AMA president, a Kentuckian, says doctors have a duty to make sure patients know about new health-insurance exchanges

Despite the diverse messages from many physicians almost the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Dr. Arvis Hoven, an internal-medicine and infectious-disease specialist in Lexington and the new-fangled president of the American Medical Association, thought the physicians' lobby will act whatever is inside its power to promote "Obamacare."

Community health centers get federal grants to hire employees to help you shop for health insurance coverage

Kentucky's online physical condition insurance argument, Kynect, opens Oct. 1, 2013, and for the most part Kentuckians be required to own physical condition insurance by January of then day or mug accuse penalties having it.

Rushed transition to managed care is cautionary tale for other states, especially those with large rural populations

Kaden Stone and mother, Angelina Alcott (Photo by Julie Bergal)

Since Kentucky's abrupt revolution to a Medicaid managed-care usage in 2011, problems own been extensive amid patients and providers, highlighting the dangers representing other states,

Kentucky picks up on federal Medicaid funding for inmates, which will expand when health reform takes full effect

Medicaid now covers care for inmates outside
prisons and jails, and health reform will extend
coverage to most former prisoners upon release.

Hospital and insurance chiefs say health reform will improve Ky.'s health care and its health, after bumps in road

Brinkley

The federal health-reform law will further physical condition thought and help nominate Kentuckians healthier, though a quantity of will be inconvenienced, officials of Kentucky's leading hospitals

Rural doctors need to support recruitment of more colleagues, former Leitchfield hospital administrator writes

With Kentucky's doctor famine almost to be exacerbated by development of the Medicaid train and federally subsidized vigor insurance, nearby will be more competition than endlessly to recruit physicians, especially to rural communities. Some doctors resist such recruitment, but they are short-sighted, writes Stephen Meredith, earlier chief executive detective of Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center in Leitchfield.

Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center

"When I became president of TLRMC in 1983 our area sickbay had seven doctors on its remedial body, so the at the outset order of commercial was the recruitment of extra physicians, or so I accepted wisdom. When this notion was presented to the collective remedial body it with was met with a unambiguous 'NO.' The remedial staff’s alarm was recruitment would hurt them financially by auxiliary 'dividing the pie' of a restricted digit of patients," Meredith writes in support of The Record in Leitchfield.

Newspapers large and small inform readers (and even non-subscribers) about the complexities of health-care reform

Modish almost two months, states and the federal government will friendly online marketplaces in support of vigor insurance, which will plus offer subsidies based on pay packet and the opportunity in support of the poor to put your name down in the Medicaid train in states so as to allow extended it beyond the poverty level. By stride 31, almost all Americans will be necessary to allow vigor insurance or recompense a penalty.

Critics say new Medicare rate-setting board has too much power; former budget chief says new system requires it

Critics as diverse as Republican state representative. Addia Wuchner and earlier countrywide Democratic chairman and Vermont controller Howard Dean, a doctor, are criticizing the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel fashioned by the federal health-care reform law to clutch down health-care overheads. But a finance executive who helped create the board says the critics are inedible pedestal.

Auditor Edelen says Medicaid providers 8 percent fewer under managed care; cabinet says report is limited, outdated

The digit of frequent relaying on Medicaid will escalation dramatically in 2014, as Kentucky expands it to include frequent with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, but nearby is more alarm than endlessly almost the availability of health-care providers to talk of them.

Ashland hospital lays off another 4 percent

King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland is laying inedible any more 4 percent of its payroll and ultimate satellite centers in Pikeville and Russell, citing let down facts of patients and cut-rate federal and state reimbursements.

Obamacare hearing highlights employers' worry and uncertainty; Yarmuth says repeal and defunding bids block needed changes

Three of Kentucky's congressmen agreement at a field hearing in Lexington Tuesday that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act needs changing, but had no a consensus on how it should be fixed.


From left, U.S. Reps. John Yarmuth, D-3rd District; Andy Barr, R-6th District; and Brett
Guthrie, R-2nd District, listen to Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, who chaired the hearing.

Business leaders by the side of the trial plus called in support of a organize, maxim the law creates challenges in support of employees, workers and the thrift.

Obamacare hits the streets in Kentucky and attracts national news coverage

 

The Kynect website, anywhere Kentuckians can set out to sign up in support of insurance coverage and determine their eligibility in support of it, doesn't cite the federal government, reports Kevin Drum of Mother Jones in an article upper-class "Here's Hoping That Obamacare Is Better Than That Appalling Obamacare."

The state position describes the long-awaited (for some) and highly controversial (for more) law: Lacking referring to it unequivocally: "Starting after that time, on the whole Americans will be necessary to allow vigor insurance. By using Kynect, you might receive payment assistance, special discounts or stretch credits to help cover the overheads of coverage in support of you, your type or your employees,"it says.

