AN ACT relating to the recruitment and retention of medical professionals and declaring an emergency.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 344 to ensure federal law relating to emergency medical treatment and the collection of evidence is not overridden; define terms; prohibit discrimination against medical care providers who decline to perform procedures that violate their conscience; grant providers the right not to participate in or pay for services that violate their conscience; exempt providers from liability for exercising these rights; prohibit the State Board of Medical Licensure from reprimanding medical practitioners and require the board to provide complaints it has received to medical practitioners; establish a civil cause of action for persons injured by violations; provide that the Act may be cited as the Healthcare Heroes Recruitment and Retention Act; EMERGENCY.

  RECENT STATUS

1/2/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to housing opportunities.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 100, relating to local planning and zoning, to require local governments to prioritize housing within applicable zones by easing minimum square footage requirements and aesthetic design requirements; facilitating the location of multifamily housing, accessory dwelling units, tiny homes, and manufactured housing; facilitating the permitting and variance process; easing minimum parking requirements, and standards for home occupations; and requiring that zoning laws have a substantial connection to protection of public safety, health, and usage of property; provide legal remedies; set conditions for the construction of the Act; amend KRS 141.435 and 141.437 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as the Housing Opportunities Made Easier Act or the HOME Act; repeal KRS 100.348, relating to standards for manufactured homes.

  RECENT STATUS

1/9/2024 - (H) Referred to Committee House Local Government (H)

1/3/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to child care workers.

Amend KRS 199.8965 to require a child care staff member who turns18 to complete a national and state criminal background check within 30 days of his or her 18th birthday.

  RECENT STATUS

1/4/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to Medicaid coverage for certified professional midwifery services.

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 certified professional midwifery services that are provided by a licensed certified professional midwife; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval if such approval is deemed necessary.

  RECENT STATUS

1/8/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to insurance for loss of income and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 304.3-110 to authorize life and health insurers to transact disability income and paid family leave insurance; make technical corrections; create new sections of Subtitle 5 of KRS Chapter 304 to define "disability income insurance" and "paid family leave insurance" and specify how each is to be classified and filed; amend KRS 304.9-030 to include paid family leave insurance in life and health lines of authority; establish Subtitle 53 of KRS Chapter 304 and create new sections thereof to regulate paid family leave insurance; establish paid family leave insurance requirements, authorized scope of benefits, disclosure requirements, and authorized limitations; authorize the insurance commissioner to promulgate administrative regulations to enforce Subtitle 53 of KRS Chapter 304; create short title; amend KRS 304.17A-005, 304.18-010, and 304.36-030 to conform; EMERGENCY.

  RECENT STATUS

4/5/2024 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

3/28/2024 - delivered to Governor

3/28/2024 - Enrolled, Signed by President of the Senate

AN ACT relating to freestanding birthing centers.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 216B to define "freestanding birthing center"; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to promulgate updated administrative regulations to establish licensure standards for freestanding birthing centers, including requiring accreditation by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers, compliance with the American Association of Birth Centers' Standards for Birth Centers, and consistent plans for transfer and safe transport to a hospital as needed, and to delineate medical malpractice insurance requirements for centers; exempt a center with no more than four beds from certificate-of-need requirements for establishing and licensing a freestanding birthing center; state intent not to limit or expand liability of a center or health care provider or facility; add requirement for medical malpractice insurance for freestanding birthing centers; prohibit abortions in freestanding birthing centers; amend KRS 216B.015 to include freestanding birthing centers in the definition of "health facility"; amend KRS 216B.020, 196.173, 211.122, 211.647, 211.660, 213.046, 214.155, 214.565, 214.567, 214.569, 216.2920, and 216.2970 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as the Mary Carol Akers Birth Centers Act. House Floor Amendment (2) Retain original provisions of the bill; add licensure requirements for professional collaborations and other requirements deemed necessary by the cabinet; add clinical director requirements; add requirements for informed consent; add requirements for patient transfer agreements.

  RECENT STATUS

4/15/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Licensing & Occupations (S)

3/28/2024 - floor amendments (1), (2) and (3) filed

3/27/2024 - (S) Returned to Committee Senate Committee on Committees (S)

AN ACT relating to certificate of need.

Amend KRS 216B.020 to add various health facilities and services to the list of health facilities and services that are exempt from certificate of need requirements; amend KRS 216B.065 to exempt various health facilities and services from acquisition of facilities or major medical equipment notification and certificate of need requirements; amend KRS 216.380 to conform.

  RECENT STATUS

3/21/2024 - floor amendment (1) filed

1/9/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to able-bodied adult participation in the SNAP Employment and Training Program.

Amend KRS 205.1783 to establish a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program employment and training program and establish requirements for participation in the program.

