Registration is now open for Kentucky Voices for Health’s 2024 Annual Meeting! The meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 10th at the Griffin Gate Marriott in Lexington, KY. We are very excited to bring together members of our coalition from across the commonwealth (along with some very special guests) for a day of learning, networking, and resource sharing.
Tickets are $30 with your KVH membership, and $60 without KVH membership. If cost is a barrier to you attending, please contact us.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Health advocates, consumers, community leaders, policymakers, public employees, nonprofit organization staff, frontline service providers, outreach workers, educators, researchers, faith leaders, and others who serve their communities. Special pricing is available for KVH members, kynectors, CHWs, and students.
2024 ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA
8:30 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE
9:00 IMMUNIZATION CLINIC OPENS
9:30 WELCOME AND HOUSEKEEPING
Dr. Sheila Schuster, Board Chair of Kentucky Voices for Health
Jacqueline Coleman, Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
9:45 UPDATES FROM THE CABINET FOR HEALTH & FAMILY SERVICES
With Medicaid renewals, new and expanded services, and a host of exciting initiatives to improve access to care for students, incarcerated Kentuckians, and individuals living with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) or Substance Use Disorder (SUD), it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s changing. This session will provide updates on Medicaid renewals for children, as well as the implementation of new legislation and regulations to cover more comprehensive services to improve the health of Kentuckians (e.g. CHW reimbursement, Non-Emergency Medical Transportation, Maternal Mental Health Hotline, etc.). This session will also include an overview of recently proposed demonstration projects to better serve Kentuckians being released from incarceration as well as those living with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), and, a summary for recently submitted recommendations to the state legislature for doula care in Kentucky and how doula services can become available for Medicaid reimbursement.
Lisa Lee, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services
10:30 DELIVERING FOR KENTUCKIANS: DESIGNING KYNECT TO FOSTER BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Kentucky’s integrated eligibility and enrollment system, better known as kynect, has made applying for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) easier and more streamlined for thousands of Kentuckians, but barriers and opportunities to address them remain. Some individuals face identity proofing hurdles, document upload errors, or computer literacy challenges that make applying or renewing on kynect complicated,confusing, and at times inaccessible. Code for America is a national nonprofit that promotes delivery-driven policymaking based on the belief that government at all levels can and should work well for people by breaking down barriers to meet community needs. This session will explore how applying human-centered design principles can transform kynect into a better experience that is accessible, faster, easier, and more accurate for both beneficiaries and state workers, simultaneously fostering better outcomes and civic engagement.
Priscilla Easterling (moderator), Director of Outreach & Enrollment at KVH
Danny Mintz, Associate Policy Director for Safety Net for Code for America
Katina Miner, Advocacy Director at Kentucky Legal Aid
Carrie Banahan, Deputy Secretary of Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Jennifer Harp, Executive Director of Office of Application Technology Services
11:45 NETWORKING LUNCH
12:45 KVH UPDATES
Emily Beauregard, Executive Director of KVH
Holly Hudnall, Director of Community Engagement & Education at KVH
1:15 KEEPING PUSHING: MAKING POLICY DELIVER FOR KENTUCKY MOMS AND BABIES
Kentucky has made major strides in addressing maternal health disparities that have disproportionately impacted Black and Brown Kentuckians, individuals with substance use disorders, families experiencing poverty, rural communities, and those who are uninsured at the time they become pregnant. Recent regulations and legislation focus on upstream interventions that promote prevention and create a stronger foundation of supports for pregnant and postpartum moms. These include a special coverage enrollment period for pregnancy, lactation supplies and consultation, expansion of HANDS (Health Access Nurturing Development Services) up to age 3, a new helpline to support providers who are caring for moms (and dads!) struggling with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), the extension of Medicaid postpartum coverage from 2 months to a full year, and a commissioned study to look at the impact of doula care. Panelists will share their perspectives on the current maternal health landscape, discuss the potential these policies have to reduce disparities and where policymakers should continue to focus their attention.
Kelly Taulbee (moderator), Director of Development & Communications at KVH
Shantae Bruce, Birth Doula at Hope’s Embrace
Victoria Burslem, APRN, Nurse-Midwife, Senior Instructor at Frontier Nursing University
Edward Miller, MD, Division Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at UofL Health
Shemika Whiteside, Founder & Executive Director of Zora’s Cradle
2:25 BREAK
2:45 2025 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW: ADVANCING POLICIES FOR A HEALTHIER KENTUCKY
State legislators will respond to the challenges Kentuckians face in achieving good health and wellbeing and discuss policy opportunities to build a more equitable Commonwealth. This dialogue will focus on how advocates can support legislation during the 2025 General Assembly that will address barriers to care such as cost, prior authorization burdens, narrow networks, and lack of transportation. Other policy opportunities include greater supports for healthy moms and babies, improving access to behavioral, dental and oral healthcare, fixing the benefits cliff for working Kentuckians, investing in early childhood education , increasing the availability of school-based health services, and expanding access to paid parental leave.
Sen. Amanda Mays-Bledsoe (SD12)
Rep. Derek Lewis (HD90)
Rep. Keturah Herron (HD-42), Senator-elect for SD-35
Rep. Lindsey Burke (HD75)
Rep. Michael Meredith (HD19)
4:00 WRAP UP
2024 ANNUAL MEETING SPONSORSHIP
We are so grateful to our sponsors who make this work possible!
Would your organization be interested in sponsoring this year’s annual meeting?
View more information HERE or email Kelly Taulbee to get started.
