Ky. governor defends ObamaCare from successor

The state now has expanded Medicaid under the health law, providing coverage to about 400,000 people.

Beshear wants Bevin to reconsider his pledge to roll back Medicaid expansion and dismantle Kynect, the state insurance exchange.

Lexington attorney Blake Brickman, grandson of a former Democratic governor, Ned Breathitt, and a former aide to Senator Jim Bunning had been named by Governor-Elect Matt Bevin as his chief of staff.

“The fun and games are over, and it’s time to get serious”, said Beshear at a Capitol news conference. And No. 2: “Can we afford them?” he said.

Gov. Steve Beshear on Friday defended Kentucky’s health care exchange and Medicaid expansion, both of which are facing drastic reforms by his incoming successor.

Praising Beshear during his 2014 State of the Union speech, President Obama said the governor was “like a man possessed” when it came to implementing ObamaCare – regardless of opposition from state legislators.

Census figures show that Kentucky had the largest drop in uninsured rate in the country, falling from 14.3 percent in 2013 to 8.5 percent in 2014.

But Bevin has said he has no plans to do that and instead will ask the federal government for a waiver that would allow Kentucky to create its own Medicaid plan with more cost-sharing by consumers.

But Republican Gov.-elect Matt Bevin has criticized kynect and the expansion as too expensive.

More access to health care coverage: Ninety percent of Kentuckians now have access to health care coverage. “It’s inconceivable to me why-just to make a partisan political statement-Kentucky would want to go backward and become the first state to decommission a successful exchange”. His administration will move forward in addressing Kentucky’s health care needs in a deliberate and thoughtful fashion, consulting with Kentucky’s health care stakeholders, his Cabinet appointees and the General Assembly. Meanwhile, kynect is open to anyone seeking health insurance.