Andy Beshear set out to make drug treatment widely available in Kentucky. Fraud and abuse followed.

By: Alex Acquisto, Lexington Herald-Leader, Taylor Six, Lexington Herald-Leader

Outlets: Kentucky Lantern

Published: August 4, 2026

Words: 2,255

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 1 day ago

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This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Lexington Herald-Leader.

By the end of 2020, Kentucky’s newly elected Gov. Andy Beshear had one goal above all others: Keep people alive. The state was battling two merciless threats. COVID-19 was killing hundreds of people each month, and deadly drug overdoses were among the highest in the nation. Calling addiction a disease that breeds in isolation, Beshear worried people …

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