Healthcare

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 211 to define terms; provide rights related to access to contraception; create private right of action; create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require health benefit plans to provide coverage for contraception; amend KRS 304.17A-099 to exclude contraception from cost defrayal requirements; require health benefit plans to provide coverage for long-acting reversible contraception administered during a postpartum hospital stay; amend KRS 164.2871, 205.522, 205.6485, and 18A.225 to require self-insured employer group health plans provided by the governing board of a state postsecondary institution to its employees, Medicaid, the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program, and the state employee health plan to comply with the new section on contraceptive coverage; amend KRS 446.350 to provide that nothing in the new section on contraceptive coverage shall be construed to violate section; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver to offer family planning services to certain low-income individuals; require the cabinet to report annually; create a new section of KRS Chapter 315 to allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptives; 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; direct that provisions apply to health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2027; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2027.

Amend KRS 156.070 to require the Kentucky Board of Education or any agency designated to manage interscholastic athletics to train administrators and coaches on how to prevent suicide.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 214 to require the Department for Public Health to make educational material available on its website regarding the recognition and warning signs of infantile seizure disorder; require a health facility or health care provider to provide the material; amend KRS 311.601, 311.844, and 314.073 to require pediatricians, family practitioners, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants who regularly provide care to infants to demonstrate completion of a 1 time course of a least 1 hour of continuing education that covers the recognition and warning signs of infantile seizure disorder.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 216 to protect access to assisted reproductive technology; create a new section of KRS Chapter 311 to declare that a fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists outside of the uterus of a human body shall not be considered an unborn child, a minor child, a natural person, or any other term that connotes a human being for any purpose under state law.

Amend KRS 335.010 to exempt student interns or trainees from social work licensure requirements; direct the Kentucky Board of Social Work to promulgate administrative regulations to define standards for student involvement in clinical social work; amend KRS 335.020 to define terms; amend KRS 335.030, 335.070, 335.080, 335.090, 335.100, 335.150, and 335.158 to establish licensure standards, including use of a multistate license, criminal background checks, and telehealth; amend KRS 335.050 to require that at least 1 licensee member of the board is a teacher actively engaged in social work education; amend KRS 387.610 and 457.090 to conform.

HB 277 bans Kentucky public schools from selling or providing ultra-processed foods containing specific additives (like certain dyes and brominated oils) during the school day, starting in the 2027-2028 school year. It directly affects all Kentucky public schools and students by prohibiting these foods in cafeterias, vending machines, school stores, and student-organized fundraisers held during school hours. The bill defines "ultra-processed food" by listing 11 specific additives with their chemical identifiers, but does not restrict food sales at off-property fundraisers or outside school hours. This policy change aims to limit student access to foods containing the listed additives during the school day.

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 158.832 to include intranasal epinephrine to list of medications used to treat anaphylaxis; amend KRS 158.836 to include intranasal epinephrine as permissible for schools to keep.

Amend KRS 214.034 to delete hepatitis B from the list of required immunizations for children; prohibit additional immunizations from being required by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services without the approval of the General Assembly; delete requirement for hepatitis B immunization for sixth grade school attendance.