Washington, D.C. – Days after a federal district court issued a scathing rebuke of the Bevin-Trump Administrations’ Medicaid scheme to impose rigid work requirements that would be impossible for many of those most in need of health care coverage to meet, Governor Bevin announced his Administration would retaliate by immediately cutting 500,000 Kentuckians enrolled in Medicaid off of critical and vision coverage. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement in response:
“I have only one question for Governor Matt Bevin and President Donald Trump: why are you so hellbent on taking health care away from your constituents? Until the Bevin and Trump administrations teamed up to wage a war on health care, Kentucky was headed in the right direction: insurance coverage and access to quality care were going up — way up. But the GOP’s repeal-and-sabotage agenda is threatening these gains by driving people’s health care premiums up and kicking people off of health insurance by any means necessary, whether through so-called ‘work requirements’ or, now, by politically-motivated fiat.”
BACKGROUND:
Prior to the Bevin and Trump Administrations, Kentucky’s story was a successful case study of how the state and federal governments can work hand-in-hand to improve health care access and outcomes for people:
- Kentucky experienced the largest uninsured rate drop among low-income adults, all while creating 40,000 jobs and harnessing a $30 billion economic impact.
- Kentucky’s uninsured rate fell from 16.3% to 7.2% in 2016 following the implementation of Medicaid expansion.
- Kentucky’s enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP increased 110% between 2013-2017, the largest increased of any state and nearly three-times the national average.
- Low-wage workers made up the majority of Medicaid-eligible adults who gained coverage under the state’s expansion.
- Medicaid is viewed favorably by 74 percent of Americans.
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