CN|2 Politics

Child advocates and day care center owners said at a public hearing in Frankfort Tuesday that the state is making a catastrophic decision to cuts to the child care assistance program, which provides day care assistance for low income parents, and the Kinship Care program. The Kinship Care program provides a $300 monthly stipend to family members who serve as guardians for abused and neglected children. It’s projected that the cuts will help the Cabinet for Health and Family Services... Read more 

Former Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, a physician, said the governor was wrong to veto a bill aimed at better regulating Medicaid managed care, which Mongiardo said is a “an absolute financial scam.” Mongiardo told Pure Politics that the Health and Family Services Cabinet shouldn’t be the arbitrator of billing disputes between managed care companies the state hired to hold down Medicaid costs and the doctors, hospitals and other providers who treat the poor and disabled who rely on Medicaid. Mongiardo said... Read more 

UPDATED: Legislative leaders pledged in their filings in federal court Monday to move forward with new district maps while the Democratic House Speaker also released his suggestion for Republican-controlled Senate districts. The General Assembly leaders had to respond Monday to a federal lawsuit brought by a group of Northern Kentuckians led by Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown. The citizens are trying to push the General Assembly to approve new maps using 2010 Census data as soon as possible so that... Read more 

After Gov. Steve Beshear announced his decision to expand Medicaid in Kentucky on May 9, the group Kentucky Voices for Health ran online ads thanking him. Earlier that week, the super PAC Kentucky Opportunity Coaltion made a six-figure ad buy criticizing Obamacare — the legislation that made that expansion possible. Both groups use the same public relations firm, the relatively new RunSwitch Public Relations firm that officially launched in February and already has become a force in influencing policy... Read more 

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in favor of seed giant Monsanato over an Indiana farmer is expected to have a ripple effect on the future of farming and technological advances in science and medicine. The court unanimously ruled that farmers could not reuse patent-protected genetically modified soybeans to create a secondary line of seeds without paying the corporation. In essence, a patent extends across a self-replicating line of products. Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told Pure Politics his office was reviewing... Read more 

UPDATED: State Rep. Jeff Greer, D-Brandenburg, pre-filed legislation this week which he says is meant to remove a “poker chip” the Senate has used during negotiations over other bills: the confirmation of the state’s insurance commissioner. Bill Request 7 would remove the power the Senate has to confirm the governor’s appointment of the commissioner of Insurance Department and the commissioner of the Department of Workers’ Claims. Both positions require re-appointments every four years. “Last session it was highly rumored the... Read more 

The decision to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income families won’t necessarily increase access to health care and could increase the inefficiencies in the current system, said Rep. Robert Benvenuti, a freshman Republican from Lexington. Benvenuti, a lawyer who worked from 2004-2007 as inspector general of the state’s health cabinet that oversees Medicaid, said he disagreed with Gov. Steve Beshear’s move last week to accept the expansion, which will cover 308,000 uninsured Kentuckians who earn less than 138 percent of... Read more 

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer on Thursday announced the complete shut down of Richie Farmer’s cash-losing fuel lab as well as the departure of Deputy Commissioner Larry Cox, who had been heading up the lab’s closure. As announced in April the fuel testing will continue via a private laboratory at a $600,000 savings to taxpayers. A press release from the Department of Agriculture announced Larry Cox would return to retirement on Thursday. He served in the department before as executive director for... Read more 

In his trip to Washington, D.C., last week to push for legalizing industrial hemp, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer found that he had unlikely — and influential — ally who has been lobbying House Speaker John Boehner on that for years. Comer met privately with Boehner for more than 30 minutes. And he said it was a surprise that he didn’t need to explain the differences between hemp and marijuana to Boehner. “He said that his daughter had been a proponent... Read more 

Next up in Kentucky’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act is to let uninsured Kentuckians know about the health exchange that can match them up with insurance. And Gov. Steve Beshear announced that outreach effort on Wednesday. The new public education initiative — called kynect—will be overseen by the Kentucky Office of the Health Benefit Exchange within the Cabinet of Health and Family services. Kynect allows Kentuckians to discover what kind of health coverage they are eligible for through the website, a... Read more