# KY Governor: "Nice health insurance you have there, would be a shame if something happened to it". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 3, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239 "2018-07-03T17:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/41 "2018-07-04T14:46:18Z")
I think race plays a big part of it. The Reich wing sees any benefits as attempts by “them” to get “our” money, and for many “they” are black and “we” are white. So a lot of white Republicans are going to lose their health insurance and some of them will die. Some of those will mark up an absentee ballot in red, seal the envelope and with their dying breath mutter “that will fix those leeching blacks”. Of course they won’t actually say ‘blacks’. I don’t know if there is a cure for being Republican. I don’t know how many will be forced into abject poverty and/or die before they realize “hey, we’re fucking ourselves in the ass”. The only hope is this will wake up the dormant progressives and they can vote out the monsters. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/42 "2018-07-04T14:55:43Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think race plays a big part of it. The Reich wing sees any benefits as attempts by “them” to get “our” money, and for many “they” are black and “we” are white. So a lot of white Republicans are going to lose their health insurance and some of them will die. Some of those will mark up an absentee ballot in red, seal the envelope and with their dying breath mutter “that will fix those leeching blacks”. > Of course they won’t actually say ‘blacks’. > > I don’t know if there is a cure for being Republican. I don’t know how many will be forced into abject poverty and/or die before they realize “hey, we’re fucking ourselves in the ass”. The only hope is this will wake up the dormant progressives and they can vote out the monsters. No, they’ll just blame the Dems, the Libtards, and Hitlery. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/43 "2018-07-04T15:02:28Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > No, they’ll just blame the Dems, the Libtards, and Hitlery. There will be a lot of that. Donald could walk up to a typical Republican, whip out a switchblade and disembowel them. The very last thought to go through the victim’s mind would be “but…but…but…her emails!” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/44 "2018-07-04T15:03:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think race plays a big part of it. The Reich wing sees any benefits as attempts by “them” to get “our” money, and for many “they” are black and “we” are white. So a lot of white Republicans are going to lose their health insurance and some of them will die. Some of those will mark up an absentee ballot in red, seal the envelope and with their dying breath mutter “that will fix those leeching blacks”. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” - LBJ ---
**Author:** ![Gollu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2acd7d/32.png) [@Gollu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gollu)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/45 "2018-07-04T16:56:21Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > she and her doctor have suggested that perhaps **Girl Wonder** should think about getting an attorney in case she has to fight for any benefit that may be jeopardized., Perhaps she can contact the Southern Poverty Law Center and ask to be included if/when they file a class action suit against Bevin. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/46 "2018-07-04T17:58:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > When I know that people are suffering, my first thought is to fix it. Deciding whether they deserve it or not is over my pay grade. _Way_ over. You’re in luck. We have looked over your work record and are planning on a promotion and a significant pay increase. Please check with HR so they can extract the appropriate amount of empathy before the raise takes effect. It’s a mostly painless procedure, but you’ll feel so much better about yourself afterwards! Oh, and welcome to management!! You’ll also get 4 extra sq ft in your cubicle. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/47 "2018-07-04T17:59:59Z")
Most of us don’t support the GOP, but there are always some assholes who like to try and find excuses. I suggest ignoring them rather than engaging with them. They’ll flip their statements soon enough, and you can call them on it. As for the actual issue: I depend on medicaid for my medical issues, and the shit going on in Kentucky was exactly what I was worried about when Trump won–at least, for the part that would immediately affect me. I’m on disability, and have been for a long time. If they fucked with Medicaid here in Arkansas, I could be in a lot of trouble. I went big on my lawmakers to tell them that changing stuff wouldn’t be welcome, citing so many people I knew who needed Medicare. They seemed to have cared, unlike this Trumpkin mayor. Threatening to shut down all Medicaid is no different from Trump’s actual splitting of families. You do not get to use inhumane tactics to try and get what you want. People who are disabled can’t do “work activities.” That’s the point. No one gets value because they work. Sure, if you can, it’s a good thing to do, but it’s not what gives you value as a person. If it saved money, there could be an argument of costs vs. benefits, but, since it costs more money, it’s just dehumanizing people who are sick. Fuck that bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/48 "2018-07-04T18:23:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > As an EMT, I cannot agree with this notion enough. **Girl Wonder** , who has suffered from Crohn’s Disease for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years, takes chemotherapy for it (well, she gets treatment with methotrexate, which is used in chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma and leukemia), has had portions of her intestines removed for it, and is on so many different medications for it that she carries a separate purse with her full of prescription pill bottles, could conceivably be affected by this. The risk of it affecting her may be small, but it’s real enough that both she and her doctor have suggested that perhaps **Girl Wonder** should think about getting an attorney in case she has to fight for any benefit that may be jeopardized. > \*\* > She is a diehard Republican who didn’t vote for Trump or Bevin\*\*. I’m a diehard Democrat who voted for Obama twice and did everything possible to send Clinton into the White House. I absolutely did not vote for Bevin > > **I’d love to know why conservatives think that she deserves to have her health jeopardized (she’s currently in remission), even potentially,** You said it yourself: **she didn’t vote for Trump or Bevin**. Also, kindly refrain from calling radicals “conservatives.”\* It confuses the children. \*Radicals come in “reactionary” flavor, too, you know. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/49 "2018-07-04T18:35:27Z")
