Tagged: Governor Beshear

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is set to announce whether or not he’ll expand Kentucky’s Medicaid program.

The Governor’s office says Beshear will share his decision Thursday at a 1:30 p.m. eastern time news conference at the state capitol building.

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, each state has the option of expanding its Medicaid services to those earning less than 133 percent of the poverty rate. The federal government has agreed to pay each state’s additional costs related to expansion for the first three years, with Washington picking up 90 percent of the tab each following year.

Some conservatives and Tea Party activists have called on Beshear not to agree to the expansion, saying the commonwealth can’t afford any additional costs.

Supporters say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to extend the program to a wider number of Kentuckians who are struggling with high health care costs.

A leading health organization in Kentucky is putting the pressure on Gov. Steve Beshear to expand Medicaid services under the Affordable Care Act.

Kentucky Voices for Health Executive Director Regan Hunt says her group is launching a two-week radio ad campaign pressure Beshear to expand Medicaid. The radio ad campaign will be partnered with a month long online ad campaign.

So far, the governor has delayed making a decision— although he seems to support the ideal, if fiscally possible.

Under the healthcare law, the federal government will pay 100 percent of expansion costs for three years and then 90 percent after that.

A Lexus luxury brand vehicle will soon be built in the Bluegrass State. Toyota officials made the formal announcement Friday morning at the auto maker’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant, where production of the Lexus ES 350 will begin in 2015.

Governor Beshear told Toyota leaders in attendance that he appreciates their decision to invest further in Kentucky.

“We realize the care and the pride that you take in that vehicle and that it requires the utmost in a skilled workforce, not to mention top quality components,” said Beshear. “Your confidence in the quality of Kentucky’s workers, especially our team here in Georgetown is appreciated and well placed.”

Kentucky Toyota workers will produce about 50,000 of the new Lexus vehicles annually once production begins in two years. The expansion will add an estimated 750 new jobs to a facility that already employs 6,600 workers.