By Lori Earnshaw, MD Fully conscious while on a fentanyl drip and with an endotracheal tube down his throat, the 70-something emaciated man raised his index finger to wipe tears from his tired eyes. “I just hope to make it home,” he wrote on the dry-erase board. As sick as he was, he would not…
Statewide tobacco-free schools bill
By Rep. Kim Moser and Sen. Ralph Alvarado Students, educators, health advocates and business leaders are urging the legislature in 2019 to make all Kentucky school districts tobacco-free. As health professionals and lawmakers, we believe this is the sensible approach to protecting our kids from tobacco exposure. Now is also the right time to enact…
Pass House Bill 121
By Michael Fletcher, MD In 2019, every Kentuckian knows someone struggling with addiction and we know this epidemic is wreaking havoc on our communities and in our country. As an addiction specialist physician practicing in the Commonwealth, I look into the eyes of these people every day. My patients are filled with determination to beat…
Child welfare transformation will improve the lives of Kentucky children and families
It is a staggering, record-high number in Kentucky: 10,000 kids in foster care. Here is another number: 800. That’s how many adults gathered in early January for the inaugural Transformers of Child Welfare Summit. These were social workers, judges, educators, government officials, faith-based community leaders, parents, relatives and others. They are all committed to improving…
The Humana Foundation focuses on social determinants of health
By Walter Woods Good health and well-being for all – that’s what we’re committed to at the Humana Foundation. Of the many barriers on the road to well-being, the Humana Foundation is focused on addressing social determinants of health, the conditions under which people are born, grow, live, work and age that affect health and…
Stop Pharmacy Benefit Managers from fleecing Kentuckians
By Mark Glasper Thanks to new federal and state laws, including Rep. Michael Meredith’s House Bill 463 from 2018, your pharmacist can finally inform you when the real price of your medicine is less than the co-payment charged by your insurer. This much needed transparency means consumers will finally be aware of something that happens…