Washington, DC — President Trump is heading to Lexington, Kentucky for a rally tonight to campaign for one of America’s least popular governors, Matt Bevin. Bevin’s deep unpopularity stems from his unwavering support for Trump’s war on health care that puts Kentuckians at risk of higher costs and worse or lost coverage. In response to tonight’s rally, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“President Trump’s visit to Kentucky tonight only brings greater attention to his and Matt Bevin’s relentless attacks on Kentuckians’ health care. From rolling back Medicaid expansion, supporting junk insurance plans that don’t protect people with pre-existing conditions, and repealing the Affordable Care Act to rip away health care from hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians, Matt Bevin is a shameless ‘yes man’ for Trump’s sabotage agenda. Tomorrow, voters in Kentucky have a chance to put an end to Matt Bevin’s disastrous tenure as governor and make clear to Donald Trump that they reject his war on health care.”
BACKGROUND:
Repealing the Affordable Care Act Would Devastate Kentuckians
- 379,000 Kentuckians could lose coverage. According to the Urban Institute, 379,000 Kentuckians would lose coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 151 percent increase in the uninsured rate.
- 1,795,500 Kentuckians who have pre-existing conditions could lose key protections, including 240,400 Kentucky children, 907,000 Kentucky women, and 412,100 Kentuckians between ages 55 and 64.
- 479,600 Kentuckians enrolled through Medicaid expansion could lose coverage. Seventeen million people have coverage through the expanded Medicaid program, including 479,600 in Kentucky.
Bevin Wants To Dismantle Medicaid Expansion. Under the leadership of Governor Bevin, Kentucky proposed a Medicaid overhaul that would throw nearly 86,000 enrollees off the rolls within five years. Bevin also led the charge in imposing harmful Medicaid work requirements, which have since been blocked by a federal judge.
Bevin Supports The Trump Lawsuit’s Goal Of Repealing The ACA “In Its Entirety.” “Gov. Matt Bevin has taken a stronger stance against Obamacare than his fellow Republican governors, urging Congress to repeal it ‘in its entirety’ and saying that if Medicaid expansion under the reform law must continue, then only those under the federal poverty line (FPL) should get it.” [Kentucky Health News, 1/26/17]
Bevin Supports Skimpy Association Health Plans. “Would association health plans, a type of insurance that makes it easier for small employers to band together, free of many of the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, provide enough protections to consumers? Gov. Matt Bevin’s health secretary says they would. Attorney General Andy Beshear, who is running against Bevin, says they wouldn’t. Bevin and officials from 15 other states, filed a court brief June 7 urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to reverse a lower court’s decision against expanded access to association health plans.” [Kentucky Health News, 6/21/19]
- AHPs Can Discriminate Against People With Pre-Existing Conditions And Charge Higher Premiums Based On Age, Gender Or Geography. “The American Medical Association sides with Beshear on this issue. In a 2018 friend-of-the-court brief, the AMA laid out a list of concerns. ‘There is a significant risk that AHPs could disproportionately impact individuals with pre-existing conditions,’ the AMA said. ‘To be sure, on its face, the regulation states that it protects coverage of pre-existing conditions. But in reality, AHPs can easily evade that crucial legal requirement by using proxies for health status.’ For example, AMA wrote that AHPs ‘can charge premiums based on factors that are not explicitly defined in terms of health or medical conditions, but that closely track those forbidden factors.’ Further, it notes that the AHP rule allows them to charge different premiums based on age, gender, industry or geography. ‘But each of those seemingly neutral characteristics can be used to disguise differential treatment based on health status or one’s likelihood of suffering from particular pre-existing conditions.’” [Kentucky Health News, 6/21/19]