Cabinet for Health and Family Services

Medicaid managed care organization Kentucky Spirit has officially exited the commonwealth, leaving health officials with approximately 125,000 members to transfer to other MCOs.

The move occurred in the early morning hours Saturday after the Kentucky Court of Appeals had previously denied the state’s emergency motion for a mandatory injunction to keep Kentucky Spirit from leaving.

A new survey of retail tobacco outlets in Kentucky shows more than 94 percent are compliant with the law barring tobacco sales to people younger than 18. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services says Kentucky's average since the program began in 1997 is 9.5 percent violation, which was below the national average of 15.8 percent in that time.

The Kentucky Department for Community Based Services is offering a new way to report abuse or neglect in non-emergency situations.  The agency that oversees child and adult protection says it has a new web-based portal for reporting suspected abuse or neglect.  The agency says the online system makes it convenient, confidential and secure to report situations that don't need an immediate response.

A newspaper analysis of records involving child fatalities in Kentucky finds that child protection workers didn't always conduct internal reviews.  

The CEO of Kentucky’s largest private Medicaid operator says mistakes in state government caused his company to push for changes in its contracts with healthcare providers.  

Gov. Steve Beshear has named Audrey Tayse  Haynes as the new Secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Haynes will replace Eric Freidlander. The cabinet is responsible for overseeing Medicaid and social services, including child welfare programs. Haynes previously served 10 years as the senior vice president and chief government affairs officer of YMCA of the USA.  She also worked in the Clinton Administration as director of the White House Office of Women's Initiatives and Outreach. Haynes will begin on April 16.

Gov. Steve Beshear has named Audrey Tayse Haynes of Adair County as the new Secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The cabinet is responsible for overseeing Medicaid and social services, including child welfare programs. Haynes will begin on April 16th.

Haynes will replace Eric Freidlander who was serving as the interim secretary after Janie Miller resigned last month. The cabinet is responsible for overseeing Medicaid and social services, including child welfare programs.

A report published in the Lexington Herald Leader finds child safety in Kentucky is sometimes overlooked by social workers in domestic violence cases.  The newspaper based its findings on 85 internal Cabinet for Health and Family Services reviews from 2009 and 2010.  The agency performed these reviews when children with whom they had contact either died or received serious injuries.