Governor Andy Beshear signed three bills into law Thursday afternoon, two from the Senate and one from the House, that should bring easier times with first responders’ mental trauma, the doctor-patient relationship and the registration/titling process at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Sponsored by Senator Mike Wilson, Senate Bill 64 will allow any public agency to establish peer support counseling programs for any of the Commonwealth’s public safety officers who have faced traumatic, emotional and difficult incidents while on duty.
Beshear said this was especially needed following the last two years of difficulties surrounding both the COVID-19 pandemic and natural weather disasters — which have tried individuals time and again across the state.
Sponsored by Senator Max Wise, Senate Bill 140 allows for the patient-doctor relationship to take a new step in healthcare.
Patients may now legally take the medication that a doctor believes is best for their treatment, as opposed to the medicine that the insurance company — or those who set the drug price — think should work.
Previous to this legislation, patients were required to begin with insurance preferred medications and treatments.
Sponsored by Representative Michael Meredith, House Bill 284 streamlines the efficiency within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s vehicle title and registration process — by allowing the electronic filing of applications for titles and liens for certain indivuals.
Beshear noted that Kentuckians will still visit a county clerk’s office for vehicle registration and titling services, but this bill allows vehicle dealers and other financial partners to do their back-end work remotely.
Beshear also wanted to remind Kentuckians that four teams from the Commonwealth are playing in the 2022 NCAA Tournament: the men’s and women’s Kentucky Wildcats, the Murray State Racers, and the women’s Louisville Cardinals.
You can hear No. 2-seeded Kentucky against No. 15-seed Saint Peter’s tonight on WKDZ.
