Latest news with #SenateFamiliesandChildrenCommittee
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kentucky legislature moves to implement Make America Healthy Again
Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, left, joined Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, right, to discuss the Make America Healthy Again Kentucky taskforce. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd) FRANKFORT — The Kentucky legislature is moving to incorporate the Trump administration's 'Make America Healthy Again' principles in the commonwealth. On Tuesday, members of the Senate Families and Children Committee unanimously — and with bipartisan support — passed a resolution to establish the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Kentucky Task Force. The task force would be composed of eight legislative members — four from the Senate and four from the House — including two Democrats and six Republicans, appointed by each chamber's leadership, who would meet at least once a month during the interim. The task force would also include the Cabinet for Health and Family Services secretary, Kentucky Department for Public Health commissioner, Department for Community Based Services commissioner, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education and the chair of the Kentucky Board of Licensure and Certification for Dietitians and Nutritionists, or their designees. By Dec. 1, the task force would submit a report with recommendations to the governor and the Legislative Research Commission outlining ways to improve the health of Kentuckians. Primary sponsor Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, acknowledged the federal plan isn't finalized yet but said 'this is our starting point' to start addressing Kentucky's dismal health statistics. Kentucky is one of the least healthy states in the nation, with high rates of diabetes and cancer deaths, maternal mortality and more. President Donald Trump's Feb. 13 executive order gave the federal MAHA commission 100 days to submit a report on their findings into a slew of health issues, including antidepressant selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), weight-loss drugs and more. While waiting on more federal direction, Funke Frommeyer said, her MAHA Kentucky goals include: Reevaluate Medicaid drug approvals. Scrutinize drugs like ozempic and propose a thorough review of the Medicaid approval process 'to ensure that the high cost for forever medications like ozempic are only used when truly necessary.' Promote preventative and alternative therapies. Encourage the adoption of less invasive, more holistic treatments 'consistent with … restoring American health over corporate profit.' Revamp medical and dental curricula to '(ensure) future providers are educated on addressing the root causes of chronic illness, rather than solely relying on pharmaceuticals.' Sen. Keturah Herron, D-Louisville, praised the parts of the resolution that encourages reduction of environmental pollutants and increased access to nutritious food. 'I know that in my district, and in Louisville, that there is a lack of access to fresh food, grocery stores and then there's a lot of environmental issues,' said Herron, who voted in favor of the resolution. 'I look forward to learning more about this and working with you all to really get down to those root causes, to make sure that all Kentuckians have access to be healthy.' The federal commission's report should come out in late May. 'We want to communicate the vision, clearly articulate that the goal is to enhance public health and prevent over medication,' Funke Frommeyer said, 'not to attack agriculture, not to attack pharmaceutical companies, not to attack processed food industries.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers move to ensure info is available to investigate complaints against state cabinet
Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to approve Senate Bill 85. In this photo, she congratulates her campaign team after speaking at an election night celebration, Nov 7, 2023, in Louisville. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Matthew Mueller) After mediation and a judge's order, Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball says the legislature needs to codify her office's access to an important database kept by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. During a Tuesday committee meeting, Ball told lawmakers the cabinet appears to not be forwarding every complaint it receives about itself to the ombudsman, housed in her office. She said she wants to make sure no complaints are 'missing in the process.' 'Right now, the cabinet is acting as a gatekeeper on those complaints,' Ball said. 'We feel like we don't need a middleman. Things are being dropped in the handoff. So, this will resolve that situation to make sure we have access to all the complaints when they come in.' Judge inks ceasefire in state government battle over new ombudsman's access to information This comes almost five months after the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the office of the ombudsman settled a dispute over access to a computer system called iTWIST, which stores information about abuse and neglect cases. The Senate Families and Children Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 85, which clarifies the ombudsman gets 'any software and access rights.' Ball's office assumed oversight of the ombudsman from the cabinet on July 1, thanks to a law enacted in 2023 by the legislature, Senate Bill 48. But her office did not get immediate access to iTWIST. The ombudsman, whose job is to investigate and resolve complaints about agencies in the cabinet, including protective services for children and elderly Kentuckians, can't do that job without access to iTWIST, (the Workers Information System), Ball has said. She eventually filed a lawsuit for the access, and the case was mediated and eventually settled in Franklin Circuit Court. 'We reached a settlement in that mediation, and we were given access with certain structures in place,' Ball told committee members Tuesday. 'We feel like it is now necessary to codify it, make it abundantly clear there's no possibility of this coming up again, that we have access to iTWIST.' The September court order that settled the access dispute said the cabinet would have to provide the ombudsman with read-only access to iTWIST. Judge Phillip Shepherd also said the legislature and the parties would work during the 2025 session to codify any needed clarification. A spokeswoman for the auditor said the office 'can compare the number of complaints received by the ombudsman before the transition with the current number, which has drastically decreased.' 'This is due in part to the failure to transfer the previous phone number, resulting in our office not receiving all complaints,' said Joy Pidgorodetska Markland, the auditor's director of communications. 'Upon suspecting complaints were not being forwarded, we used an open records process to request all communications sent to the retained phone number and email and found many un-forwarded complaints.' SB 85, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, has an emergency, meaning it would take effect immediately upon becoming law. 'This is an emergency because we know this needs to be done right away,' Ball said. 'That way we can move forward without any more hang ups and make sure the public is provided everything that they need.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
