With swim season upon us, here are water-safety tips; drowning is the top cause of accidental death among young children

Photo: cdc.gov Summer fun often includes heading to the swimming pool or lake, but it's important to remember that all water activities ...

2/3 of wrecks that kill children occur on rural roads

New York Times photo Unintentional injury is the most common cause of death in children under the age of 15; car wrecks are the most common ...

Nelson County starting syringe exchange on one-for-one basis

Requiring "a clean needle for every dirty one . . . isn't the best practice to reduce the spread of blood-borne pathogens such as H...

Misconception that skin color determines who will get skin cancer is dangerous, medical experts say

Melanoma is often found in hard to see places that are never exposed to the sun. goldinskin.com The misconception that people with darker sk...

American Academy of Pediatrics says children under the age of 1 should not be given fruit juice

Children who are less than a year old should not drink fruit juice because it offers them no nutritional benefit, according to new  guidelin...

Tick season is expected to be more dangerous this year; here are lots of tips to keep you protected

Warm weather and outdoor activities go hand in hand, but it also mean tick season is upon us -- and it's expected to be a bad one this y...

Organized sports provide about 20 minutes of real exercise per hour of activity; CDC says children should exercise an hour a day

Wikipedia By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News We live in a world where children are more likely to participate in organized sports and a...

Nurse practitioners want to change law that requires them to make deals with physicians to prescribe strong painkillers

Nurse practitioners Julie Gaskins, left, and Beth Partin own Family First Health in Columbia. (Photo by Melissa Patrick) By Melissa Patrick...

McConnell says he doesn't know how he will get votes to repeal and replace Obamacare; his Republican colleagues turn gloomy

Mitch McConnell ( Reuters photo by Joshua Roberts) " U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday he does not yet kn...

State health plan provides free or low- cost diabetic meds and supplies; study finds program improves employees' health

Kentucky.gov photo An analysis of Kentucky's state-employee health insurance plan, which provides free or reduced-cost diabetic medicati...

Medicaid managed-care firm WellCare funds scholarships to train more doctors, psychiatrists and advanced-practice nurses in E.Ky.

WellCare of Kentucky is providing $180,000 for two new University of Kentucky scholarship programs aimed at increasing the number of prima...

Ky. is a national leader in hepatitis C, but many counties at risk shun syringe exchanges that could prevent disease outbreaks

"Growing intravenous drug use by people sharing syringes to inject heroin and other substances" has helped make Kentucky a nationa...

This week, Sen. Mitch McConnell can start making decisions about what Senate Republicans will put in their health bill

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's role in the national health debate "will come into sharp relief this week," Burgess Everett and Je...

Trump budget will include big cuts to Medicaid, maybe work rules

The detailed budget that the Trump administration will release Tuesday will contain big cuts to Medicaid, reflecting the approach of the hea...

National committee studying health impacts of surface coal mining in Central Appalachia to have first meeting in region Tuesday

A national committee studying the health impacts of surface coal mining in Central Appalachia will have its first public meeting in the regi...

Paul tells doctors and officials at Ashland hospital, a beneficiary of Medicaid expansion, that the country can't afford to keep it

Sen. Rand Paul at the hospital. ( Daily Independent photo by Rachel Adkins) The nation can't afford to continue the expansion of Medica...

Study of Ind. Medicaid, proposed model for Ky., finds more than half of enrollees missed paying a premium and thus lost coverage

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky's plan to change Medicaid would require poor people to pay small, income-based premiums...

Beshear joins lawsuit to defend Obamacare cost-sharing subsidies; D.C. appeals court to consider request Monday

By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear and 15 of his counterparts have filed a motion aimed at maint...

Second town in tobacco-loving Grayson County goes smoke-free; local Population Health Committee's efforts helped

Clarkson , in Grayson County ( Wikipedia map) By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Two of the three towns in Grayson County now have smo...