Preface

This report is the product of a collaborative effort of the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center and the University of Kentucky Center for Health Services Management and Research. What Next for Kentucky Health Care? continues to advance the distinct but highly compatible missions of these research centers to inform the policymaking arena and serve as catalysts for change.

Here, we focus on the growing problem of access to health care. The report examines national and state trends that are affecting access to health care, analyzes the difficult course of reform Kentucky has taken, and offers perspectives from state leaders in health care. Further, we examine some model state and community initiatives that have successfully closed gaps in access to health care and conclude with policy recommendations. This report should be of interest to policymakers and citizens alike who are concerned about the issue of access to health care in Kentucky.

The KENTUCKY LONG-TERM POLICY RESEARCH CENTER

The Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center was created by the General Assembly in 1992 to bring a broader context to the decisionmaking process. The Center’s mission is to illuminate the long-range implications of current policies, emerging issues, and trends influencing the Commonwealth’s future. The Center has a responsibility to identify and study issues of long-term significance to the Commonwealth and to serve as a mechanism for coordinating resources and groups to focus on long-term planning. Michael T. Childress serves as Executive Director of the Center.

The Center for Health Services Management and Research

The University of Kentucky Center for Health Services Management and Research is an internationally renowned Center of Excellence that informs health policy, influences health systems and ultimately improves the health of individuals and populations. The Center for Health Services Management and Research provides research, consultation, and education in health systems to improve the health of individuals and populations in the Commonwealth and beyond. Its primary goals are: to develop a nationally recognized research program focused on improving access to, and the use, costs, quality, accessibility, delivery, organization, financing, and outcomes of health care services; to improve knowledge and understanding about the structure, processes, and effects of health services for individuals and populations; to provide an independent source of health management and health policy information, analysis, consultation, and technical assistance primarily for key stakeholders in the Commonwealth; and to provide leadership in educating health professionals, policymakers, students and the public in health services research, policy and management. F. Douglas Scutchfield, M.D., serves as Director of the Center.

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Footnotes

Michal Smith-Mello is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center. She was lead author of the Center’s inaugural trends report, as well as reports on rural development, workforce development, and entrepreneurship. She has written articles on such topics as poverty, higher education, civic engagement, and women’s health, and edited diverse reports. She created and continues to edit the Center’s quarterly publication, Foresight. Ms. Smith-Mello has held numerous writing and editorial posts and conducted research into topics such as organizational change in the workplace, economic development, workplace safety and health, and the impact of tourism on women in rural economies. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she earned a BA and an MA.

Julia Field Costich is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky Center for Health Services Management & Research. She served as a policy analyst with the Kentucky Health Policy Board and the Kentucky Health Purchasing Alliance, where she also held the position of Interim Executive Director. Previously she practiced health law and administered clinical services in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Her current research includes analysis of Kentucky health reform, health insurance coverage, and federal and state legal issues. She holds a JD and MPA from the University of Kentucky, and an AB from Duke University.

F. Douglas Scutchfield is the Peter P. Bosomworth Professor of Health Services Research and Policy and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health. He is Director of Graduate Studies for the Master in Health Administration program and Director of the Division of Health Services Management. He is also the Acting Associate Dean for Public Health in the College of Medicine and Director of the School of Public Health. He holds an MD degree from the University of Kentucky and a BS from Eastern Kentucky University. His major areas of research are public health practice and administration, managed care, and preventive services, all areas in which he has published widely. He is editor of the Journal of Preventive Medicine and of several textbooks in public health.  Return to text.