Ky and al healthcare/ ingold Feature
All year long on Alabama Public Radio, we’re collaborating with al.com to examine the affordable care act. When it comes to health care, Alabama has its problems. So does the state of Kentucky. The difference is, the bluegrass state is going about it differently and they seem to be getting results. Alabama Public Radio’s Stan Ingold travelled to Kentucky to see how that state is handling their challenges…
Kentucky and Alabama have a lot in common. Each state has large rural populations, and each is considered poor. Alabama ranks near the bottom in the U.S. for median household income. And, Kentucky’s not much better. The similarities disappear when it comes to the affordable care act.
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When Washington offered expanded Medicaid funding, Alabama said “no” and Kentucky said “yes”… “Every major player in Kentucky wanted us to that” That’s Kentucky governor Steve Beshear.. “the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Hospital Association, the provider networks, everybody said to me, look, if we’re going to have a healthcare exchange let’s do our own, we know how Kentuckians react and what they need more than the federal government, let’s form our own exchange.” And Kentuckians have responded in droves. Four hundred and thirteen thousand of them filled out forms on the state-run internet, 52% of who are under 35.
Governor Beshear says his state run internet marketplace even worked while Washington struggled with its system. “Ee not only took the planning money, we also made our exchange fairly simple, we didn’t put a lot of bells and whistles on it. We made it easy to understand and use, we did extensive testing and when October one rolled around and it opened up, we crossed our fingers and held our breath and of course it worked like a charm.” And some people in Kentucky are glad the system seems to be working…
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Lunch is being served at the rowan county senior center. This is where we met Glenna Crockett. She lost her health coverage and turned to the state system as her only life line… “I was informed by my employer; we’re a non-profit organization that they could no longer afford to pay for our insurance. They got us in contact with a man who was supposed to help us, it was through Kentucky co-op which took effect immediately as of January 1st and so far it’s worked out pretty good.” Crockett says she is better off now than she was with her previous plan… “My copay is actually cheaper than they was with my other insurance before, I didn’t have to pay any of my insurance the company was paying it but they was paying 1200 a month that’s my understanding for it, I have a small copay it’s not that much with this insurance but my copays with doctor bills is cheaper then they was before and the insurance copay is about the same.”
But not everyone is jumping for joy over what Governor Beshear did. “I can tell you why this is the worst thing that ever happened to health care." That’s Doctor Anthony Weaver. He teaches medicine at the University of Kentucky. He also hosts a radio talk show about health. “The excess amount of regulation, the fact that there are more barriers between patients and doctors, the way they went about implementing it, slanting it against rural people and rural hospitals make it, in my mind, very poor legislation.” Weaver’s big worry is how to pay for it. Washington’s offer of money for Medicaid comes with a time limit. Within three years, the federal money will be gone, but the cost of health care won’t be. And, weaver says Kentucky is going to have to pay that bill… “All the ways they said, on paper, that they would save money really are not going to pan out. It means it is still not sustainable, at some point we have to come to grips with that, that our healthcare system isn’t sustainable, wasn’t under the previous rules and guidelines and is not under the affordable care act, that’s my opinion.”
But even Weaver admits the average Kentuckian is probably better off with the flawed system than the alternative, which is none at all. Another bone of contention is how Beshear did it. Kentucky’s governor didn’t ask the state legislature. He just signed an executive order and it was done. Despite the political end-around, Beshear is getting cover from his own party. That includes democratic state senator Walter Blevins. “I’m glad our governor has that right to do those things. We have a divided government right now, the republicans control the senate, the democrats the house. But the governor went ahead on his own and did an executive order, didn’t need the legislature, we weren’t in session at that time, there’s been some talk about trying to defund it by the republicans but they don’t have the votes in the house so it’s kind of at a stand-still.” Blevins says even if the republicans manage to do away with or change the law, the plan would still have done some good… “At least for three years some people are going to have some healthcare and maybe they can get them some preventative care and teach them how to take better care of themselves and maybe it will make a difference in the long run, even if the program falls flat on its face at least for these next three year looks like we’ll have health coverage for a lot more people.”
That’s where Kentucky’s political landscape is unusual. The state’s congressional delegation leans republican, and the state government is mostly democratic. Beshear says that doesn’t matter when it comes to health care… “I don’t care whether you’re a democrat or a republican, forget the politics of this thing, forget the name Obama and just think about your own people, think about the health status of your own people think about how you’re gonna resolve that health status for the better. Think about how you’re gonna raise up the people of your state, this is an opportunity to do it.” …I’m Stan Ingold…A-P-R news…in Frankfort Kentucky…
