Health News
- Beshear Writes Reply To A Virginia Newspaper, Pushing Medicaid Expansion Like He Implemented In Kentucky
Gov. Steve Beshear, trying to help a fellow Democratic governor who is trying to expand Medicaid, has written a response to an editorial in which a Virginia largest state-capital newspaper opposed the move. "Our success undercuts your whole...
- Highly Anticipated Report On First Year Of Medicaid Expansion Says Kentucky Can Afford It Even With Higher-than-expected Enrollment
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's decision to expand Medicaid under federal health reform is a better deal than previously projected and will more than pay for itself, Gov. Steve Beshear said as he unveiled a top...
- Paducah Sun Editorial Criticizing Medicaid Expansion Was Off Base; Beshear Sends The Newspaper A Response
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The Paducah Sun relied on incomplete and inaccurate information for an editorial Thursday that criticized Gov. Steve Beshear's expansion of the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform, and the governor...
- Beshear Says Obamacare Will Make Kentucky Healthier, Wealthier
Beshear speaks at the Good Morning Bluegrass event in Lexington. (Photo by Melissa Landon)Gov. Steve Beshear focused on health issues in remarks to a civic meeting Friday in Lexington. "We are leading this country in economic development, in education...
- Beshear Says He Will Decide In Four To Five Weeks, Or July 1 At The Latest, Whether Or Not To Expand Medicaid
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News This story has been updated. Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that he will decide within the next four to five weeks, or maybe by July 1, whether to expand the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform. Beshear,...
Health News
Beshear says Medicaid expansion is creating thousands of health-care jobs, but study will look at state's future costs
Gov. Steve Beshear says the expansion of Medicaid in Kentucky under federal health reform appears to be creating thousands of health-care jobs, as predicted in a study that he used to justify his decision, he said in a special "One to One" on KET Friday, Dec. 26.
The study by the PriceWaterhouse Coopers accounting firm and the Urban Institute at the University of Louisville predicted that the expansion would put add $15 billion and 17,000 jobs to Kentucky's economy in the first eight years. "They said, Governor, you can't afford not to to do this," Beshear told interviewer Bill Goodman.
However, the cost will be greater because Medicaid enrollments under the expansion have been more than double what was expected in the first year, raising the amount that the next governor will have to pay. In the first three years, the federal government is paying 100 percent of the expansion's cost; in 2017, it will pay 95 percent, and that figure will gradually drop to the reform law's floor of 90 percent in 2020.
"We're going to have an outside source go back to look at it again," Beshear said. "There's about 11,000 more jobs in the health-care industry and administrative support for the health-care industry than there was just a year ago, so that seems to be proving out." He added, "Where better to spend the state's money than to get a healthy population, a healthy workforce, and education?"
The study by the PriceWaterhouse Coopers accounting firm and the Urban Institute at the University of Louisville predicted that the expansion would put add $15 billion and 17,000 jobs to Kentucky's economy in the first eight years. "They said, Governor, you can't afford not to to do this," Beshear told interviewer Bill Goodman.
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| Cabinet for Health and Family Services graphic |
"We're going to have an outside source go back to look at it again," Beshear said. "There's about 11,000 more jobs in the health-care industry and administrative support for the health-care industry than there was just a year ago, so that seems to be proving out." He added, "Where better to spend the state's money than to get a healthy population, a healthy workforce, and education?"
- Beshear Writes Reply To A Virginia Newspaper, Pushing Medicaid Expansion Like He Implemented In Kentucky
Gov. Steve Beshear, trying to help a fellow Democratic governor who is trying to expand Medicaid, has written a response to an editorial in which a Virginia largest state-capital newspaper opposed the move. "Our success undercuts your whole...
- Highly Anticipated Report On First Year Of Medicaid Expansion Says Kentucky Can Afford It Even With Higher-than-expected Enrollment
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's decision to expand Medicaid under federal health reform is a better deal than previously projected and will more than pay for itself, Gov. Steve Beshear said as he unveiled a top...
- Paducah Sun Editorial Criticizing Medicaid Expansion Was Off Base; Beshear Sends The Newspaper A Response
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The Paducah Sun relied on incomplete and inaccurate information for an editorial Thursday that criticized Gov. Steve Beshear's expansion of the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform, and the governor...
- Beshear Says Obamacare Will Make Kentucky Healthier, Wealthier
Beshear speaks at the Good Morning Bluegrass event in Lexington. (Photo by Melissa Landon)Gov. Steve Beshear focused on health issues in remarks to a civic meeting Friday in Lexington. "We are leading this country in economic development, in education...
- Beshear Says He Will Decide In Four To Five Weeks, Or July 1 At The Latest, Whether Or Not To Expand Medicaid
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News This story has been updated. Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that he will decide within the next four to five weeks, or maybe by July 1, whether to expand the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform. Beshear,...