I suppose that is a “flavor”, in the same sense that licorice is candy and Coors is beer. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/50 "2018-07-04T20:33:08Z")
> [@Gollu](#): > > Understood. > > I just can’t wrap my head around how evil this is. > > And how some people are cackling that everyone who lives in a state that went for Trump deserves this. It’s not cackling. It’s more a “be careful what you wish for”. Or “you wanted it, you got it” Trumpies would love to fuck people over (the Other) and swim in their tears. They are doing everything they can to get it. They love it when Other people are miserable. They were like this before Trump. They were the Bushies. Or the McCarthyites. Or whatever. They live to fuck someone over. Talking doesn’t work. Yelling doesn’t work. Shame doesn’t work. Maybe PAIN will. They won’t budge until and unless it hurts them. And maybe not even then. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/51 "2018-07-04T20:59:37Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It’s not cackling. It’s more a “be careful what you wish for”. Or “you wanted it, you got it” And that’s still factually incorrect, because not everyone in the state voted for this person. And a lot of people who did probably don’t need Medicaid, so they are not the ones who are going to be hurt. Or they have jobs, and won’t be hurt. Maybe some people who would actually be harmed by this voted for him, but you don’t know that. They may have voted against him, or, due to their disability, been unable to vote–especially given the efforts to exclude people from voting. (I know it took some doing on my part to find out how to vote from home–if I’d been older and not known how to Google, I’d be sunk.) If you want to limit your ire to the people who would be hurt who voted for this guy, I can see it. But there are a lot more being affected than these guys. Hell, if I lived in Kentucky, you could be talking about me. Only thing losing my healthcare would mean is that they’d have one less person voting Democrat in a few years, since I would no longer be around. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/52 "2018-07-04T22:43:12Z")
> [@Gollu](#): > > That still won’t help someone who gets their last shift of the month cut unexpectedly and falls even one hour short of the 80 hours with no time left to scramble to find extra work. Or volunteer. Where would you, with no notice, get an hour of volunteer work at 11 pm on a Sunday night on the last day of the month? 😕 Sure. It’s too bad people can’t possible do MORE than 80 hours of work or work activity during the entire month to make sure they qualify for the program. I mean, 80 hours for the entire month. It’s not like it’s an insurmountable goal. I have to actually just do work stuff for 80 hours every two weeks in order to get paid. I wish I could fill it with just volunteer hours. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/53 "2018-07-04T22:56:44Z")
Roving herds of poor people, wandering up and down our nation’s highways, stabbing bits of litter with sticks. But at least they have the dignity of earning their right not to suffer sickness. Yes, that is the least, the very least. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/54 "2018-07-04T23:05:25Z")
Sorry, you are not going to convince me that an able-bodied person doing 80 hours a month of work or work activity is some onerous burden that nobody in our country should have to suffer. Plus, I doubt “picking up litter on the side of the road” is the ONLY volunteer activity that someone can do. In fact, I know it’s not, since I have volunteered 40 hours one month at a damn animal shelter and I don’t even like animals. But hey, you be you. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/55 "2018-07-04T23:07:49Z")
Well, bless your heart. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/56 "2018-07-04T23:13:31Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, bless your heart. Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/57 "2018-07-05T00:50:54Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I have to actually just do work stuff for 80 hours every two weeks in order to get paid. I’m glad. In all sincerity, I’m glad that you are healthy enough to work. Many are not. You “have to actually just do work stuff,” and it sounds like you’d prefer not to. But if you have to, goddammit, _everyone_ should have to. Regardless of their situation. Clearly they’re just…well, I don’t know actually. What, precisely, _do_ you think about people who receive Medicaid? Are they just lazy? Lollygagging? Faking? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/58 "2018-07-05T01:04:46Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I’m glad. In all sincerity, I’m glad that you are healthy enough to work. > > Many are not I know. And luckily, people on disability are exempt from the 80 hour rule. > [@](#): > > You “have to actually just do work stuff,” and it sounds like you’d prefer not to Of course. If I could make what I do now and not have to do work stuff, I’d take that in a second. Wouldn’t you? > [@](#): > > But if you have to, goddammit, _everyone_ should have to. Regardless of their situation. Clearly they’re just…well, I don’t know actually. What, precisely, _do_ you think about people who receive Medicaid? Are they just lazy? Lollygagging? Faking? I see nothing wrong with able-bodied adults at least having to volunteer for 80 hours a month in order to receive health insurance. That’s what I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/59 "2018-07-05T07:59:45Z")
I would plan to get the 80 hours of work/volunteering in well before the end of the month so that I would always have time to fit in some more volunteer work if I was in danger of falling short. I’m not saying that I support the overall policy, just explaining how at least one part of it can be dealt with. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/60 "2018-07-05T09:16:39Z")
What’s it going to do to the labor market in the poorest areas (some counties have unemployment rates over 10%) when there are suddenly all these people looking to “volunteer”? Sign up to get a Medicaid servant, and then you get 20 hours a week of labor for which you owe no wages, worker’s comp, safe conditions, non-discrimination, etc. Then kick out the person who was doing that job and let them sign up as a Medicaid servant too! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239.md?page=4)