Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Lexington, Kentucky

Democrat Andy Beshear was declared the winner in the race to become Kentucky’s next governor, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who grabbed headlines and White House attention by trying to implement Medicaid work requirements.

Beshear vowed to bring an end to Trump administration and Republican efforts to implement Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky. Beshear said he would rescind Bevin’s attempt to implement work requirements, saying the governor’s “expanded Medicaid waiver is cruel.”

Beshear was declared the apparent winner Tuesday night by several media outlets with 49.3% of the vote compared to Bevin’s 48.7%, according to the latest tallies available with 99% of precincts counted. His victory came despite election eve campaign appearances by President Donald Trump, who won Kentucky in 2016 by 3o points in his electoral college presidential election victory over Hillary Clinton. U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both Republicans, also campaigned aggressively for the unsuccessful Bevin effort in the days leading up to the election.

Bevin said the lack of community engagement and work requirements “creates a sense of entitlement and expectation, and it sets a bad example for next generations of children who see their parents not going to work, and working the system.”

But studies show most Americans covered by Medicaid are already working and Beshear was successful in pointing out the costly bureaucratic implementation of Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky. The cost to implement Medicaid work requirements has been running into the hundreds of millions of dollars in Kentucky alone, including a company hired to implement them and reports by financial agencies like Fitch Ratings also outlining administrative hassles and expensive new layers of government bureaucracy.

Health policy analysts say Bevin’s support of Medicaid work requirements was a political and health policy loser and Tuesday night’s election results should be a warning to other Republican attempts to implement such rules. “He’s the poster boy for GOP ‘poor shaming’ and in a low income state like Kentucky it’s not surprising it’s costing him,” John Gorman, a healthcare consultant who worked in the Clinton administration as Assistant Director, Office of Managed Care at HCFA, now known as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said earlier this week of Bevin.

Medicaid work requirements have been controversial and whether they are even legal is before a federal appeals court after being struck down by lower courts already.

Still, the Trump administration continues to back Medicaid work requirements. In setting a new policy last year, CMS said it would “support state efforts to test incentives that make participation in work or other community engagement a requirement for continued Medicaid eligibility.”

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Democrat Andy Beshear was declared the winner in the race to become Kentucky’s next governor, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who grabbed headlines and White House attention by trying to implement Medicaid work requirements.

Beshear vowed to bring an end to Trump administration and Republican efforts to implement Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky. Beshear said he would rescind Bevin’s attempt to implement work requirements, saying the governor’s “expanded Medicaid waiver is cruel.”

Beshear was declared the apparent winner Tuesday night by several media outlets with 49.3% of the vote compared to Bevin’s 48.7%, according to the latest tallies available with 99% of precincts counted. His victory came despite election eve campaign appearances by President Donald Trump, who won Kentucky in 2016 by 3o points in his electoral college presidential election victory over Hillary Clinton. U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both Republicans, also campaigned aggressively for the unsuccessful Bevin effort in the days leading up to the election.

Bevin said the lack of community engagement and work requirements “creates a sense of entitlement and expectation, and it sets a bad example for next generations of children who see their parents not going to work, and working the system.”

But studies show most Americans covered by Medicaid are already working and Beshear was successful in pointing out the costly bureaucratic implementation of Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky. The cost to implement Medicaid work requirements has been running into the hundreds of millions of dollars in Kentucky alone, including a company hired to implement them and reports by financial agencies like Fitch Ratings also outlining administrative hassles and expensive new layers of government bureaucracy.

Health policy analysts say Bevin’s support of Medicaid work requirements was a political and health policy loser and Tuesday night’s election results should be a warning to other Republican attempts to implement such rules. “He’s the poster boy for GOP ‘poor shaming’ and in a low income state like Kentucky it’s not surprising it’s costing him,” John Gorman, a healthcare consultant who worked in the Clinton administration as Assistant Director, Office of Managed Care at HCFA, now known as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said earlier this week of Bevin.

Medicaid work requirements have been controversial and whether they are even legal is before a federal appeals court after being struck down by lower courts already.

Still, the Trump administration continues to back Medicaid work requirements. In setting a new policy last year, CMS said it would “support state efforts to test incentives that make participation in work or other community engagement a requirement for continued Medicaid eligibility.”

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In Blow To Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules, Democrat Wins In Kentucky – Forbes