FRANKFORT — A Republican proposal to let Kentucky pharmacists get Medicaid reimbursement for routine services like flu tests and medication therapy management breezed through the Senate unanimously on Wednesday.
Sponsor Sen. Craig Richardson, R-Hopkinsville, pitched Senate Bill 38 as a way to lower overall health care costs, improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary visits to emergency rooms throughout the state.
“When patients can safely receive routine care such as a flu or strip testing (and) medication and disease management at their local pharmacy, they are far less likely to end up in the emergency room, and the emergency room is the most expensive place to deliver basic care,” Richardson said in a floor speech.
He said it would also “control cost without expanding Medicaid, without adding new benefits and without changing eligibility.”
“Pharmacies are often the most accessible health care provider, particularly in rural and underserved urban communities,” Richardson said. “Senate Bill 38 recognizes the expertise of pharmacists and allows them to practice at the top of their license, making better use of an existing health care resource, rather than creating a new government program.”
An August 2025 report from the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) found that 90% of Kentuckians live within five miles of a community pharmacy while the state faces a shortage of primary care physicians.
The state is expected to have a shortage of nearly 3,000 physicians by 2030, according to that report.
SB 38 can now head to the House for consideration.
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Sarah Ladd is a Louisville-based journalist and Kentuckian. She has covered everything from crime to higher education. In 2020, she started reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and has covered health ever since.