  RECENT STATUS

2/1/2024 - (H) Referred to Committee House Families & Children (H)

1/11/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to the Kentucky child tax credit.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 141 to establish a refundable Kentucky child tax credit for taxpayers with qualifying children under the age of six; authorize a maximum credit of $1,000 per qualifying child for individuals with income below $50,000 for single taxpayers and $100,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly; provide that individuals with incomes above the specified thresholds may be eligible for a reduced child tax credit; amend KRS 141.0205 to order the tax credit; amend KRS 131.190 to allow the Department of Revenue to report on the tax credit.

  RECENT STATUS

1/3/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Appropriations & Revenue (S)

1/2/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to the promotion of family well-being and making an appropriation therefor.

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 205 to require the eligibility periods for all public assistance programs administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services be extended to the maximum period of eligibility permitted under federal law; prohibit the Cabinet for Health and Family Services from relying exclusively on automated, artificial-intelligence based, or algorithmic software in the identification of fraud in programs administered by the cabinet; require Cabinet for Health and Family Services personnel to review relevant documentation before denying, discontinuing, or reducing an individual's benefits; amend KRS 205.178 to conform; amend KRS 205.231 to establish a presumption of innocence for public assistance beneficiaries when appealing a decision to disqualify the individual; create a new section of Subtitle 17 of KRS Chapter 304 to require insurers to provide a special enrollment period for pregnant individuals and specify coverage requirements; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to require health benefit plans that provide coverage for dependents to cover maternity care for all covered individuals regardless of age; amend KRS 18A.225, 164.2871, 194A.099, 205.522, 205.6485, and 205.5372 to conform; amend KRS 205.592 to allow Medicaid income limits for certain women and children to be increased under certain circumstances; create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 to require Medicaid coverage for lactation support services and breastfeeding supplies; amend KRS 205.1783 to require the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training program to offer the same services as are offered to Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program participants; amend KRS 100.982 and 100.984 to permit the operation of family child-care homes in any residential zone without a conditional use permit; amend KRS 199.894 to define terms; create a new section of KRS Chapter 199 to establish the Child Care Assistance Program; create a new section of KRS Chapter 383 to allow court eviction-records to be expunged after three years; require payment of back rent; create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to establish a tuition and student fee waiver for eligible pregnant women and parents; direct the Legislative Research Commission to establish the Basic Health Program Design Task Force to make recommendations regarding the basic health program eligibility, cost sharing, and reimbursement rates; authorize the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish a basic health program; direct the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to prepare and submit federal waiver applications to provide supported housing and supported employment services to certain Medicaid beneficiaries; to waive the single risk pool requirement and establish a state-based reinsurance program; and to permit the cabinet to accept SNAP applications from incarcerated individuals up to six months prior to release; appropriate to the Kentucky Housing Corporation: 2024-2026: $10,000,000 for a rental assistance program for pregnant women and households that include children under the five years of age; appropriate to the Department of Agriculture: 2024-2026 $2,200,000 to establish a school nutrition reimbursement program and to support the Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Assistance Program; appropriate to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services: 2024-2025: $284,843,200, 2025-2026: $314,838,400 to expand the Women, Infants, and Children Farmers Market Nutrition Assistance Program to include Jefferson County, establish a Women, Infants, and Children's Program supplemental payment, expand Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training program offerings; support the Child Care Assistance Program, and fund an additional 280 slots in the Home and Community Based waiver program, an additional 2,100 slots in the Michelle P. waiver program, and an additional 800 slots in the Supports for Community Living waiver program; direct the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval as necessary; direct the Department of Insurance to seek a federal cost defrayment waiver as necessary; provide that the Act may be cited as the Advancing Lives for Pregnancy and Healthy Alternatives Act or the ALPHA Act; APPROPRIATION; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2025.

  RECENT STATUS

1/5/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Appropriations & Revenue (S)

1/2/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to public health.

