Kentucky governor to dismantle state's health insurance exchange: newspaper

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

US | Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:29pm EST
Kentucky governor to dismantle state's health insurance exchange: newspaper


Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has notified U.S. authorities that he plans to dismantle the state's health insurance exchange created under the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act, the Courier-Journal reported on Monday.

Bevin's office was not immediately available for comment.

Bevin, a Republican, has said his goal is to complete the transition of the state's system, known as "kynect," by the end of 2016 to the federal system, the Louisville newspaper said.

Bevin had pledged to dismantle the health exchange authorized by executive order of his predecessor, Democrat Steve Beshear. Bevin's letter said he wants the transition to the federal site to occur "as soon as is practicable," the newspaper said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kentucky-healthcare-idUSKCN0UQ07920160112

---

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Bigredhunk]

1. Lovely

Asshole

[Gawdless Pinko Lib]

2. Gotta be Racist as Hell

to overturn a benefit.

[PaulaFarrell]

15. Sorry?

Why racist? Plenty of poor white people in Kentucky. It sounds, probably unintentionally, like you think only minorities receive 'benefits'.

[Gawdless Pinko Lib]

17. The benefit came from Obama

Whom the racist Teanut Bevin can't stand. Get it?

[PaulaFarrell]

52. No

[CommonSenseDemocrat]

65. I don't get it either

[atreides1]

21. To be fair

Plenty of those poor white people, likely voted for Bevin!

[BlueCaliDem]

27. So they shall get the government they deserve.

I'll try to feel sympathy, but it's hard. Really, really hard.

[Hortensis]

54. Bevin lied to voters - he's transitioning to the federal

exchange. LOL!

He didn't exactly tell voters who think they hate Obamacare AND the federal government that THIS is what he meant by "undoing" the terrible Kynect government intrusion.

The system apparently works excellently, and the federal exchange is likely to cost Kentuckians more, but, as you say -- their choice.

[LynneSin]

33. Those poor white people valued God & Guns and hated gays more than their own health

They deserve to be poor and they deserve to be sick too.

[daybranch]

68. Your post is rude and disgusting, you have no idea of what caused these problems

As a man from Appalachia who saw its mountains raped of magnificent trees by the Roosevelts, and it,s mountains ripped apart to provide the energy this country needed (TVA) for so many years to provide power to Northern industries and homes, I was a first hand observer of the betrayal of Appalachia by the rest of the country. Today they are poor and you offer no hope, only disdain. Which should not they cling to guns and God, that won this country from the British with their love of religious choice and their willingness to fight for their family's' welfare. To you who know very little about them you only see their current situation, you ignore their contributions to this country, you cannot see the version of history they have been taught complete with prejudices to be sure , you cannot look ahead to envision a living future for them, you complain about Black Lives Matter and crime in communities while their society is decimated by oxycontin ,heroin and widespread alcoholism. What do you offer> Free medicaid? Great but they just like African Americans want jobs and to be able to support their families. They are what is left of the coal industry society which provided jobs for most of their lives when nothing else was available. Many of us moved north when jobs were available here but today that option is pretty much foreclosed to them as they are older and have little skills outside mining, which is s as an industry more mechanized and needing less workers, and less competitive against natural gas and renewals. They see no future for themselves and remarks like yours betray them and their historical contributions and even demonstrate a lack of democratic values- compassion, empathy, value of education, and a belief in the goodness of people.

[LynneSin]

72. And you assume I grew up in the city

That's ok, I live there now. I post what I post because I lived there in rural Pa for 22 years. So don't you dare assume you know me. You know nothing about me.

[daybranch]

73. I never assumed nor cared where you grew up.

Many informed people come from the city. Many woefully uninformed and prejudiced people come from rural areas. I have met both in either setting. Where did I say you came from the city or assume it? I said that your post was rude and disgusting, and now I add woefully devoid of compassion, empathy, or knowledge.

[LynneSin]

74. Yeah whatever

[catbyte]

82. People knew full well that Bevin was going to dismantle Kynect--he ran on that. Now the idiots

yes, IDIOTS who voted for him are now worried they're going to lose their health care. Well, hello! That's what he promised to do. So, I have no sympathy or compassion for them either. They hated "Teh Gays" and women's right to decide their own healthcare more than they cared about their and their family's well-being, so be it. The ones I do feel very sorry for are the ones who didn't vote for Bevin and are losing their health care. I also think something sketchy went on with voting in Kentucky, but, naturally, nothing will be done about that. And evil prevails once again.

