CQ Roll Call

By: Marissa Evans

The state of Kentucky has expanded Medicaid, and, after six months, Governor Matt Bevin has presented a plan, which states ways in which the state covers 400,000 low socio-economic status citizens. This waiver intends to resolve healthcare issues, improve the unsustainability of Medicaid, and increase employment and community engagement. In order to achieve this, beneficiaries would have to work to pay nominal premiums, consumers would have access to health savings accounts for dental and vision care, and would even expand treatment availability for mental health and substance abuse patients.

However, experts, such as Adam Searing, from the Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, mentioned that Kentucky will face an uphill battle to manage the changes proposed in the plan.

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Kentucky’s success with the health law could make it difficult to make changes to the Medicaid expansion, said Adam Searing, an associate professor of practice for the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in an interview.

“This isn’t a big surprise but really Kentucky has a little bit higher bar to clear because they have such a successful expansion already,”Searing said. “That doesn’t mean a state cannot come and negotiate changes and see how they can do even better, but it’s a high bar.”

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