Amend KRS 211.684 to define "state child and maternal fatality review team"; require the Department for Public Health to establish a state child and maternal fatality review team; modify required annual reporting requirements; amend KRS 216.2929 to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to report methods of delivery by hospital annually on its website beginning December 1, 2024. Senate Committee Substitute (1) Retain original provisions, except delete the definitions of "local child and maternal fatality response team" and "state child and maternal fatality review team"; permit the Department for Public Health to establish a separate state child fatality review team; provide that the child fatality review team may include representatives of law enforcement agencies with investigation responsibilities for child fatalities and the Commonwealth's and county attorney offices; permit rather than require the development of local child fatality response teams; delete inclusion of "maternal" in local teams; require the state review teams to cooperate with the External Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Panel; require the department to establish a state maternal fatality review team; provide that the state maternal fatality review team may include representatives of public health, social services, law enforcement, coroners, health-care providers, and other agencies or professions deemed appropriate; establish the duties of the state maternal fatality review team; permit separate reports for the state child fatality review team and the state maternal fatality review team; add protections for the proceedings, records, opinions, and deliberations of the state child fatality review team and the maternal fatality review team; amend KRS 211.686 to delete the inclusion of "maternal" in local teams; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to use health data collected pursuant to KRS 216.2920 to 216.2929 for annual delivery reports and permit the use of other sources if necessary. House Committee Substiotute (1) Retain original provisions; amend KRS 211.575 to change the required statewide system for stroke response and treatment annual report date to September 1 of each year; amend KRS 211.689 to change the definition of "home visitation" and "home visitation program" and make technical changes; amend KRS 211.690 to allow for an electronic agreement to be submitted for the HANDS program; amend KRS 213.046 to change the reference from local registrar to state registrar and a timeline for submission from 10 days to five days related to birth certificates; amend KRS 387.540, related to individuals that compile an interdisciplinary report, to add an employee of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services with relevant expertise; make technical changes. House Floor Amendment (2) Create a new section of KRS Chapter 211 to establish the Kentucky Maternal Psychiatry Access Program, also known as the Kentucky Lifeline for Moms; establish duties and responsibilities of the program; direct that the program shall be operated by the Department for Public Health, Division of Maternal and Child Health; amend KRS 211.122 to establish that the collaborative panel related to maternal and infant health shall be renamed the Kentucky Maternal and Infant Health Collaborative; establish formal membership of the collaborative; require that the collaborative annually review the operations of the new Kentucky Maternal Psychiatry Access Program; amend KRS 211.690, related to the Health Access Nurturing Development Services Program to require the HANDS Program provide information related to lactation consultation, breastfeeding, and safe sleep for babies; establish that the program participants shall participate in the home visitation program through in-person face-to-face methods or through tele-service delivery methods; create a new section of Subtitle 17A of KRS Chapter 304 to require insurers and any exchange to provide a special enrollment period for pregnant individuals; specify requirements for the coverage; require group plan insurers to provide notice of special enrollment rights; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to require health benefit plans that provide coverage for dependents to provide coverage for maternity care; amend KRS 304.17A-220 and 194A.099 to conform with the special enrollment requirement; amend KRS 18A.225 and 164.2871 to require the state employee health plan and self-insured state postsecondary education institution group health plans to comply with the special enrollment and maternity coverage requirements; amend KRS 205.522 to require Medicaid coverage of maternity services; amend KRS 205.592 to allow Medicaid income limit for certain women and children to be increased under certain circumstances; amend KRS 205.6485 to require Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program to provide maternity coverage; 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 lactation consultation and breastfeeding equipment; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a Medicaid waiver if potential cost defrayment or loss of federal funds is identified; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to study doula certification programs nationally; amend KRS 304.17A-145 to define "in-home program" and "telehealth"; establish health insurance coverage for an in-home program and telehealth services; amend new section of KRS Chapter 205 to define "in-home program" and "telehealth"; establish health insurance coverage for an in-home program and telehealth services; EFFECTIVE, in part, January 1, 2025.

  RECENT STATUS

4/18/2024 - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

4/15/2024 - delivered to Governor

4/15/2024 - Enrolled, Signed by Speaker of the House

AN ACT relating to Medicaid coverage for certified professional midwifery services.

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 certified professional midwifery services that are provided by a licensed certified professional midwife; 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.

  RECENT STATUS

3/15/2024 - (H) recommitted to committee House Appropriations & Revenue (H)

3/15/2024 - (H) SECOND READING, to Rules

3/14/2024 - (H) FIRST READING

AN ACT relating to lactating students.

Create new sections of KRS Chapters 158 and 164 to require public schools, public charter schools, and public postsecondary institutions to provide reasonable accommodations to a lactating student; set forth the minimum requirements for those reasonable accommodations; require public schools, public charter schools, and public postsecondary institutions to provide lactating students a reasonable amount of time to express breast milk or breastfeed without incurring an academic penalty.

  RECENT STATUS

1/10/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Education (S)

1/8/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to a sales and use tax exemption for diapers.

Amend KRS 139.010 to define "clothing" and "diaper"; amend KRS 139.480 to exempt all diapers from the sales and use tax.

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  RECENT STATUS

1/10/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Appropriations & Revenue (S)

1/8/2024 - Introduced

AN ACT relating to freestanding birthing centers.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 216B to define "freestanding birthing center"; require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to promulgate updated administrative regulations to establish licensure standards for freestanding birthing centers, including requiring accreditation by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers, compliance with the American Association of Birth Centers' Standards for Birth Centers, and consistent plans for transfer and safe transport to a hospital as needed, and to delineate medical malpractice insurance requirements for centers; exempt a center with no more than four beds from certificate-of-need requirements for establishing and licensing a freestanding birthing center; state intent not to limit or expand liability of a center or health care provider or facility; add requirement for medical malpractice insurance for freestanding birthing centers; prohibit abortions in freestanding birthing centers; amend KRS 216B.015 to include freestanding birthing centers in the definition of "health facility"; amend KRS 216B.020, 196.173, 211.122, 211.647, 211.660, 213.046, 214.155, 214.565, 214.567, 214.569, 216.2920, and 216.2970 to conform; provide that the Act may be cited as the Mary Carol Akers Birth Centers Act.

  RECENT STATUS

1/12/2024 - (S) Referred to Committee Senate Health Services (S)

1/10/2024 - Introduced