{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-304.17b-003","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 304.17B-003","heading":"Establishment of Kentucky Health Care Improvement Authority --","body":"Members and meetings -- Programs and expenditure of funds -- Public\nhearings -- Annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly --\nLiabilities.\n(1) There is hereby established the Kentucky Health Care Improvement Authority as an\nagency, instrumentality, and political subdivision of the Commonwealth and a\npublic body corporate and politic with all the powers, duties, and responsibilities\nconferred upon it by statute and nec essary or convenient to carry out its functions.\nThe authority shall be administered by a board of fifteen (15) members and is\ncreated to perform the public functions of administering programs financed by the\nfunds appropriated to the authority in conforma nce with KRS 304.17B -001 to\n304.17B-031 and any terms and conditions established by the General Assembly as\na part of the act appropriating the funds. The members of the board shall consist of\nthe following:\n(a) The secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, or the secretary's\ndesignated representative, who shall serve as chair;\n(b) The commissioner of the Department of Insurance, or the commissioner's\ndesignated representative, who shall serve as vice chair;\n(c) Two (2) nonvoting members serv ing ex officio from the House of\nRepresentatives, one (1) of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the\nHouse and one (1) appointed by the minority floor leader, and who shall serve\na term of two (2) years;\n(d) Two (2) nonvoting members serving ex offic io from the Senate, one (1) of\nwhom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and one (1) appointed\nby the minority floor leader, and who shall serve a term of two (2) years;\n(e) The deans of the University of Louisville School of Medicine and the\nUniversity of Kentucky College of Medicine, or their designated\nrepresentatives;\n(f) The commissioner of the Department for Public Health, or the commissioner's\ndesignated representative;\n(g) Two (2) representatives of Kentucky health care providers, who s hall be\nappointed by the Governor; and\n(h) Four (4) citizens at large of the Commonwealth, who shall be appointed by\nthe Governor.\n(2) The terms of office of the initial appointments of the citizen at-large members of the\nboard shall expire one (1), two (2 ), three (3), and four (4) years respectively from\nthe expiration date of the initial appointment. One (1) of the initial terms of the\nrepresentatives of health care providers, at least one (1) of whom shall be male and\nat least one (1) of whom shall be female, shall be for two (2) years and one (1) shall\nbe for four (4) years. All succeeding appointments shall be for four (4) years from\nthe expiration date of the term of the initial appointment. Two (2) of the citizens at\nlarge shall be male and two (2) sh all be female. Board members shall serve until\ntheir successors are appointed.\n(3) In making private sector and citizen -at-large appointments to the board, the\nGovernor shall assure broad geographical and ethnic representation as well as\nrepresentation from consumers and the major sectors of Kentucky's health care and\nhealth insurance businesses. Private sector and citizen -at-large members shall serve\nwithout compensation but shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary\nexpenses.\n(4) The authority shall establish procedures for accountability, including the review of\nexpenditures, and  develop mechanisms to measure the success of programs that\nreceive allocated funds in accordance with any criteria or instructions provided by\nthe General Assembly. The authority shall be attached to the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services for administ rative purposes and shall establish advisory boards it\ndeems appropriate, which shall consist of health insurance consumers, health care\nproviders, and insurance company representatives, to assist with oversight of fund\nexpenditures.\n(5) Grants and funds o btained under KRS 304.17B -001 to 304.17B -031 shall be used\nfor expenditures as follows:\n(a) Seventy percent (70%) of all moneys in the fund shall be placed into the\nKentucky Access fund for the purpose of funding Kentucky Access;\n(b) Twenty percent (20%) o f all moneys in the fund shall be spent on a\ncollaborative partnership between the University of Louisville and the\nUniversity of Kentucky dedicated to lung cancer research; and\n(c) Ten percent (10%) of all moneys in the fund shall be used to discourage th e\nuse of harmful substances by minors.\n(6) The authority shall ensure that a public hearing is held on the expenditure of funds\nallocated under this section, except for funds allocated to the Kentucky Access\nfund. Advertisement of the public hearing shall be published at least once but may\nbe published two (2) more times, if one (1) publication occurs not less than seven\n(7) days nor more than twenty-one (21) days before the scheduled date of the public\nhearing. The authority shall submit an annual report t o the Governor and the\nGeneral Assembly indicating how the funds were used and an evaluation of the\nprogram's effectiveness in health care and access to health insurance for Kentucky\nresidents.\n(7) Neither the authority nor its employees shall be liable fo r any obligations of any of\nthe programs established under KRS 304.17B -001 to 304.17B -031. No member or\nemployee of the authority shall be liable, and no cause of action of any nature may\narise against them, for any act or omission related to the performan ce of their\npowers and duties under KRS 304.17B -001 to 304.17B -031, unless the act or\nomission constitutes willful or wanton misconduct. The authority may provide in its\npolicies and procedures for indemnification of, and legal representation for, its\nmembers and employees.\n(8) The authority shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and\neffectuate the purposes and provisions of KRS 304.17B -001 to 304.17B -031,\nincluding, but not limited to, retaining the staff it deems necessary for the proper\nperformance of its duties.\n(9) The authority shall meet at least quarterly and at other times upon call of the chair\nor a majority of the authority.","path":[],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=48812","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:57:48Z","sha256":"025c47095bc703e640d420de93485d0d0d7a7345dda31c8a130b542eb866ff80","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-304.17b-001","next":"us-ky/krs-304.17b-005"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}