Do you know what a peer support specialist is? Neither do KY lawmakers | Opinion

Most Kentuckians don’t know what a peer support specialist is — and, as HB 505 has made painfully clear, neither did the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kimberley Moser.

That misunderstanding has now pushed Kentucky’s peer support workforce into a crisis that did not exist before this law was passed. Peer supporters are people in recovery who help others by sharing their lived experience. They don’t diagnose, treat, or perform clinical tasks. Their value is credibility: they can reach people at low moments in ways clinicians often can’t, because they have lived through those moments themselves.

But peer supporters are still trained and regulated. They complete a state-approved certification program and maintain annual continuing education hours. They are professionals — just not clinical ones. And they are not paid like clinicians, either. Peer supporters typically earn $14–$20 per hour. Compare that to licensed clinicians, who earn $30, $40, or even $60+ per hour.

HB 505 holds peer supporters to clinical-style standards without clinical pay, clinical education, or clinical responsibilities. The bill rewrote peer support regulations by layering clinical expectations onto a nonclinical job. The law requires a clinical-style licensing exam, clinical supervision, new fees, additional training requirements, and a pre-employment hour threshold that many cannot meet.

These demands have nothing to do with how peer support actually functions in Kentucky or how SAMHSA defines it nationally.

The new requirements also created a financial disaster for employers. Because the law made peer support more expensive to staff than Medicaid reimburses, many agencies now lose money every time they employ a peer supporter. Before HB 505, this was not the case.

HB 505 passed nearly unanimously because lawmakers were told peer support was a clinical role needing clinical regulation. That misinformation originated with advocacy groups Rep. Moser relied on when drafting the bill, rather than independent review or consultation with the actual workforce.

Once the consequences became clear, peer supporters, employers, training providers, and even several legislators attempted to raise concerns with Rep. Moser. Their messages went unanswered. This silence is especially troubling because Rep. Moser is also the Chair of the House Health Services Committee — the committee that must hear any corrective legislation.

HB 505 takes effect Jan 1, 2026. However, as of Nov 19, 2025, only 31 peer supporters statewide have met the new requirements, out of a workforce numbering in the thousands. Workers report being removed from schedules, losing caseloads, and failing an exam that includes content never taught in state-approved courses. Many have had to take employer-issued loans of about $1,800 just to attempt to stay compliant — this for people earning entry-level wages.

Kentucky needs targeted legislative corrections to:

• remove inappropriate clinical requirements

• eliminate the supervision mandate

• fix the exam so it reflects actual training

• remove the 500-hour pre-employment rule

• reduce fees

• publish a list of approved training providers

• and prevent mass job loss on January 1, 2026

Lawmakers in both chambers are prepared to move these fixes. But the public should understand that the main barrier to progress has been the lack of engagement from the bill’s sponsor.

Peer support is one of the most effective, stabilizing components of recovery care. Without it, treatment programs weaken, clients lose support, relapse risk increases, and recovery becomes less accessible.

HB 505 broke a system that was functioning. The question now is whether Kentucky will move fast enough to fix it — and whether Rep. Moser will allow it.

Mary Helen Shashy is a Kentuckian, peer support advocate, and founder of BestKyTraining.com.

This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 10:32 AM.