Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Beshear takes the bait on ObamaCare

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear couldn't get through the first sentence of today's big press release without telling a lie.

From the release: "Governor Steve Beshear today issued an executive order establishing the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, a requirement of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA)."


The ObamaCare exchanges are optional. Further, refusing to play along is the only way Kentucky could hope to survive the rapid tax, penalty and fee increases for Kentuckians in the federal law.


Federal funding for the Kentucky exchange will dry up at the end of 2014. At that point, Beshear claims the "Exchange will be wholly funded with revenues it generates."


That means either a new tax or some kind of fee increase on health insurance will be necessary. Governor Beshear should be made to explain exactly how much he anticipates the state will spend on the exchange annually and where precisely that money will come from.