[mahina]

80. I accept the first statement but the second seems very low.

[maxsolomon]

50. Actually, it was probably just-above-the-poverty-line white people:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/who-turned-my-blue-state-red.html?_r=0

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

59. Not just plenty....they were proud of it

You get what you deserve.

[get the red out]

28. Bevin isn't racist

He's just a corporate asshole who has used guns, Obama bashing, and religion to get into a position to do real harm to the state of Kentucky, including many who voted for him (poor white people). He DID use the racism of his voters so he could, in turn, harm many of them.

Bevin and his wife have several adopted children of various races, so he's just a 1% ass-kisser.

[CommonSenseDemocrat]

64. Presuming only minorities get benefits is racist (and dismantling Kynect won't reduce any benefits)

Bevin, from what I understand, is not going after Medicaid expansion after the backlash.

[jwirr]

3. Message to Rs in Kentucky. He told you so - if you do not

have any health care there is no one to blame except yourselves. You elected him.

[rpannier]

11. Yep

They knew the man was dangerous when they elected him

[Thinkingabout]

4. Republican governor takes down medicaid expansion in Kentucky,

Democrat governor wants to Medicaid expansion in Louisiana. The tale of two states, this is a good reason to elect Democrats at every level.

[enid602]

6. At every level. . .

.......and of every stripe.

[get the red out]

29. In Kentucky

The voters will probably blame Obama when they lose their health insurance.

Edited to add that I am a Kentuckian, a fact I no longer take any pride in at all.

[Pharaoh]

47. Condolences from Wisconsin

We were also fucked by a teaparty republican who has devastated this state, and never ran on any of it. Thank you rural WI idiots!

[DBoon]

53. Certainly

I bet the message and PR supporting "blame Obama" is ready to go

[blackspade]

5. Holy hell.

This carpetbagging fuckstick is hellbent on screwing KY working families by destroying collective bargaining, eliminating the minimum wage, and now dismantlement our new health insurance system.
Thank you redneck idiots. You may have fucked all us "lieberals" but you have fucked yourselves just as bad by electing this bloviating douche bag.

Brava dumbasses

[LynneSin]

34. Why are you blaming them? They are the ones who made sure to get out and vote

I blame all the voters who couldn't be bothered to vote, many of them also in dire need of this healthcare. For some reason they felt there wasn't a good reason to vote.

1.7million Kentuckians took the time to vote in 2012 yet barely a million showed up in 2015 for the Governor race.

Perhaps if those other 700k voters cared enough about their health insurance they would have showed up to vote. So I blame the non-voters just as much!

[blackspade]

40. That is true.

But, that gets into an ongoing problem with our party in this state which is run by a bunch of spineless ConservaDems who can't campaign worth a shit. Conway was such a lackluster candidate who was piss poor at motivating Democrats to vote.
It boils down to an issue of giving people something to vote for, not against. When voters haven't been energized to vote for something they stay home.
There is also pretty good evidence that there were vote counting shenanigans but our Democratic SOC (and loser to McConnell) won't look into it.

[cynzke]

57. Non Vote is Still A Vote!

People have yet to UNDERSTAND that a missing vote has TANGIBLE AFFECT none the less. We can't see air, but we breath it! That missing vote helps someone win and someone lose. The mess we have in Congress is the direct result of NOT VOTING. If people want change, they have to vote, not let someone else make the choices for them. If your house catches fire, you have two choices. You can call the fire department or do nothing. EITHER decision has a CONSEQUENCE and you can not escape that consequence and delusional if you think there is none. The majority of voters stayed home. Look how well that worked!

[LynneSin]

58. Amen!

[Pharaoh]

48. yes, see above

Let us hope Bernie has some long coattails and we can get rid of some of these fuckwads!

[LTG]

7. Seems more show than substance

Doesn't seem to have a lot of actual impact. Playing to his base with no real impact on healthcare. Only 16 states, plus D.C. have state exchanges, everybody else uses the federal exchange. Now residents of Kentucky will have to use the .gov site to get their health insurance.