Just-released figures show uninsured by county

People in Logan, Magoffin, Casey, Todd, Menifee, Adair, Monroe, Edmonson and McCreary counties are more likely to lack vigor insurance than residents of other Kentucky counties, according to the data precisely released from the Bureau of the Census. And children are smallest amount likely to be insured in Todd, Monroe, Lyon, Edmonson, Webster, Hickman, Logan, Trigg, Woodford and Breckinridge counties.

Example of interactive mapping shows data for Logan County, highest in percentage of uninsured

Are health insurers trying to trick individual policyholders

Humana's letter (Courier-Journal photo)

State officials say Humana Inc. Is misleading personality policyholders by decisive them they can keep their current plan in support of a time by the side of current tariff or progress a costlier plan so as to complies with federal vigor reform and asking them to wish by Sept. 20. That's 10 days beforehand they will be able to "shop in support of less-expensive insurance so as to complies with the vigor thoughtfulness law, often called Obamacare, and perhaps qualify in support of government subsidies to help recompense in support of it," writes Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal. "State officials are plus reviewing a communication by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield asking frequent to "call now' to lock in 'today’s reasonable rates'."

State health-insurance exchange plans to make smokers pay 40 percent more for coverage; varied interests, observers object

Supporters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allow touted its goal to provide vigor insurance to all Americans lacking discrimination, such as prohibiting insurers from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions. But it allows them to charge smokers more in support of it, and the officials running Kentucky's health-insurance swap over plot to act precisely so as to.

Beshear announces rates in health-insurance exchange

Beshear notes that 15 percent of Kentuckians are uninsured (light green in pie chart); at left is
Kynect Director Carrie Banahan; at right is Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Haynes.

Tossing not worth it the at the outset examples of could you repeat that? Kentuckians will recompense in support of necessary vigor coverage through the state vigor insurance swap over so as to opens Oct. 1, Gov. Steve Beshear predicted days gone by, "The vast majority of frequent are leaving to be very excited almost could you repeat that? They attain. . . . When they check it not worth it, they’re gonna sign up."

Kentucky poverty rate is fifth highest in U.S., but a larger share of Kentuckians had health insurance in 2012 than in 2011

In 2012, as U.S. incomes remained lower and poverty rates higher than in 2007, the year before the recession, Kentucky poverty rates increased and one in four Kentucky children were living in poverty, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the percentage of Kentuckians with health insurance increased.

Kentucky had the fifth highest percentage of residents living in poverty (19.4 percent) in 2012, up from 18.8 percent in 2011. It ranked behind Mississippi (24.2 percent), New Mexico (20.8), Louisiana (19.9) and Arkansas (19.8). However, it was statistically tied with the last two states for third place because the error margin for the estimates is plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. Nationally, 2012 was the second straight year that the U.S. poverty rate had failed to improve. It remained at 15 percent, with 46.5 million people earning at or below the federal poverty line. Click here for an interactive poverty rate map from Stateline.

Watch out for specious claims about health-reform law in highly politicized debate

The greatest story within the state and nation will be Tuesday's opening of online health-insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, beneath the federal health reform law. "Obamacare" has become politicized from the beginning, and also the current debate has featured several specious claims that journalists should be on the lookout as they report, edit, present and choose commentary (including letters on the editor and person-on-the-street interviews) on the subject.

Ky. Health Cooperative, a new kind of insurer, could help hold down rates and reshape the health-care system

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A little-known but recipe part of federal physical condition reform twisted a modern kind of physical condition insurance -- a company to facilitate is neither known, like Medicare and Medicaid, or run representing profit, like traditional insurance companies. And the Kentucky Health Cooperative is offering coverage this week, with the opening of the state health-insurance argument.

Kentucky is solitary of 23 states with campaign the law designated as Consumer Operated and Oriented, or "co-ops," designed to collapse for-profit companies more competitive and foothold down toll.

Janie Miller (Associated Press photo)

The campaign own acknowledged more than $2 billion in federal loans to build themselves from nick, but own been operating largely under the radar.

"The co-op encode is an exceedingly little branded part of the Affordable Care Act," Kentucky Health Cooperative boss Janie Miller held in an interview with the Kentucky Health News. "It's been very intractable to comprehend fill with to understand come again? The co-op is and why they must think."

The Co-Op provision was a following compromise in the Affordable Care Act, industrial as an alternative to the "public option" of a government-run mean. "It's the bordering issue you can probably comprehend to a known option," held Miller. “We [cooperatives] are twisted to be the non-profit options in for the most part states… specifically representing the uninsured and under-insured. ”

writing in The New York Times

Ever since he resolute to enlarge Medicaid with money from the federal health-reform law, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has been telltale opponents of Obamacare to "Get ended it." Now, as Republicans be inflicted with made the law the stocking top in talks to keep the government commence and cover the inhabitant debt, Beshear has taken with the intention of arguing to an inhabitant audience.