the full cost of expansion through 2016; then states will have to pitch in, rising to a limit of 10 percent by 2020.
Brewer likewise said it doesn't make sense for Arizona to pass up federal dollars, reports Howard Fischer of the Arizona Daily Sun. "We will protect rural and safety-net hospitals from being pushed to the brink by growing their cost in caring for the uninsured," Brewer said. She also said the expansion will create enormous economic benefit, inject $2 billion into the Arizona economy, save and create thousands of jobs and provide health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income individuals, reports Fischer.
Brewer said going along with expansion will save Arizona money because the costs of providing care to the uninsured are not simply absorbed by hospitals but passed along through increased insurance premiums. Supporters of the expansion hope the five Republicans' decisions will prompt more GOP governors to follow suit. Twenty governors from both political parties are still undecided. (Read more)
Monday, 4 February 2013
Princess Health and Big papers' Page 1 stories spotlight recovery center for pill addicts, lack of state program for problem gamblers.Princessiccia
addiction drug abuse drugs gambling recoveryGripping stories from recovering addicts, on the front pages of Kentucky's two largest newspapers this morning, highlight Kentuckians' fights against all types of addiction, from gambling to drugs.
Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's story in The Courier-Journal that focuses on the Isaiah House recovery center in Willisburg. A gymnasium at the site has been transformed into a factory of sorts, where a pill addict who has been clean three weeks polishes car parts, while a morphine addict with 103 days� sobriety hammers nails into wood to make pallets, Ungar reports.
Work is an essential part of recovery at the Isaiah House, giving structure to chaotic lives, teaching job skills and building confidence. �It gives them a sense of purpose, of accomplishment,� Executive Director Mark LaPalme told Ungar. �They get their dignity back � that�s what work does.�
LaPalme, a Connecticut native and recovering cocaine addict, said he started Isaiah House in his basement in 1999, after a spiritual experience moved him to set aside seven bedrooms for other addicts. Today, the house helps to rebuild the lives of drug and alcohol addicts, while promoting worth ethic and responsibility throughout the recovery process (Read more).
Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes about Kentucky's lack of a state program to treat problem gamblers. It is one of 13 states without such a program.
Billy Stephens, 66, Hawesville Mayor Rita Stephens' husband, said he lived a "a life of lies" with his gambling addiction, but with professional treatment, has not gambled since 2010. When he finally sought treatment, he could find no affordable treatment in Kentucky. The family had to borrow money to pay for his $6,000 treatment in a 36-day program in Louisiana, which is free to residents of the Bayou State.
Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's story in The Courier-Journal that focuses on the Isaiah House recovery center in Willisburg. A gymnasium at the site has been transformed into a factory of sorts, where a pill addict who has been clean three weeks polishes car parts, while a morphine addict with 103 days� sobriety hammers nails into wood to make pallets, Ungar reports.
Work is an essential part of recovery at the Isaiah House, giving structure to chaotic lives, teaching job skills and building confidence. �It gives them a sense of purpose, of accomplishment,� Executive Director Mark LaPalme told Ungar. �They get their dignity back � that�s what work does.�
LaPalme, a Connecticut native and recovering cocaine addict, said he started Isaiah House in his basement in 1999, after a spiritual experience moved him to set aside seven bedrooms for other addicts. Today, the house helps to rebuild the lives of drug and alcohol addicts, while promoting worth ethic and responsibility throughout the recovery process (Read more).
Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes about Kentucky's lack of a state program to treat problem gamblers. It is one of 13 states without such a program.
Billy Stephens, 66, Hawesville Mayor Rita Stephens' husband, said he lived a "a life of lies" with his gambling addiction, but with professional treatment, has not gambled since 2010. When he finally sought treatment, he could find no affordable treatment in Kentucky. The family had to borrow money to pay for his $6,000 treatment in a 36-day program in Louisiana, which is free to residents of the Bayou State.
"My addiction almost destroyed me," he told Brammer. "My insurance in Kentucky would have helped with my treatment if it were alcohol. But it was gambling." (Read more)
Princess Health and Report says veteran suicide rate is up from 2007.Princessiccia
Army mental mental health mental illness military health rural health rural-urban disparities suicide womenAlmost every hour in this country, on average, a veteran commits suicide. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported that 22 veterans per day took their own lives in 2010, up four a day from the 2007 rate. Perhaps contrary to public perception, the report said most suicides occurred among veterans over 50. It recognized Vietnam-era veterans as a risk group, as well as female veterans.
Military service members come disproportionately from rural areas. Kentucky has two army posts, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell.
(Among active service members in 2012, more died from suicide than in combat, we reported here. The Army said Friday that 325 soldiers committed suicides last year; if the tentative number is confirmed, it would be a historical high. "If that bleak total remains at 325, the toll in 2012 would have risen by 15 percent over 2011 when the Army sustained 283 suicides," NBC News reported.)
Reactions to the VA report ranged from encouragement to outrage. The VA pointed out that the daily veteran suicide rate has "remained relatively stable over the past 12 years," but the percentage of the overall national suicide rate accounted for by veteran suicide has actually decreased. Veteran suicides accounted for about one-fifth of American suicides in 2010, down from one-fourth of suicides in 1999.
The VA said that showed its programs are working, but promised to take "immediate actions." NBC reported that "the top strategy" on the VA's agenda was an already-established task force that could help suicide screening identify warning signs earlier.
Some groups were dismayed by the VA report and demanded more action. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America called for more research and collaboration. "The country should be outraged that we are allowing this tragedy to continue," IAVA found and CEO Paul Rieckhoff told NBC.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing on veterans and mental health care. The Veterans Crisis Line -- 800-273-TALK -- is available for veterans who are concerned about their mental health. (Read more)
Military service members come disproportionately from rural areas. Kentucky has two army posts, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell.
(Among active service members in 2012, more died from suicide than in combat, we reported here. The Army said Friday that 325 soldiers committed suicides last year; if the tentative number is confirmed, it would be a historical high. "If that bleak total remains at 325, the toll in 2012 would have risen by 15 percent over 2011 when the Army sustained 283 suicides," NBC News reported.)
Reactions to the VA report ranged from encouragement to outrage. The VA pointed out that the daily veteran suicide rate has "remained relatively stable over the past 12 years," but the percentage of the overall national suicide rate accounted for by veteran suicide has actually decreased. Veteran suicides accounted for about one-fifth of American suicides in 2010, down from one-fourth of suicides in 1999.
The VA said that showed its programs are working, but promised to take "immediate actions." NBC reported that "the top strategy" on the VA's agenda was an already-established task force that could help suicide screening identify warning signs earlier.
Some groups were dismayed by the VA report and demanded more action. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America called for more research and collaboration. "The country should be outraged that we are allowing this tragedy to continue," IAVA found and CEO Paul Rieckhoff told NBC.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing on veterans and mental health care. The Veterans Crisis Line -- 800-273-TALK -- is available for veterans who are concerned about their mental health. (Read more)
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