Kentucky Kicks Ass With Obamacare!

Steve Beshear is the Democratic Governor of Kentucky. A State that overwhelmingly voted for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney over incumbent Barack Obama in 2012. How overwhelmingly? Romney finished with 62%, while Obama had just 38% of the popular vote. A margin of over four hundred thousand in a State of 1.7 Million is pretty big.

Gov. Beshear has penned a pretty gutsy op-ed in the New York Times about why he has decided, some time ago in fact, to take every bit of Obamacare he can for his State. He's sure to take some grief for this column from those to his political right, but he doesn't seem to really care. The Affordable Care Act will absolutely help his State's uninsured and Beshear doesn't seem inclined to let politics ruin this opportunity to improve the lives of Kentuckians across the commonwealth.

Gov. Beshear explains why, unlike so many Conservative states, Kentucky is more than happy to get moving with all aspects of Obamacare, as he describes the uninsured in his state:

"They roll the dice and pray they don’t get sick. They choose between food and medicine. They ignore checkups that would catch serious conditions early. They put off doctor’s appointments, hoping a condition turns out to be nothing. And they live knowing that bankruptcy is just one bad diagnosis away.

Furthermore, their children go long periods without checkups that focus on immunizations, preventive care and vision and hearing tests. If they have diabetes, asthma or infected gums, their conditions remain untreated and unchecked.

For Kentucky as a whole, the negative impact is similar but larger — jacked-up costs, decreased worker productivity, lower quality of life, depressed school attendance and a poor image.

The Affordable Care Act will address these weaknesses."

Governor Beshear is showing leadership. In a week where too many of us mistook a 21 hour infomercial for another politician as admirable, the real deal is happening in Kentucky. Congrats to Gov. Beshear for his decision to put his state politics aside and do what's necessary to help his constituents out. Kentucky seems to be as prepared as any state is for the opening of the state based health insurance exchanges, which are scheduled to open up on Tuesday.

Read his full remarks here:

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/opinion/my-state-needs-obamacare-now.html?ref=opinion&_r=0