A bill Kentucky hospitals say was essential to preserving funds for charity care appears dead after lawmakers in the House late Friday rolled Senate Bill 14 — plus several other health measures — into a single bill, effectively killing it.
In announcing the demise of his SB 14 — meant to strengthen access to a federal program that raises money from pharmaceutical companies — an angry Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, compared it to the Kenny Rogers’ song “Lucille.”
“I’ve seen some good times and I’ve seen some bad times, but this time the hurting won’t heal,” Meredith said in a Friday night speech on the Senate floor.
“It’s crushing to me,” he added, saying it puts funding from the 340B Drug Pricing Program for health care at risk throughout Kentucky. “This is not just a luxury, this is a lifeline, a financial lifeline for many of our communities.
The House action Friday also killed an unrelated bill sought by the state’s largest treatment program, Addiction Recovery Care, or ARC, to protect Medicaid payments for treatment services.
Sen. Craig Richardson, R-Hopkinsville. (LRC Public Information)
Senate Bill 153, sponsored by Sen. Craig Richardson, R-Hopkinsville, would have placed limits on how insurance companies that handle most of Kentucky’s Medicaid claims can restrict payments to providers they consider “outliers.”
But in a dizzying series of changes, the House deleted contents of SB 153, replacing it with Meredith’s SB 14, as well as several other measures, effectively killing them all. With only two days left in the session, it’s too late to revive them, sponsors say.
By turning SB 153 into Meredith’s SB 14 — among other changes —“in that moment, the bill was dead,” Richardson said in an email.
“It will be a fight for next session,” Richardson said.
Meredith said Richardson, a freshman lawmaker, afterwards expressed surprise at the outcome.
“I told him, ‘Welcome to the General Assembly,’” Meredith said.
‘Unworkable’ changes
Also included in the now-defunct bill was a measure by Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, R-Taylor Mill, to create new, detailed reporting requirements for nonprofit hospitals and clinics on funds they receive through the 340B program.
Moser had argued at a committee hearing that such measures were needed to improve “transparency.”
Meredith said the reporting requirements were excessive and “just ridiculous.”
And the Kentucky Hospital Association, which had lobbied heavily for Meredith’s SB 14, said it could not support the newly-created version, describing the reporting requirements as “counterproductive.”
The changes “make the program unworkable, and Kentucky’s hospitals cannot embrace such legislation,” said a statement from a spokesperson.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, along with several other industry and employer groups, had opposed SB 14, arguing the 340B program has expanded too rapidly with little oversight and must be better managed. They argue 340B must be reformed by Congress, which created it in 1992 and has done little to check its growth.
It has devolved into a program in which hospitals and clinics get prescription drugs at steep discounts, and then, for insured patients, bill Medicaid and private insurance companies for the market price and pocket the difference, they said.
Calling it a “hospital markup program,” PhRMA spokesman Reid Porter said the discussion in Kentucky underscores the need for federal action.
“It must shift from a loophole benefiting tax-exempt hospitals at the expense of Kentuckians to a system that truly supports vulnerable patients and communities,” he said. “We appreciate the legislators who prioritized transparency and took steps to bring greater accountability to how 340B is used and we continue to support these changes at the federal level.”
ARC and the FBI
As for the original version of SB 153, it had drawn opposition from the Kentucky Association of Health Plans, or KAHP, which represents insurers and pointed out that ARC, one of the bill’s chief backers, is under investigation by the FBI for possible health care fraud.
SB 153 — meant to limit how private insurers known as managed care organizations, or MCOs, can withhold Medicaid payments they find questionable — would make it harder to act in such cases, it said in a March 12 news release prior to changes to SB 153 that killed it.
“The federal government is cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse,” Tom Stephens, KAHP CEO, said in the news release. “What kind of message does it send that Kentucky is doing the exact opposite.”
This week, Stephens welcomed the end of SB 153.
“We appreciate voices in the General Assembly arguing for real accountability,” Stephens said. “We have witnessed that a lack of guardrails has been a boon for disreputable providers and resulted in significant abuse of taxpayer dollars.
The FBI has not brought any charges in the investigation of ARC that it announced in August.
ARC has said it provides quality treatment services and is cooperating with the FBI.
‘The white flag’
Hospital officials who spoke to lawmakers in support of Senate Bill 14 on Feb. 5 include, from left, Angela Portman, CEO of Breckinridge Health; Nancy Galvagni, president of the Kentucky Hospital Association; Don Lloyd, CEO of UK St. Claire Regional Medical Center, and Brian Springate, CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare’s Hazard hospital. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Deborah Yetter)
Meredith, a former hospital CEO who was pushing his 340B bill for the second year, vowed he’s not giving up on legislation he said is needed to preserve health services, especially in rural areas where hospitals are struggling.
With potential Medicaid cuts looming at the federal level, Meredith said action is urgently needed.
