Rep. Dossett talks ‘bare bones’ budget bill, state employee health insurance

As the 2026 budget making session of the Kentucky General Assembly continues, a lot of information is coming out of Frankfort, and Representative Myron Dossett of Pembroke wanted to settle some fears about some of that information.

In a letter Friday afternoon, the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet issued a letter to members of the Kentucky Employee Health Plan, detailing what would be hard impacts to health insurance costs for employees, if House Bill 500 passed the legislature as it is right now. HB 500, best known as the working budget, would call for a limit of a five percent employer contribution to health insurance costs. That proposed cap would likely mean a cost increase to plan members.

Representative Dossett urges everyone to not panic however, saying House Bill 500 is very bare bones by design, allowing the general assembly to craft a more financially sound bill, and it is no where near the final product.

He says the numbers coming from the Governor's Office keep changing, so now, the cabinets will have to come before the legislature and explain their funding requests and where that money will go.

Representative Dossett says he finds the timing of this letter to be questionable, considering the Office of the Kentucky Auditor just released finding on what it calls 'extravagant' spending by the Governor's Office.

The budget hasn't yet made it to the floor of the House for a vote--it still has to undergo amendments and changes, pass the House, then go over to the Senate who will make their own changes, go through conferences between both chambers and pass the Senate and then head to the governor to be signed before becoming law.