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Beshear and health officials warn of deep social‑service cuts after legislature’s funding choices
Summary
Governor Andy Beshear and Dr. Stack said the latest budget will force reductions across Medicaid and social services—noting a roughly 4% cut in year one and 7% in year two and an estimated $900 million to $1 billion funding gap—and described planned provider rate reductions and programmatic impacts including foster care and senior meals.
Governor Andy Beshear and state health officials warned that the General Assembly’s funding choices in the most recent budget will require reductions across multiple social service programs, including Medicaid, foster‑care payments and the senior meal program.
Beshear introduced Dr. Stack to outline the scope of the reductions, saying the administration repeatedly warned the legislature about the impacts of underfunding. "These are services that we support. These are families that need help, but we can't provide dollars that don't exist," Beshear said. He told providers and affected communities the administration will communicate directly as decisions are finalized.
Dr. Stack summarized the general approach and scale of the changes: he said the budget structure produces roughly a "4% reduction in year 1 and a 7% reduction in year 2," and characterized the overall funding shortfall as "in the ballpark of $900 million to $1 billion." He said the administration will pursue provider payment reductions beginning in the next fiscal year, adjust rates selectively across provider categories, and in some categories hold rates flat rather than providing inflationary increases. He warned that foster‑care rates and certain special programs will be affected and that deeper reductions will hit agencies that saw larger percentage cuts.
Dr. Stack said the Department for Community‑Based Services and other CHFS programs will see adjustments and that the administration will communicate details to impacted vendors and clinicians before public releases: "We will be communicating, directly with impacted vendors, impacted clinicians, provider groups, and others," he said. He also said the senior meal program faces a $9.1 million reduction because the General Assembly did not sustain a prior funding infusion.
Beshear said the administration will try to "make the pain as diffuse as possible" to retain foster homes and essential supports, and he urged legislative discussions during interim committee work. He framed budget reductions as the result of both state and broader federal funding decisions and said the administration will continue dialogue with legislators in hopes of averting further cuts.
The governor also announced a separate executive action on medical cannabis: because the legislature did not clarify qualifying conditions, Beshear said he signed an executive order directing the Office of Medical Cannabis to issue an emergency regulation clarifying coverage for 15 additional conditions that the administration believes are already encompassed by existing law.
Officials said they will provide more specific guidance to providers and affected communities as implementation details are finalized; Dr. Stack asked stakeholders to monitor official communications for provider‑specific announcements.
