# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**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 10, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/121 "2018-07-10T15:56:49Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I stand corrected; you certainly did not initiate the use of the term in this thread. > > You have nonetheless lost a ton of perspective and context. I’m not sure why this is such a hot-button topic for you, but I’m sorry that I have, however unwittingly, contributed to your ire. I’ll see myself out, but I again heartily recommend you do the same for the sake of your blood pressure. Thanks for looking out! Although I’m shocked that you are able to tell the blood pressure of an anonymous message board user. Is that some sort of super skill you have? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/122 "2018-07-10T16:02:36Z")
Oooh. Snap. ---
**Author:** ![Gollu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2acd7d/32.png) [@Gollu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gollu)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/123 "2018-07-20T17:54:54Z")
Update: [The Trump administration is taking another stab at approving work requirements for Kentucky’s Medicaid program, weeks after a federal judge blocked its initial approval.](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/cms-to-open-second-comment-period-kentucky-work-requirement-proposal-but-what-it-will-gain) So, they are opening a 30-day comment period? That’s it? No changes to the waiver that will mitigate the state’s own estimate that 95 thousand people will lose health care coverage? How will getting a bunch of comments help anything? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/124 "2018-07-20T19:32:37Z")
> [@Gollu](#): > > Update: [The Trump administration is taking another stab at approving work requirements for Kentucky’s Medicaid program, weeks after a federal judge blocked its initial approval.](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/cms-to-open-second-comment-period-kentucky-work-requirement-proposal-but-what-it-will-gain) > > So, they are opening a 30-day comment period? That’s it? No changes to the waiver that will mitigate the state’s own estimate that 95 thousand people will lose health care coverage? How will getting a bunch of comments help anything? 😕 It buys time to place the proper bribes?? ---
**Author:** ![Chetumal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@Chetumal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chetumal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/125 "2018-09-03T00:01:56Z")
[Starting tomorrow, more than 5000 Arkasans will lose Medicaid due to work requirements](https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2018/08/31/starting-tomorrow-some-arkansans-will-lose-medicaid-due-to-work-requirement) _ **“DHS figures released earlier this summer show a little over 7,000 people were out of compliance for the month of June. Of those, 5,476 remained non-compliant for a second month, in July. DHS will release noncompliance numbers for August in the coming days, but it’s extremely unlikely that all of those 5,476 beneficiaries successfully reported their information in August.”** _ These strict work requirements were rolled out so quickly and sloppily that many thousands of people are probably not even aware that they are affected. Imagine being a working poor person who is in the hospital right now and learns on Tuesday morning that they don’t have insurance anymore. Or a person needing life-saving insulin for type 1 diabetes and going to the pharmacy and being turned away. From the article: _ **"… for the thousands of beneficiaries who not automatically exempt, the work rule may pose a significant challenge. Work activities can only be reported through an online portal — rather than by phone or mail — which may be inaccessible during much of the day. Many beneficiaries may be unaware of the requirement, or may wrongly assume that if they are working, they are meeting the rules. Yet it’s not enough to simply be employed: Beneficiaries must create an account via the online portal and report their hours on a monthly basis. "** _ This is the new Republican health care plan? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/126 "2018-09-03T02:09:36Z")
Why, one could almost believe the system was deliberately set up to throw as many people as possible off the rolls… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/127 "2018-09-03T04:19:08Z")
> [@Chetumal](#): > > This is the new Republican health care plan? Nah. The new Republican healthcare plan is the same as the old Republican healthcare plan: “Let 'em die if they’re poor”. This is just the current ass-covering to make sure the rural poor don’t stop voting R because they realize that the GOP hates their guts. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/128 "2018-09-04T13:36:08Z")
Yeah, that’s a shame. People should have had at least 3 months to get ready for this. Oh wait, they did. ---
**Author:** ![Chetumal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@Chetumal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chetumal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/129 "2018-09-04T17:16:38Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yeah, that’s a shame. People should have had at least 3 months to get ready for this. > > Oh wait, they did. You are deliberately ignoring the fact that many of these people who just had their insurance canceled were not even aware of the requirements. People move, mail gets lost or mis-addressed. They are used to renewing their eligibility once per year, so they would not think anything’s amiss to not hear from DHS for many months at a time. Do you really think all these folks knew about the requirements, then just said “meh, screw it, I can’t be bothered”? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/130 "2018-09-04T17:21:18Z")
> [@Chetumal](#): > > You are deliberately ignoring the fact that many of these people who just had their insurance canceled were not even aware of the requirements. People move, mail gets lost or mis-addressed. They are used to renewing their eligibility once per year, so they would not think anything’s amiss to not hear from DHS for many months at a time. > > Do you really think all these folks knew about the requirements, then just said “meh, screw it, I can’t be bothered”? I invite you to the DMV on the 1st of every month to see how many people waited until AFTER their sticker is expired to get a new one. I invite you to the Post Office on the 15th of April (or whatever is designated the last tax day for that year) to see how many people said “Screw it, I’ll do it later” Yeah, people put off doing things until there are consequences for NOT putting it off. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/131 "2018-09-04T18:17:52Z")
