You are invited to attend a White House Virtual Conversation on Health Systems, Providers, and the COVID-19 Vaccinations Effort. The event is on Monday, August 23, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET. The event will focus on the significant progress that has been made in activating providers in the vaccinations effort, as well as a number of best practices health systems and providers have committed to in order to further increase vaccine confidence and uptake. These include, for example, offering

Posted August 11, 2021 In 2008, Congress passed the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal Parity Law) requiring insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder to be no more restrictive than coverage for other medical conditions. Although the Federal Parity Law has been on the books for over a decade, the implementation and enforcement has been difficult, and state parity laws have lagged. In 2018, The Parity Leadership Coalition released a state-by-state report card on

Posted August 9, 2021 It’s hard to believe this is my last message to the membership as KMA President. When I began my term last August, I frankly had no idea what kind of challenges the year would bring. We were five months into a global pandemic with absolutely no playbook. Thankfully, in early December, a vaccine became available with an effectiveness rate better than we could have hoped. However, we continue to work towards convincing all of our patients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 5, 2021 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Ginger Dreyer, Director of CommunicationsKentucky Hospital Association502-426-6220gdreyer@kyha.com Emily Schott, Director of CommunicationsKentucky Medical Association502-341-1926schott@kyma.com Stephanie Smith, Director of Communications & MembershipKentucky Nurses Association502-744-5488stephanie@kentucky-nurses.org Kentucky Hospital, Medical and Nursing Associations Support COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements LOUISVILLE, KY – (August 5, 2021) Kentucky hospitals, physicians and nurses are putting patients first by joining together to call for employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA), the Kentucky Medical Association (KMA)

Click on the graphic below for a slide show highlighting KMA members who are celebrating 50 years of practicing medicine. Posted 7-29-21

Posted July 23, 2021 Kentuckians are facing rising out-of-pocket costs for the medications they need. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open found that among commercially insured patients who paid a drug deductible or coinsurance, median out-of-pocket spending for 79 brand-name drugs increased 15 percent between January 2015 and December 2017. As a result, patients are increasingly turning to copay assistance programs and manufacturer coupons to help cover their out-of-pocket prescription costs. In response, some insurance companies are refusing

Posted July 14, 2021 The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) with the stated goal of protecting healthcare workers who come into regular contact with COVID-19. The ETS applies only to healthcare employers and includes any setting where an employee is providing healthcare services or support, such as hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and also includes emergency responders and home healthcare workers. The rule, which has an effective

CGS Medicare is requesting providers take this brief survey to share their insights and opinions on preventive and chronic care management services available through the Medicare Fee-For-Service Programs. Feedback from the survey will help shape education and outreach strategies to increase awareness and participation in these helpful services aimed at keeping Medicare patients healthy. The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete.

On June 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released revised reporting requirements for health care providers who received Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments. These revisions expand the amount of time providers have to report information and extend key deadlines for expending PRF payments for recipients who received payments after June 30, 2020. The revised reporting requirements are applicable to providers who received one or more payments exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, during a single Payment Received

by Dale Toney, M.D., 2020-2021 KMA President While there are certainly still remnants visible, society is starting to return to what life looked like before the COVID-19 pandemic. Capacity restrictions and mask mandates in Kentucky expired just over a week ago, and stores, restaurants, and travel looks much like it did pre-pandemic. For physicians, however, things aren’t back to ‘normal’ just yet. There are still many protocols in place in our hospitals and clinics to keep our staff and patients