Stumbo Defends Health Care

{Frankfort, Kentucky}… State Senator Julie Denton, R-Louisville, introduced legislation Wednesday that would require Governor Steve Beshear to get legislative approval before implementing the health insurance exchange or opening the state's Medicaid program to additional recipients. The operation of the health insurance exchanges alone, she said, could be some $40 million a year, and expanding the Medicaid rolls could add another $170 million a year. Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Kentucky stands to receive some $2 billion a year from the federal government, and he believes the state "would be ill-served" not to take full advantage of the health care reforms that would expand Medicaid coverage to some 400,000 additional uninsured Kentuckians. Stumbo says he will oppose efforts by Republican lawmakers to impede two key parts of the Affordable Care Act, and he believes it will have little chance at passing in the House.