By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
Just nine days into the 2026 legislative session, several of the many health-related bills that have been filed are already on the move.
They are:
• Senate Bill 90, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London, would extend the Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program pilot project until Jan. 1, 2031. The pilot program began in 2023. It provides an alternative to incarceration by allowing eligible defendants to receive treatment for substance use and/or behavioral health disorders. SB 90 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 and awaits a vote in the full Senate.
• SB 38, sponsored by Sen. Craig Richardson, R-Hopkinsville, would require Medicaid and KCHIP to comply with the state’s pharmacy reimbursement requirements, to ensure pharmacists get compensated for the care they provide within their scope of practice. This bill is aimed at increasing health care access, especially in rural communities. SB 38 passed out of the Senate Health Services committee on Jan. 14 and is posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, Jan. 20.
• Senate Concurrent Resolution 9, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, directs the Legislative Research Commission to procure a vendor to conduct a feasibility study for the Accountable Communities for Health Medicaid delivery model pilot project. Meredith told the Senate Health Services committee on Jan. 14 that the five-year pilot project would involve five regions in the state, would be locally owned and driven, and would be predicted to lower health care spending by 30%. SCR9 is posted in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, Jan. 20.
• House Bill 176, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, would provide certain health care providers an exemption for the prior authorization process. Moser has been working on this bill for five years. The bill aims to address the process of health care providers having to seek permission from insurers before providing care, which Moser says is costly and time sensitive. The bill passed out of the House Banking & Insurance Committee on Jan. 14 and is posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, Jan. 20.
• HB 178, also sponsored by Moser, would make it easier for Kentuckians to get timely mental health care by supporting a collaborative care model , which allows primary care providers, care managers and consulting psychologists to work together so that patients can receive treatment in their primary care office, aimed at expanding capacity without increasing workforce costs. HB 178 passed out of the House Health Services committee on Jan. 15 and is posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, Jan. 20.
• HB 280, sponsored by Moser, would allow the Kentucky Board of Nursing to investigate nurse licenses from other states and require that all nurses who have out-of-state licenses and practice in Kentucky meet the same requirements of all other Kentucky nurses. It also updates prescribed rescue medication rules in school, including bronchodilator rescue inhalers, nebulizers, glucagon, Solu-Cortef and epinephrine. HB 280 passed out of the House Health Services Committee on Jan. 15 and is posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, Jan. 20.