Healthcare (Medicaid)

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 KRS 214.450 to define "autologous donation," "directed donation," and "informed consent"; create a new section of KRS 214.450 to 214.466 to establish an individual's right to select a willing blood donor; establish related prohibitions for blood establishments, health facilities, health services, and health care providers; establish related requirements for blood establishments and health care facilities; prohibit misrepresentation of the availability, safety, or legality of directed or autologous donations; establish protections for physicians who facilitate directed or autologous donations; establish penalty for violations; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish a reporting mechanism to report obstructions to directed or autologous donations, complete investigations within 60 days, and promulgate administrative regulations to implement and enforce reporting; permit emergency transfusions with consent and provide exemption from liability; permit an individual to bring a civil action for violations of individual rights to directed or autologous donations; amend KRS 214.452, 214.456, and 214.990 to conform and make technical corrections; create a new section of Subchapter 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require all health benefit plans to cover any autologous or directed transfusion of blood; amend KRS 205.522 and 205.6485 to require Medicaid coverage of any autologous or a directed transfusion of blood; amend KRS 18A.225 to require state health benefit plans coverage of any autologous or directed transfusion of blood; apply coverage mandates to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; provide that sections of the Act may be cited as the Medical Autonomy and Directed Donation Act; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes as required under KRS 205.5372(1); include provisions for cost defrayal requirements; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 205.592 to extend Medicaid eligibility for new parents from 12 months to 24 months postpartum; require the Cabinet for Health and Familly Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if it is determined that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1).

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 311 to define terms; prohibit health care providers from accepting payment or reimbursement for gender transition services from a state or local government or Medicare; prohibit use of state or local government funds for the provision or subsidy of gender transition services; require licensing or certifying agencies to revoke a health care provider's license for a violation; direct that intentional violation by a public servant shall be a violation of KRS 522.030; amend KRS 15.241 to authorize the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief and penalties for a violation of gender transition services prohibitions; amend KRS 156.496 to prohibit family resource or youth services centers from providing or making referrals for gender transition services; amend KRS 39A.180 to prohibit suspension of gender transition services laws during an emergency; create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304, and KRS 205.6481 to 205.6495, and amend KRS 205.5365, 18A.225, 164.2871, and 304.17C-125, to prohibit publicly funded health plans, Medicaid, the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), publicly funded limited health service benefit plans, the state employee health plan, and state postsecondary education institution self-insured health plans from providing payment or coverage for gender transition services; amend KRS 605.110 to direct that gender transition services are not authorized for a child committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice; state findings of the General Assembly relating to the purpose of the Act; apply certain provisions to health plans issued or renewed on or after the effective date of Act.

Create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to establish that any health benefit plan that provides coverage for hospital, medical, or surgical expenses shall include coverage for chronic pain treatments provided by a licensed professional; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid and Medicaid managed care organizations to include coverage for chronic pain treatments provided by a licensed professional; amend KRS 218A.172 to require that a health care practitioner discuss and refer or prescribe alternative chronic pain treatments before initially prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance; provide that certain provisions apply to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1); EFFECTIVE January 1, 2027.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services and Medicaid managed care organizations to cover evaluation and management services; prohibit the department or managed care organizations from limiting coverage for evaluation and management services to fewer than 2 units per provider, per recipient, per date of service; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if it is determined that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes in the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1).

SB 283 amends Kentucky's Medicaid law to prohibit using state Medicaid funds for two specific medical treatments: cross-sex hormones prescribed primarily for gender dysphoria treatment, and gender reassignment surgery. This directly affects Medicaid recipients seeking these services and providers contracted with Kentucky's Department for Medicaid Services. The bill makes a technical correction to clarify existing prohibitions in KRS 205.5365, updating the statute to explicitly list these two treatments as non-covered services under Medicaid. It does not create new coverage restrictions but adjusts the legal language to match current policy.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require Medicaid coverage for palliative care services; establish eligibility criteria and service requirements; require the Department for Medicaid Services to promulgate administrative regulations; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if it is determined that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1).

Create new sections of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to define terms; require health plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of feeding or eating disorders; prohibit insurers from using certain standards, including body mass index, to deny, limit, or restrict coverage; authorize insurers to consider certain factors when determining medical necessity or the appropriate level of care for an individual diagnosed with a feeding or eating disorder; amend KRS 304.17C-125, 304.38A-115, 205.522, 205.6485, 164.2871, and 18A.225 to require limited health services benefit plans, limited health service organizations, Medicaid, KCHIP, self-insured employer group plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary education institution, and the state employee health plan to comply with the coverage requirements for feeding or eating disorders; provide that various sections apply to health plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if it is determined that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes in the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1); EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2027.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Department for Medicaid Services and any managed care organization with whom the department contracts for the delivery of Medicaid services to provide coverage for doula services; create a new section of KRS Chapter 194A to establish the Doula Advisory Council, council membership, and council duties; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or the Department for Medicaid Services to seek federal approval if they determine that such approval is necessary; provide authorization from the General Assembly to make changes to the Medicaid program as required under KRS 205.5372(1).