Health News
- Beshear Touts Ky. As Example To Follow In Drug Fight, Obamacare
As the U.S. health secretary reminded the national governors' conference that the administration is trying to put another $100 million into fighting drug addiction, Gov. Steve Beshear cited Kentucky as an example for other states to follow on drugs...
- 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...
- Medicaid Expansion Has Been More Popular Than Expected, But That Raises A Question Of Whether It Will Really Pay For Itself
Kentucky officials say the state?s Medicaid expansion under the federal health-reform law has enrolled more residents and created more jobs than expected, but a study will see whether the expansion will pay for itself, as an earlier study and Gov. Steve...
- Beshear Looks Likely To Announce That He Will Expand Medicaid
Gov. Steve Beshear appears likely to announce tomorrow that he will expand Kentucky's Medicaid program to people in households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, under federal health-care reform. The notice of the governor's...
- 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 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 opposition," Beshear says in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Having proved from the beginning that health care reform is both the right thing and the smart thing do, Kentucky has become the poster child for why states should expand Medicaid."
The editorial cited larger-than-expected Medicaid enrollments in Kentucky and other states, but Beshear says the piece "fails to grasp both the moral and economic arguments for expansion. . . . The core tenet of health care reform is helping families and saving lives. Not vague political theory, but helping people. That?s what we?re doing in Kentucky. It?s a Christian thing."
The editorial quoted state Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Northern Kentucky, chair of the Senate budget committee, as saying the costs have created "a monstrous hole" in the state budget, though the federal government is paying the entire cost through 2016. Beshear cited a state-funded study that predicted the expansion will pay for itself by creating jobs and tax revenue for four years after the state starts paying part of the cost: 5 percent in 2017, rising to the law's limit of 10 percent in 2020.
"And those numbers don?t even address the societal impact of improved health on quality of life or economic capacity, or tangible things, such as worker productivity, school attendance and public image," Beshear writes. "So, to those who claim states can?t afford expanded Medicaid, I say this: You?re entitled to your own opinion, but you?re not entitled to your own facts. The facts in Kentucky demonstrate that not only can states afford to expand Medicaid, but they also really can?t afford not to do it. Especially if they care about their people."
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, whose powers to expand Medicaid are much more limited than Beshear's has repeatedly tried to get an expansion through the Virginia legislature. At a recent National Governors Association meeting, McAuliffe told Beshear that he could use some help from him.
"Our success undercuts your whole opposition," Beshear says in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Having proved from the beginning that health care reform is both the right thing and the smart thing do, Kentucky has become the poster child for why states should expand Medicaid."
The editorial cited larger-than-expected Medicaid enrollments in Kentucky and other states, but Beshear says the piece "fails to grasp both the moral and economic arguments for expansion. . . . The core tenet of health care reform is helping families and saving lives. Not vague political theory, but helping people. That?s what we?re doing in Kentucky. It?s a Christian thing."
The editorial quoted state Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Northern Kentucky, chair of the Senate budget committee, as saying the costs have created "a monstrous hole" in the state budget, though the federal government is paying the entire cost through 2016. Beshear cited a state-funded study that predicted the expansion will pay for itself by creating jobs and tax revenue for four years after the state starts paying part of the cost: 5 percent in 2017, rising to the law's limit of 10 percent in 2020.
"And those numbers don?t even address the societal impact of improved health on quality of life or economic capacity, or tangible things, such as worker productivity, school attendance and public image," Beshear writes. "So, to those who claim states can?t afford expanded Medicaid, I say this: You?re entitled to your own opinion, but you?re not entitled to your own facts. The facts in Kentucky demonstrate that not only can states afford to expand Medicaid, but they also really can?t afford not to do it. Especially if they care about their people."
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, whose powers to expand Medicaid are much more limited than Beshear's has repeatedly tried to get an expansion through the Virginia legislature. At a recent National Governors Association meeting, McAuliffe told Beshear that he could use some help from him.
- Beshear Touts Ky. As Example To Follow In Drug Fight, Obamacare
As the U.S. health secretary reminded the national governors' conference that the administration is trying to put another $100 million into fighting drug addiction, Gov. Steve Beshear cited Kentucky as an example for other states to follow on drugs...
- 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...
- Medicaid Expansion Has Been More Popular Than Expected, But That Raises A Question Of Whether It Will Really Pay For Itself
Kentucky officials say the state?s Medicaid expansion under the federal health-reform law has enrolled more residents and created more jobs than expected, but a study will see whether the expansion will pay for itself, as an earlier study and Gov. Steve...
- Beshear Looks Likely To Announce That He Will Expand Medicaid
Gov. Steve Beshear appears likely to announce tomorrow that he will expand Kentucky's Medicaid program to people in households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, under federal health-care reform. The notice of the governor's...
- 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,...