Update: Kentucky Governor Abruptly Cuts Medicaid Benefits After Court Ruling

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Governor Bevin has abruptly cut vision and dental benefits from Kentucky’s expanded Medicaid program in the wake of a federal court decision that blocked the state’s request to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. The cuts impact nearly 500,000 people.

As CivSource previously reported, Bevin threatened to cut benefits if the court didn’t rule his way. Bevin says that the Medicaid expansion, implemented during the previous administration is unsustainable.

Prior to the court decision, Bevin’s Medicaid changes would have had Kentucky residents accrue “rewards points” toward dental and vision care by completing online classes or volunteering. The decision handed down on Friday vacated the rewards program as well as work requirements. Without the rewards program in place, dental and vision benefits were terminated on July 1.

Bevin made work, education and volunteering requirements a key part of his Medicaid overhaul, arguing that the state should get something in return for insuring “able-bodied adults”. The reform plan also included implementing premium payments for Medicaid on a sliding scale based on income. The premiums ranged from $1-15 per month.

In a statement released late on Friday, Cabinet for Health & Family Services (CHFS) Secretary Adam Meier said “Able-bodied Kentuckians deserve to have a stake in their health and will benefit from the dignity that comes from career training, education, and volunteer opportunities that are available as part of Kentucky HEALTH’s community engagement program. We will fight to preserve these opportunities for our citizens so that we can proceed with the only viable path forward for expanded Medicaid in Kentucky.”

This is not the only controversial plan Bevin has advanced as part of his legislative agenda. Courts are also reviewing a controversial state pension overhaul plan Bevin put forward that would significantly change the benefits available to Kentucky teachers.



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  1. echo2400

    For this Governor to let 500,000 of his states constitutes to be without healthcare that was being paid for with Federal tax dollars just because he does not comprehend the law nor care to abide by it. The judge did not pander to his wrongdoings so instead of taking the loss like a man he decides to have a temper tantrum and cut benefits to half a Million Kentuckians just for spite. (I guess somehow thinks this will blackmail the next judge to not cross his path.) What if it were your grandmother that just had her teeth pulled and now has no coverage to get the dentures or any pain medication. What if your mother has an abscessed tooth and no means to pay to have it extracted, and die of infection waiting for coverage to resume. What if your grandfather is needing cataract surgery or any other number of eye diseases that could lead to blindness without treatment.
    We must not be like the Germans who believed the propaganda and just ignored the facts. They knew that there was something not right about the news that the government fed them but they chose not to find the facts. They saw the trains loaded with people and looked the other way. They saw the snow in the middle of summer and saw it rising from the distant smoke stacks. They heard the cries, screams and gun shots but did nothing.
    We should be marching in the streets surrounding his house that he illegally obtained and only paid taxes on half it’s worth. We knew he took government money for his former bell business despite his repeatedly lying about it. But he got elected anyway. All it takes is to carry a Bible to your final debates so you can read from 2 Corinthians and struggle to read language that is strange to you, despite your lifestyle or crimes. These politicians would have nothing to do with Jesus if he returned today. They would continue to hide from him and their constitutes behind their gated communities only showing their faces at fundraisers, republican only gatherings and republican owned businesses were the employee has no chance to speak out. They would not talk to him just as they refuse to talk to us. Do you know that their offices no longer take phone calls or emails they direct you to their facebook page were the last time I wanted to leave a comment I was #641 to complain about their stand on the issue. Please dear God register and vote. I won’t tell you who to vote for but I do ask that you branch out to a verity of news sites and do a little researching to get the facts not the propaganda and see who really represents your beliefs of what will be best for our country.

    I’m on the email list for one of our representatives, when he was running for the presidency I noticed the photos changed from his appearances mostly on fox news. It changed to group shots were on average half the people were black. One-third of the people he was shaking hands with were black, and if there was any black cause he was there. It has been two years since he lost the election and their have only been three black people in 336 photos in his emails. O what a difference an election makes.
    Look at the history of the deficit (the money your great grandchildren will have to be paying for) and how it grows when republicans have control and the huge surplus when President Clinton left office and how the deficit skyrocketed under Bush and this administration. Look at the stock market and how it historically has risen under democratic control and has crashed many times under republican control leading to the Great Depression and the Great Recession. And yes the stock market has been doing well as a continuance of the gains made under President Obama. And as I predicted the Great Recession and the housing market crash I predict that it will be far lower at the end of trumps term be it impeachment, four or eight years. I’m saddened by the evil that is todays republican party.


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