Beshear Says Wellness Is Essential To Success

Governor Steve Beshear says Kentuckians need to take better care of themselves.Beshear made his comments at Idea Kentucky, an event designed to harness the brainpower of the Idea Festival for the benefit of the Commonwealth.After his remarks, Beshear said the state needs to focus on wellness programs to teach Kentuckians how to live a healthy lifestyle.“If they do, then not only will that have much more productive lives and avoid these chronic diseases, it will save the state a lot of money in the treatment of those chronic diseases," said Beshear.Beshear also said a cigarette tax hike and enhanced wellness programs would help the state move forward, saying Kentucky is being held back by unhealthy habits and high health care costs.“We rank very high in all of the different chronic disease categories like, heart attack, cardiovascular disease, strokes, all of that kind of thing. And we’ve got to take better care of ourselves," he said.Beshear’s proposal to significantly raise the cigarette tax failed to clear the General Assembly earlier this year.