He's doing this as political show, but aren't there 1 or 2 states considering dropping their state exchanges because they can't seem to get them running properly?

Is there more to this than I'm seeing?

[A Little Weird]

9. Kentucky's exchange was working great - held up as a model for others

But besides the state exchange, he wants to overhaul the medicaid expansion and yes that will have substantial impact on a lot of poor people.

[LTG]

10. Thanks for the info

The medicaid issue is huge for those who are the most needy.

[LynneSin]

35. When the prior governor set it up he wanted to not use the Federal Government

and made it a point to setup Kentucky's own exchange which was considered one of the best in the country.

So people will be screwed when this goes away!

[LTG]

45. Thank you

Always appreciate when people take time to provide more info

[A Little Weird]

8. As a Kentuckian, I am disgusted but not surprised.

He is shaping up to be every bit as bad as I expected. I know people personally who will lose access to healthcare because of this. But we deserve what we get. I am pissed off that so many people decided to sit this election out. Turnout was just under 31% - lowest ever in Kentucky history.

[SharonAnn]

12. Not to mention the possible (probable) election fraud. All polls showed the D canidate winning

[msongs]

16. yet the democratic party INC has done nothing about this issue for 10 years nt

[A Little Weird]

18. It's possible I suppose

I think the polls showed that there was a preference for the democrat. But if the people don't turn out and actually cast their ballots then the polls don't mean much. I think a lot of people thought that it was going to be an easy win and didn't bother to go vote.

[LynneSin]

36. 1.7MM Kentuckians voted in 2012 and 974K voted in 2015

I wonder what the state of Healthcare would be if more cared about voting during off-year elections.

[L. Coyote]

13. Oregon is accepting refugees from TeaParty states, just don't expect a free ranch.

Health care, plus we have such a great minimum wage and legal weed. About 10,000 young people last year alone.

[LynneSin]

37. I'm reading where the boosted minimum wage is really helping the economy & jobs

The right claimed increased minimum wages would hurt the economy and the only way to fix it was more tax cuts for the wealthy.

Well the wealthy take their tax cuts and pocket it in some offshore account whereas those who make minimum wage and get an increase will spend that money back into the economy. PLUS if the minimum wage is high enough, people could stop needing government handouts to survive.

[L. Coyote]

41. A lot of benefits to the best economic stimulus known, raise low wages.

When I filed the first ever minimum wage initiative, signed by all minimum wage workers, I engaged with State of Oregon employees regarding economic impact. This they understood without blinking, "Why should that money leave Oregon on Friday night when we have workers who WILL spend it over the weekend. They can have even more profits if they just wait until Monday!"
We didn't make the ballot, but count how many times initiatives have raised wages since and look at how much support they receive. Those elections were swayed by who voted, turning some seats blue at critical moments and thus impacting national politics.

[Pharaoh]

49. ^^this^^

[MuseRider]

14. Have fun!

Sounds like it will be just like here in Kansas. My insurance that got me through my surgeries etc. last year was wonderful and very affordable. I was lucky since we only had 3 choices. They left the state and now we had 2 choices. I chose the cheapest that would cover the rest of my treatment but it is close to $400.00 a month more. The cheapest of the two plans offered that I need. I bet you won't be taking Medicaid money either now.

We have less choices now than we had all the years before the ACA. It is NOT the fault of the ACA, just our rotten teabagging governor and the Kochs.

[sufrommich]

19. He ran on a promise to do this and won.Many will

suffer and yet they voted for him.

[elmac]

20. Low turn out and lack of empathy

for those who live in poverty created the fascist monster called Bevin.Right wing nut jobs are terrorists, they murder more then 15,000 Americans a year do to refusing to expand medicaid.

[atreides1]

22. Lack of empathy

You're right about that...but let's throw in lack of basic intelligence! After all, many of those who voted for Bevin also live below the poverty line...and basically failed to understand that what he was calling "Obamacare" was the health care they had signed up under the name Kynect!

When you have no empathy for yourself, part of that can be based on lack of basic intelligence!!!

