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...
- Beshear's Office Says He Is Considering 'various Ideas' For Financing Ky. Insurance Exchange, Not Just A 1% Fee On Policies
"Gov. Steve Beshear?s administration is reconsidering how to pay for the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange amid increased criticism from some Republicans in the legislature and a court case challenging a fee Beshear created through executive order," Ryan...
- 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,...
- Republicans Moving To Gain A Say Over Beshear's Decisions About Insurance Exchange, Medicaid Expansion; Democrat Dismissive
Kentucky Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chair Julie Denton, R-Louisville, left, said yesterday that she would file legislation that would block Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear from setting up a health-insurance exchange or expanding Medicaid coverage...
- Beshear Says He Will Expand Medicaid If State Can Afford It, Says 'if We've Got A Healthier Kentucky, We're All Better Off'
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Gov. Steve Beshear said today that he would expand Kentucky's Medicaid program under the federal health-reform law if the state can afford the cost. "If there is a way that we can afford that will get more coverage...
Health News
Beshear will expand Medicaid, Democrat and Republican say; D says governor believes the state can opt out if it's not affordable
State legislators in both parties say they expect Gov. Steve Beshear to expand Medicaid to cover several hundred thousand more Kentuckians who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty rate.
Rep. Tom Burch, chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, told Ryan Alessi of cn|2?s "Pure Politics" that the governor told him exactly that last week. And Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, told Kentucky Health News that he expects Beshear to do the deed.
Burch told Alessi that Beshear has decided to move forward with the expansion because he believes the state would be able to opt out if state officials discover that Kentucky can?t afford it after 2017.
Beshear didn?t mention expansion in his State of the Commonwealth Address last week, and the governor?s office said the official decision hadn?t been made yet but didn?t dispute Burch?s statement, Alessi reports. Here is the salient part of his interview with Burch:
Buford said Beshear will be under much political pressure to expand Medicaid because it is President Obama's signature program and expansion will create jobs. However, Republican legislators generally have opposed the expansion of Medicaid because the state can?t afford it. The federal government will cover the cost of covering the extra people from 2014 through 2016. Kentucky would have to kick in 5 percent of the costs starting in 2017 and 10 percent by 2020.
The federal government covers roughly 70 percent of Kentucky?s $6 billion Medicaid program. It covers more than 800,000 Kentuckians and with the expansion, that number could grow to more than 1 million ? or roughly a quarter of all Kentuckians, reports Alessi.
?I think it?s critical that we take a look at those to see how we achieve that. I?m not sure that this would be the way that would be best-suited to Kentucky and be fiscally responsible for the state of Kentucky,? Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville and chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, told Alessi in December (at 4:10 of the interview below). ?Frankly, I don?t think we can afford to do it,? she said.
Rep. Tom Burch, chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee, told Ryan Alessi of cn|2?s "Pure Politics" that the governor told him exactly that last week. And Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, told Kentucky Health News that he expects Beshear to do the deed.
Burch told Alessi that Beshear has decided to move forward with the expansion because he believes the state would be able to opt out if state officials discover that Kentucky can?t afford it after 2017.
Beshear didn?t mention expansion in his State of the Commonwealth Address last week, and the governor?s office said the official decision hadn?t been made yet but didn?t dispute Burch?s statement, Alessi reports. Here is the salient part of his interview with Burch:
Buford said Beshear will be under much political pressure to expand Medicaid because it is President Obama's signature program and expansion will create jobs. However, Republican legislators generally have opposed the expansion of Medicaid because the state can?t afford it. The federal government will cover the cost of covering the extra people from 2014 through 2016. Kentucky would have to kick in 5 percent of the costs starting in 2017 and 10 percent by 2020.
The federal government covers roughly 70 percent of Kentucky?s $6 billion Medicaid program. It covers more than 800,000 Kentuckians and with the expansion, that number could grow to more than 1 million ? or roughly a quarter of all Kentuckians, reports Alessi.
?I think it?s critical that we take a look at those to see how we achieve that. I?m not sure that this would be the way that would be best-suited to Kentucky and be fiscally responsible for the state of Kentucky,? Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville and chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, told Alessi in December (at 4:10 of the interview below). ?Frankly, I don?t think we can afford to do it,? she said.
- 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...
- Beshear's Office Says He Is Considering 'various Ideas' For Financing Ky. Insurance Exchange, Not Just A 1% Fee On Policies
"Gov. Steve Beshear?s administration is reconsidering how to pay for the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange amid increased criticism from some Republicans in the legislature and a court case challenging a fee Beshear created through executive order," Ryan...
- 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,...
- Republicans Moving To Gain A Say Over Beshear's Decisions About Insurance Exchange, Medicaid Expansion; Democrat Dismissive
Kentucky Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chair Julie Denton, R-Louisville, left, said yesterday that she would file legislation that would block Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear from setting up a health-insurance exchange or expanding Medicaid coverage...
- Beshear Says He Will Expand Medicaid If State Can Afford It, Says 'if We've Got A Healthier Kentucky, We're All Better Off'
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Gov. Steve Beshear said today that he would expand Kentucky's Medicaid program under the federal health-reform law if the state can afford the cost. "If there is a way that we can afford that will get more coverage...