KENTUCKY — On this week's "In Focus Kentucky" program, we’re focusing on a new state law that expands insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering.

According to Cincinnati Childrens, the exact cause of stuttering is unknown. However, most experts agree that stuttering has a neurological basis, affecting areas of the brain that control how speech and language are processed. Stuttering can run in families due to a genetic cause.

During the 2024 General Assembly legislative session in Frankfort, State Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, sponsored Senate bill 111, that was later signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., that now requires insurers to cover speech therapy costs to treat stuttering

In this segment, Westerfield talks about the obstacles many people face in getting the treatment they need.

"Well, it really interesting story and funny how things come together for legislators. Sometimes we work on projects and policies for a number of years or sessions trying to get the language right, work with stakeholders and then other times it just drops in your lap and this is one of those for me. Michael Kidd Gilchrist and I have a mutual friend and that friend reached out and said MKG wants to talk to you about something in the legislative world, would you be willing to talk to him? And as a UK fan, how are you going to turn down a chance to talk to Michael Kidd Gilchrist? I said sure, of course. And this is the product of that first conversation. I didn't know anything about stuttering. I hadn't thought of it in my 12 years in the legislature. It's not something I had thought about much at all, speech therapy generally that is, not to mention, stuttering itself. So he and his team really did a great job educating me on the need for this and why it's such a problem. Once that bill draft was created, I shared that with him and with his team, including with the lady named Meg Shake, who was his therapist when he was a student at the University of Kentucky. And we worked on different provisions, also, obviously in concert with the legislative staff to come up with what you see in Senate Bill 111," explained Westerfield.

The final version of the legislative bill that was signed into law applies to various health insurance policies, such as limited health service benefit plans, Medicaid and self-insured employer group health plans provided by a postsecondary education institution or a state employee health plan. This regulation takes effect in Kentucky starting Jan. 1, 2025, and will apply to policies issued or renewed on or after that date. The bill also instructs state agencies to work with federal agencies and authorities to ensure compliance with federal law. The language of the law includes specific sections explaining how habilitative and rehabilitative services are implicated, stating that these services that assist in maintaining, learning, or improving skills should be included in the health insurance coverage, regardless of how the stuttering is diagnosed.

You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.