[elmac]

23. Yes, you are correct, there is no cure for a Fox news lobotomy

and Obamacare doesn't cover stupid.

[Green Forest]

24. Where is the Kentucky Democratic Party on this issue? In a DLC fetal position? No guts, no glory!

The Party of FDR/Bernie Sanders is being slowly extinguished by the cowardice of the DLC/Clinton
Party.

[SansACause]

25. you get the government you deserve

Self-loathing is in full effect in KY. I have a hard time feeling sorry for them. They overwhelmingly voted for this.

[LynneSin]

38. Actually the overwhelmingly number of Kentuckians didn't bother to vote

which is even worse.

[onecaliberal]

26. Thats what a majority voted for.

What the hell do they think cons are going to do.

[Vinca]

30. This is what not voting looks like.

[Cerridwen]

31. he also plans to "overhaul" the state's expanded Medicaid. (addn'l info)

he also plans to "overhaul" the state's expanded Medicaid. (addn'l info)

From Al Jazeera:

<snip>

Bevin has also said he intends to overhaul the state's expanded Medicaid program, which provided health care to 400,000 people and slashed the percentage of uninsured in the state by half.

But Bevin, Kentucky's second Republican governor in more than four decades, campaigned on eliminating Kynect. The system is paid for with a 1 percent tax on all individual health plans sold in the state, both on and off the exchange.

<snip>

"A majority of Kentuckians are paying a 1 percent assessment on their own premiums to support Kynect operations which they do not use," Ditto said.

Once Kentucky moves to the federal exchange, that tax goes up to 3.5 percent. But the tax is only applied to plans sold on the exchange, Ditto said.

Former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, who created Kynect, has estimated it will take at least nine months and cost $23 million to dismantle the system.

<snip to a wee bit more at the link: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/12/ky-moves-to-dismantle-health-insurance-exchange.html>

[Bayard]

32. Proud Kentuckian Here

Just an average white girl, but I'm pretty damn smart, not some hick. Don't lump us all in that category. I'm on DU, right? I didn't vote for this moron.

Kynect has been literally a lifesaver for me in the last year.......emergency appendectomy last month, and a resulting nasty staph infection. Broke my arm in July. On a number of different meds for various health reasons.

I don't see how the governor can ramrod something this monumental thru.

[Stonepounder]

39. Another proud Kentuckian Here

From every statistical analysis I've seen it is pretty clear that the election was rigged. First, there was NOT a horrible turnout. The turnout was pretty normal for a Gubernatorial/non-Presidential election. The polls consistently showed Bevin trailing right up to election day. The down-ballot candidates got MORE votes than the Dem candidate for Gov. That just doesn't happen in an election. The big race (ie. Gov) ALWAYS gets MORE votes than the down-ballot candidates, not the other way around, unless there was some huge event right before the election (a candidate gets caught having sex with an animal in the capitol rotunda kind of thing).

And we Dems DID vote and voted Blue!

[StevieM]

43. Welcome to DU, proud Kentucky girl!!! (eom)

[greymattermom]

66. Kentucky born but no longer there, except during a certain week in May

So, do Kentuckians really think KyNect and Obamacare are different things? Just curious.

[StevieM]

67. I'm not from Kentucky myself, I was just welcoming the poster I replied to.

My guess is that a lot of Kentuckians don't realize that KyNect and Obamacare are the same thing.

[lark]

42. WTF is wrong with the people of KY?

Why would they elect this asshole who is taking away the rights of the poor people to get affordable healthcare. Kynect was hugely popular, why didn't all of these people come out to vote against the jerk? I just don't get it. Is this real, or is this another example of hacked voting machines? It just doesn't make sense to me.

[MissMillie]

44. the only thing I can say to this is...

"yes, I'm going to cut off health insurance for poor people so that millionaires can each have another $200 in their pocket."


and yes, I'd add a "sarcasm" label, but it isn't sarcasm. The people who worry about spending money are the ones that are most capable of spending money.

[tclambert]

46. Yes, but he promised to replace it with . . ., um, . . .

a big sign that says, "Remember to wash your hands."

[sakabatou]

51. Lemme guess

He'll replace it with nothing, or something that will hurt the People.

