Cabinet for Health and Family Services

After the state expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in 2014, low-income Kentuckians made fewer trips to the emergency room, had less trouble paying medical bills, received a checkup and sought help for chronic conditions. That’s according to a new study released Monday from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

A state inspection prompted by allegations that University of Louisville Hospital staffing cuts have made the facility unsafe has found deficiencies in nursing services. 

Governor-elect Matt Bevin has named Vickie Yates Brown Glisson as the next administration’s secretary of Health and Family Services.

Glisson is a health and health insurance attorney for Louisville law firm Frost Brown Todd. She’s also the chief executive of the business incubator Nucleus, which is part of the University of Louisville.

The Kentucky Department for Community Based Services has listed 51 people on its adult caregiver misconduct registry in the year since the list's inception. 

As the number of measles cases across the nation grows, a vaccination exemption for Kentucky students could allow for cases to emerge in the Commonwealth.

The highly contagious viral disease is especially susceptible to children resulting in rashes and pink eye and could lead to more serious illnesses like pneumonia and diarrhea.

A recent outbreak is believed to have started at a Disneyland theme park in southern California, but now 13 other states are reporting cases.

Crisis funding will be available next week to aid Purchase residents with high heating bills.

West Kentucky Allied Services administers the  Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP. 

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services must pay more than $300,000 in attorneys’ fees to the Louisville Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald-Leader after violating the state Open Records Act.

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.