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One of the Republicans who has worked closest with Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the past said the governor was wrong to expand Medicaid because the system already is “broken.” Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer said Medicaid already is struggling to cover disabled Kentuckians and those earning below the poverty line. Specifically, the managed care companies hired by the state to hold down Medicaid costs have angered doctors and hospitals, who say the firms aren’t always paying them for... Read more 

With the Eastern Kentucky coal industry losing steam, the region needs more investment in job retraining funded by the coal industry itself, suggested environmental lawyer Tom FitzGerald. FitzGerald, speaking at a Louisville forum Tuesday on coal regulation, said he wants to see a portion of coal severance tax money go toward a trust fund for job education. Coal severance taxes are paid by mining companies to counties for the effects of extracting the coal and transporting it on county... Read more 

After handling contentious executives, a Louisville-based management consultant decided to apply his board room approach to controversial public policy issues. T. Alan Claypool, founder of TAC4 Solutions, figured if he could help diffuse tense workplace situations, then surely he could get people of opposite philosophies to see some common ground — and perhaps stumble upon solutions. It’s like marriage counseling for policy junkies. Claypool has dubbed these forums “Tackle” sessions. And on Tuesday, coal regulation — specifically whether Kentucky should... Read more 

Kentucky Democrats are doing plenty of thinking and talking and diligence doing, but not a whole lot of running yet when it comes to the 2014 U.S. Senate race against Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is still gathering information from national Democrats about how to take on the Senate Republican leader, who will have as much as $25 million in his campaign account. She told reporters Wednesday morning that she was still undecided and... Read more 

Former Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, a physician, said the governor was wrong to veto a bill aimed at better regulating Medicaid managed care, which Mongiardo said is a “an absolute financial scam.” Mongiardo told Pure Politics that the Health and Family Services Cabinet shouldn’t be the arbitrator of billing disputes between managed care companies the state hired to hold down Medicaid costs and the doctors, hospitals and other providers who treat the poor and disabled who rely on Medicaid. Mongiardo said... Read more 

UPDATED: Legislative leaders pledged in their filings in federal court Monday to move forward with new district maps while the Democratic House Speaker also released his suggestion for Republican-controlled Senate districts. The General Assembly leaders had to respond Monday to a federal lawsuit brought by a group of Northern Kentuckians led by Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown. The citizens are trying to push the General Assembly to approve new maps using 2010 Census data as soon as possible so that... Read more 

The decision to expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income families won’t necessarily increase access to health care and could increase the inefficiencies in the current system, said Rep. Robert Benvenuti, a freshman Republican from Lexington. Benvenuti, a lawyer who worked from 2004-2007 as inspector general of the state’s health cabinet that oversees Medicaid, said he disagreed with Gov. Steve Beshear’s move last week to accept the expansion, which will cover 308,000 uninsured Kentuckians who earn less than 138 percent of... Read more 

Expanding Medicaid “is a big mistake” because the federal government and states won’t have the funds to cover it and taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to pay more, said U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. “I think it’s going to lead to serious fiscal crisis in Kentucky. It’s going to lead to the necessity for higher taxes or more borrowing because Medicaid is extraordinarily expensive,” Paul told Pure Politics over the weekend while speaking at Republican events in Iowa. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear... Read more 

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — Campaign here early and often. That was the message over the weekend from Iowa Republicans to Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul — and any other prospective presidential candidate who was listening. The message from Paul to Iowa Republicans was, for the most part, that the Republican Party needs to broaden its base and that President Barack Obama’s administration screwed up U.S. health care policy and security in Benghazi. Paul has said he’s considering making a presidential... Read more 

The ACLU of Kentucky is also now going to court to force the Kentucky General Assembly to approve new maps of House and Senate districts using the 2010 U.S. Census figures. The ACLU’s Voting Rights Project on Friday flied a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Frankfort against the Kentucky Board of Elections and secretary of state aimed at forcing action on redistricting. “The General Assembly’s initial failure to adopt lawful maps in 2012, and their failure to enact any... Read more