[wolfie001]

55. Looks like another Kansas in the making

Very maddening that such a hateful idiot can be elected to high office. At least GWB was just an idiot.

[Feeling the Bern]

56. Democrats stayed home and Republicans voted for him.

IF the poor get screwed and voted Republican, Kentucky is getting what it bought. Please don't give me buyer's remorse.

You vote Republicans, you get Republican policies.

[alfredo]

60. That will raise the price of insurance because Ky only takes a 1% cut to cover expenses.

[goldent]

61. I guess I don't see the problem, in principle

Are residents of states that use the federal system at some disadvantage to those that have a state system? Seems more efficient for most states to share the federal system.

[Kennah]

62. I too see the glass as half full, but for a different reason

While Teabaggers are fighting the state exchanges, the federal exchange kicks in. Do the state exchanges, like ours here in Washington, have a better track record given the small amount of data we have? Well, yeah, sure. I mean CMS has a lot of really old and likely fragile Mainframe COBOL in their systems--I did COBOL for 24 years, so I know a little about the reality of IT in large orgs with a history.

There's a chance to see a live lab experiment as to which true universal healthcare system works better--federal or state. 15 to 20 years from now, when the people finally decide to vote Fuck Yeah on universal healthcare, it will matter.

[goldent]

63. I really don't know, but I used the Federal system last year - seemed to work fine.

I'm glad my state didn't spend money on its own system, given how poorly large software projects often go for state governments. It seems as more states join the federal system, the incremental cost would be low.

[Politicub]

71. Me, too

This is my second year with a plan selected on the federal exchange site. I pay the full cost, but I'm happy with my coverage. I am happy not to be yoked to a job simply to have insurance. It allowed me to start my own business.

[daybranch]

69. Dismantling KYnect will alert the people that that Blevin and republicans are not on their side

It does not take away medicaid from anyone and does not keep anyone from applying and getting medicaid at the 138 percent of poverty level. At worst , it makes it more difficult and unwieldy to sign up. I believe this is a political mistake for Blevin because it will alert poor Kentucky people that Kentucky republicans provide no benefits to them and they must look to the federal government when poor, sick, or uneducated.
I guess in my mind, knowing that the state where Coal provided lots of jobs is watching those jobs almost totally disappear as natural gas and now renewables replace coal for power generation across America, will anything be done to help them find jobs? So far, the federal government doers not appear to have done much except to provide some educational opportunities and health care.
I see these poor people bashed for God and Guns, the essential heritage their ancestors brought as Scotch -Irish settlers to fight the English Government after coming to America. These sons and daughters of Scotch-Irish immigrants were the true champions of the revolution. Yet the wealthy of our our country downplayed their roles in history, stole their timber and later mineral rights and destroyed their beloved mountains even as the rich called anyone helping them a communist.
We should know that the first Declaration of Independence known as the Mecklenburg Declaration and that our government structure was borrowed from the presbyterian church of the Scotch-Irish. Why do we not know that over 75 percent of soldiers who fought for freedom were Scotch -Irish, and why have we heard of Lexington and Concord and Washington's meager victories when our first major victory and the turning point of the war was was won by these Scotch -Irish at Kings Mountain?and start helping all the poor.
In many ways, we owe our country to them. I say we should stop bashing,

[greymattermom]

75. I'm one of them, with relatives who were Cumberland Presbyterian preachers

but I'm really not one of them anymore, and am ready for New York (i.e. Jewish) thinking about what to do next.

[Politicub]

70. very sad. this is why voting matters

People will die because of this decision.

[Turbineguy]

76. GOP main job:

create policies that kill Americans. But it's OK, if you die by a republican hand you are assured a place in heaven. Except if you're a Muslim.

[czarjak]

77. Remember when your kids asked...

"What does it mean when you hear cut your nose off to spite your face?"

[olddad56]

78. If it can happen in Kentucky, It could happen it the US also.

[pbmus]

79. Bernie will save us

[catbyte]

81. I'd love to see psychological studies on Kentucky voters. I read one article the day after Bevin

won, a guy was quoted as saying he had voted for Bevin, but is now worried he will lose his health insurance. HELLO!!!!! ASSHOLE!!!!! That was the cornerstone of Bevin's campaign.

How can people be so fucking stupid?