Ky. health officials uninhibited by truth

In the editorial “Detours on the way to remaking Medicaid,” you say that at a legislative hearing, Health and Family Services Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson and Medicaid Commissioner Stephen Miller undermined their credibility with their mischaracterizations about Kynect and Medicaid.

Now, in only a few short months Kentuckians have learned the Bevin administration is uninhibited by the truth, but aren’t their criminal penalties for lying to Kentuckians in legislative hearings?

The editorial detailed the many lies of Glisson and Miller, exposed the tax increase for people pushed from Kynect to the federal exchange and pointed out how successful Kynect has been in bringing 13,000 jobs and $3 billion to the state. Oh, and there’s the $21.6 billion return on investment of $3.7 billion. Only in the Tea Party fractured math of the Bevin administration does that add up to a negative.

Only a few months ago, Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, proposed expanding Kynect’s marketing to other states because it was so efficient. What’s changed? I’ll tell you: the demagoguery of a Tea Party governor and legislators who are pandering to the lowest common denominator and who are uninhibited in their lies to accomplish Gov. Matt Bevin’s simpleton agenda.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 8:37 PM with the headline "Ky. health officials uninhibited by truth."