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With Doctors in Short Supply..
If the health care system is overhauled, patients and practitioners are likely to face a primary care bottleneck, experts say. An estimated 30 million read more at http://tiny.cc/4jvORNew York Times - Nov 6, 2009
KCNPNM asks Governor to Fund Medicaid Smoking Cessation Program
The Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives signed on with a broad coalition of Kentucky health care advocates on September 28, 2009 to deliver a letter calling upon Governor Steve Beshear to fully fund a Medicaid smoking cessation program created by the legislature in 2007, but never funded. Kentucky is one of only five states not to offer such a program.
Passed into law in 2007, HB 337 created a comprehensive smoking cessation program, including counseling and medications, for the 285,000 smokers on Kentucky Medicaid. Unfortunately, no funding was attached and the program has languished for two years as an unfunded mandate.
“We commend Governor Beshear's leadership in increasing the tax on tobacco products this year, and ask that he continue the momentum toward a healthy Kentucky by funding the $1.5 million needed to implement a smoking cessation benefit for the smokers in our Medicaid population,” said Sarah J. Wilding, President of the Kentucky Public Health Association.
Kentucky has the highest adult smoking rate – and highest smoking-related death rate – in the country. Yet, for approximately $5 million ($1.5 from Kentucky and $3.5 in Federal matching funds), the Commonwealth could save thousands of lives and reduce our state's Medicaid costs by millions per year.
“Since Kentucky Medicaid is already spending an estimated $1.2 billion each year to treat Kentuckians suffering from smoking related illnesses, the investment of $1.5 million will more than make up for itselfby helping to decrease that figure by getting people off of cigarettes,” said Tonya Chang of the American Heart Association, on behalf of the coalition.
Tobacco-Free UK: A Healthy Place to Live, Work and Learn
On Thursday, Nov.19, 2009, the University of Kentucky implemented a campus-wide tobacco-free policy, taking a leading role in creating a healthier Kentucky. The implementation coincided with the American Cancer Society's 34th Great American Smokeout.
As the state's flagship university, UK believes in a healthy environment for all members of the campus community. The tobacco-free policy puts employees, guests and students first by providing a healthy, tobacco-free environment and decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke.
UK joins more than 300 other United States colleges and universities with tobacco-free or smoke-free policies in place for the entire campus, both indoors and outdoors. Additional information about UK's tobacco-free campus is available at www.uky.edu/TobaccoFree.
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11 hours ago
KCNPNM Election Open! »
It’s election time! Active and Retired members need to elect
officers, board members and nominations committee members. Student members vote for Student Representative to the...
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