So what? Fuck them? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/132 "2018-09-04T18:39:47Z")
Perhaps when they are eligible again in January, they will be a little more diligent in keeping up with the requirements that life has burdened them with. The same as almost every other able-bodied person in the country. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/133 "2018-09-04T19:43:06Z")
And then they’ll pull themselves up by their bootstraps and just be better people. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/134 "2018-09-04T19:45:17Z")
> [@andros](#): > > And then they’ll pull themselves up by their bootstraps and just be better people. As I said earlier in the thread, if you think that able-bodied people should be able to just sit around and do nothing and collect money and health benefits, then we will just have to agree to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/135 "2018-09-04T21:36:20Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > **Gollu** , welcome to the SDMB. We are NOT, on the whole, supportive of the crap the GOP has been pulling for the past generation or so (although you’ll find a Doper here and there who is). > > But you’ve been here since last month. There’s a thread here called [Stupid Republican idea of the day](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511831) that I’d like to urge you to read. It’s been constantly active since March of 2009, so it might take you a while to finish. > > The point is, that it’s possible for…well, let’s call it outrage-fatigue to set in. Sometimes you’ll get outraged on so many people’s behalf, that once in a while, especially when it’s a case of the people who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces getting their faces eaten by leopards, the compassion is there, the empathy is there, but you want to save your fury for someone who isn’t quite as complicit in their own misfortune. > > So, know that none of us (with the exception of a few shitheads who you’ll learn to recognize if you stick around) approves of Bevin’s shenanigans. Just, please don’t presume to instruct us on how to be mad about this. > [@](#): > > Yeah, it can be tough to hear, but I don’t think any of them actually believes that. > > We sometimes cackle because the alternative is screaming until our vocal cords, lungs, and hearts give out. You have a mouse in your pocket? That’s a lot of first person plural. When did you get made the board’s official spokesmodel? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/136 "2018-09-05T02:17:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > As I said earlier in the thread, if you think that able-bodied people should be able to just sit around and do nothing and collect money and health benefits, then we will just have to agree to disagree. Middle ground, man. Middle ground. There’s a lot of it, and I don’t think you’re seeing it. I tend to be sensitive about such things because I work in rural behavioral health. I know a lot of these people, and I get pretty tetchy when I hear them called freeloaders. These are _people_, and they’re doing the best they can. I get that they’re not doing as well you think they _should_ be doing. But punishment to teach them a lesson won’t make their lives any easier or get you the results you want. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/137 "2018-09-05T03:14:40Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > As I said earlier in the thread, if you think that able-bodied people should be able to just sit around and do nothing and collect **money** and **health benefits** Emphasis added. IMHO one of these things is not like the other. Healthcare is more like breathable air and potable water: we as a society should not be limiting its availability only to the people we think “deserve” it or have “earned” it. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/138 "2018-09-05T14:00:07Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Middle ground, man. Middle ground. There’s a lot of it, and I don’t think you’re seeing it. > > I tend to be sensitive about such things because I work in rural behavioral health. I know a lot of these people, and I get pretty tetchy when I hear them called freeloaders. These are _people_, and they’re doing the best they can. I get that they’re not doing as well you think they _should_ be doing. But punishment to teach them a lesson won’t make their lives any easier or get you the results you want. Ok, middle ground. They only have to do something for 40 hours a month. How’s that? And I’ve not called anybody a freeloader. Some things in society have requirements. A person needs to meet those requirements to get stuff. If they don’t, then they don’t get that stuff. It’s not a punishment. If someone doesn’t renew their registration on time, do you think they shouldn’t have to pay a fine? What about a driver’s license? If a person doesn’t renew their license on time and they get a ticket, you think they shouldn’t have to pay the ticket? What about college? Financial aid forms and applications need to be submitted by a certain time. What do you think should happen if somebody DOESN’T get them in on time? Are they being punished if a school declines their application because they didn’t get it in on time? Is there anything at all you think people should be responsible for doing if they want something? ---
**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:** [September 5, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ky-governor-nice-health-insurance-you-have-there-would-be-a-shame-if-something-happened-to-it/817239/139 "2018-09-05T14:01:23Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Emphasis added. IMHO one of these things is not like the other. Healthcare is more like breathable air and potable water: we as a society should not be limiting its availability only to the people we think “deserve” it or have “earned” it. As I said, again, if you think able-bodied people should be able to sit around and do nothing in order to get money or health benefits then we will have to agree to disagree. [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=6)