“I guess I’ve got to wave the white flag on this one for this session but it will be back in 2026,” he said in Friday’s speech to fellow lawmakers. “I’m not just asking you for help on this, I’m begging you.”
In an interview, Meredith said the 340B program brings in about $250 million a year that hospitals and clinics, rural and urban, use to shore up charity care services. It doesn’t all have to go for direct care for patients who can’t pay, he said.
For example, one rural hospital uses proceeds to enhance nurses’ salaries to avoid losing them to larger hospital systems that pay more. Others use proceeds to enhance cancer care or other treatment they couldn’t otherwise afford.
“The program was never meant to provide charity care as much as it was to provide access to care,” he said.
Without his bill’s protection, pharmaceutical companies will continue to try to limit discounts and the type of drugs shipped to Kentucky, which will erode 340B funds, he said adding, “It just boggles my mind we’re willing to walk away from $250 million a year.”
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Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.
SUMMARY: The weather forecast includes a tornado watch for far northwestern communities like Jackson and Lawrence counties, effective until 11 PM. Scattered storms have started to develop due to high heat and humidity. The Steamboat Race is about to begin near the Ohio River, with dry conditions so far but some storms may pop up nearby. Temperatures are around 84°F with 50% humidity and a light southwest breeze. Evening storms are expected mainly along I-64 and points north. Wednesday night will quiet down, but Thursday will see scattered storms again, especially in the afternoon. Rain chances continue through Derby week, but mostly in periodic showers with plenty of dry times. The unsettled pattern will likely ease by next week.
SUMMARY: Severe weather is expected to return on Thursday, with a cold front moving through the Ohio Valley and re-energizing the atmosphere, creating conditions for strong to severe storms, including damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes. All of Central and Eastern Kentucky is under a Level 2 (Slight Risk) for severe weather. The storms will be fueled by gusty southwest winds, pushing temperatures into the low 80s. For Oaks Day (Friday), scattered showers and storms are likely, and the forecast for Derby Day (Saturday) is uncertain, with possible lingering clouds and showers. Temperatures will be cooler, staying in the mid-60s for the weekend.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Dave Mason | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-29 19:00:00
(The Center Square) – California and Arizona Tuesday joined 22 other states and the District of Columbia to sue the Trump administration to stop cuts in AmeriCorps’ grants and workforce.
The lawsuit objects to the federal government reducing 85% of the workforce for the agency, which promotes national service and volunteer work addressing disaster recovery and other community needs.
According to americorps.gov, the agency enrolls more than 200,000 people each year in community service organizations. AmeriCorps also provides more than $4.8 billion in education awards.
Besides California and Arizona, states filing the suit are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February directing every federal agency to reduce its staff. Since then, AmeriCorps has placed at least 85% of its workforce on administrative leave immediately and told employees they would be dismissed effective June 24, according to a news release from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
The states’ lawsuit contends the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce AmeriCorps and its grants violate the Administrative Procedures Act and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.
California is co-leading the lawsuit against the Trump administration.
“In California, AmeriCorps volunteers build affordable housing, clean up our environment, and address food insecurity in communities across our state,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “California has repeatedly taken action to hold the Trump Administration and DOGE accountable to the law — and we stand prepared to do it again to protect AmeriCorps and the vital services it provides.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office said the cuts in AmeriCorps affect grants such as:
$700,000 for Northern Arizona University, Arizona Teacher’s Residency, designed to address teacher shortages.
$308,000 for Area Agency on Aging, Caring Circles, which helps older Arizonans with needs such as transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping and help with technology.
$495,000 for Vista College Prepartory’s tutoring and teacher support for math and reading for low-income students.
“AmeriCorps represents the best of our nation – providing opportunities for millions of Americans to serve their neighbors and communities and make our country a better place to live,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said. “By unilaterally gutting this Congressionally authorized agency, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have yet again violated the law and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution. Their illegal actions will harm Arizona communities.”
Mayes noted studies show AmeriCorps programs generate more than $34 per every dollar spent in terms of their impact on communities.
“Slashing these programs serves no purpose and is incredibly short-sighted from those claiming to champion efficiency,” she said.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article reports on a legal action filed by multiple states against the Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps, without offering an overt ideological stance. The content outlines the details of the lawsuit, the parties involved, and their claims. The language used is largely factual, describing the positions of the states, particularly California and Arizona, without endorsing one side. While the article highlights the perceived impacts of the cuts and quotes politicians critical of the Trump administration, it refrains from promoting an explicit viewpoint, focusing instead on reporting the legal and administrative actions at hand. The tone remains neutral and provides an equal space to both the states’ concerns and the implications of the lawsuit. It primarily serves as a factual report on the legal challenge, rather than an advocacy piece, and does not adopt a partisan perspective on the issue.
