Amend KRS 222.233 to require behavioral health multi-specialty groups or any entity that bills for peer support services to only employ specifically qualified alcohol and drug peer support specialists until January 1, 2028; extend the time period in which other alcohol and other drug treatment entities and behavioral health service organizations may only employ specifically qualified alcohol and drug peer support specialists to January 1, 2028; remove references to temporary alcohol and drug peer support specialists; amend KRS 309.0805 and 309.0813 to remove references to temporary alcohol and drug peer support specialists; repeal KRS 309.0836, relating to temporary alcohol and drug peer support specialists; establish the Peer Support Professionals Work Group to submit recommendations to the Interim Joint Committee on Health Services regarding the creation of a board of peer support professionals to develop statewide requirements for licensed peer support professionals; EMERGENCY.
Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require health benefit plans to provide coverage for prostheses and orthoses; establish minimum requirements for the required coverage; require utilizations review decisions to be made in a nondiscriminatory manner; require an insurer or its private review agent to provide notice of certain rights of the insured; establish notice requirements for denials; establish network adequacy requirements for the provision of a prosthesis or orthosis that is required to be covered; establish reporting requirements for insurers and the commissioner of the Department of Insurance relating to the required coverage; amend KRS 164.2871 and 18A.225 to require self-insured group health plans offering by the governing board of state postsecondary education institutions and the state employee health plan to comply with the requirements relating to coverage for prostheses and orthoses; provide that the Act applies to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.
Amend KRS 205.529, 218A.172, 218A.205, and 304.17A.165 to remove references to a Schedule III controlled substance containing hydrocodone; amend KRS 218A.010 to add optometrist and physician assistant to the definition of "practitioner" licensed in other states; amend KRS 218A.182 to exempt charitable health care practitioners from electronic prescription requirement; amend KRS 218A.202 to require an active account with the electronic monitoring system be maintained by practitioners or pharmacists prescribing or dispensing Schedule II, III, IV, or V controlled substances; amend KRS 218A.245 to permit the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to enter reciprocal agreements or contracts with any federal agency of the United States or its territories.
Amend KRS 194A.601 to require the dementia services coordinator to prepare an annual report on the operations of the Office of Dementia Services and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Council and a progress report on the Kentucky Alzheimer's and Related Dementias State Plan to submit to the Legislative Research Commission; amend KRS 194A.603 to increase the membership of the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Council from 15 to 16 by increasing the individual unpaid caregiver members by 1; change the council's annual reporting date to December 1 from July 1; require the council to develop and implement annual year-long initiative advancing a key area of the state plan; direct the council to create a provider toolkit on early detection and diagnosis as its first year-long initiative beginning December 1, 2026 to be distributed to stakeholders.
Amend KRS 164.0401 to add a speech-language pathology or audiology license to the definition of "eligible healthcare credential" for the purpose of the Kentucky healthcare workforce investment fund.
Create a new section of Subtitle 1 of KRS Chapter 304 to limit the application of cost-sharing requirements that would result in a health insurance policy, certificate, plan, or contract losing its health savings account-qualified status under federal law; create a new section of KRS Chapter 18A to subject cost-sharing requirements in that chapter to applicability limitation; provide that applicability limitation applies to policies, certificates, plans, and contracts issued or renewed on or after the effective date of the Act; provide purpose of Section 1 of the Act; state the that Section 1 of the Act may be cited as the Health Savings Account State-Federal Regulatory Coordination Model Act.
Amend KRS 304.17A-132 to modify the definition of "hearing aid"; increase the coverage amount for hearing aids from $1,400 to $2,500; establish network adequacy requirements relating to the provision of hearing aids and related services that are required to be covered; amend KRS 18A.225 to increase the cap on hearing aids and hearing aid-related services under the state employee health plan from $1,400 to $2,500; direct that the Act applies to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 160 to require school districts that elect to provide health care services through a school nurse to bill the school-based Medicaid program for medically necessary services provided to a student enrolled in Medicaid; establish requirements for third-party Medicaid billing vendors contracted by school districts; permit school nurses to receive preventative dental services training from the Department for Public Health; permit the school district to bill the school-based Medicaid program for preventative dental services that are within a school nurse's scope of practice.
Amend various sections of KRS 216.701 to 216.709 to define terms; require health facilities to display a notice in a prominent location advising of possible consequences of threatening or aggressive behavior toward health care workers; require health facilities to notify health care workers of changes to policies, procedures, or the workplace safety plan based on a health facility's required annual review; require that any health facility procedure for incidents of workplace violence shall require certain notifications for the victim.
Amend KRS 218A.205 to remove the requirement of a permanent licensure ban on licensees and applicants convicted of a felony offense regarding prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance; make technical corrections.
