Matt Bevin elected governor of Kentucky, leaves future of state's Medicaid expansion in jeopardy
Republican said he would curtail the state’s expansion of Medicaid by seeking a waiver for a more restrictive version of the program.
Matt Bevin, left, was elected governor of Kentucky on Tuesday. Image via Facebook.
Republican Tea Party candidate Matt Bevin, who campaigned on a pledge to reduce Kentucky's Medicaid expansion and abolish the state-run exchange, has won the governor's seat over Democratic rival Attorney General Jack Conway.
Outgoing Democratic governor Steve Beshear was among few southern state leaders who supported President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Beshear's administration established the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange called Kynect.
Bevin has promised to abolish Kynect and move customers to a federal exchange. He also said he would curtail the state's expansion of Medicaid by seeking a waiver for a more restrictive version of the program, such as those that include a private insurance option, as adopted in other states.
[Also: Montana expands Medicaid through federal waiver]
Medicaid expansion went into effect in the state in January 2014, reducing the percentage of uninsured from 20.4 to 11.9 percent, according to a state report.
Hospitals realized a reduction of $1.15 million in uncompensated care compared to the year before, according to the report.
Beshear was unable to run again due to term limits.
Bevin has been a controversial figure, criticized for attending a cockfighting event and visiting Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis in jail after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Last year he challenged Republican leader Senator Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky primary, saying he wanted a full repeal of Obamacare.
[Also: Medicaid spending spikes in expansion states, report says]
Bevin has called Medicaid expansion too expensive for Kentucky, but it won't be until 2017 that the state will pay 2 percent of the cost of the program and up to 10 percent by 2021. Kentucky reportedly received $253 million from the federal government to establish Kynect.
With the executive office, the GOP in Kentucky controls the state Senate while Democrats still hold a majority in the state House.
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The election results come a day after the announcement of Montana becoming the 30th state to expand Medicaid coverage to those making 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Montana's waiver requires beneficiaries to pay premiums of 2 percent of their income.
Medicaid expansion, one of key components of the Affordable Care Act, has been seen as a way to shift the burden of uncompensated care borne by hospitals.
States that have adopted Medicaid expansion have reported sharp declines in uninsured admissions and a drop in unpaid hospital bills.
The ACA originally mandated all states to expand Medicaid coverage but in 2012, the Supreme Court held that states could not be forced to participate under penalty of losing their current Medicaid funding.
Among the 16 states that haven't adopted expansion, many are southern and conservative, including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
