By Stu Johnson
Frankfort, KY – Governor Beshear still believes a legislative solution to Kentucky's sizeable Medicaid shortfall can be found this session His comments come following the release of a senate republican plan quite different from his recommended remedy.
A bill in the Kentucky senate relies on across the board cuts to help deal with a 177 million dollar Medicaid shortfall. The G-O-P plan exempts education from cuts this year, but would require reductions next fiscal year. The house has approved the governor's plan to move 166 million dollars from the second year of the budget to the current year. Governor Beshear downplays the possibility of a stalemate.
" look forward to sitting down and working with senator Williams and finding a way through this, but it's not gonna be on the backs of our kids .does that mean gridlock?..... no, that doesn't mean gridlock. That means that we're gonna sit down and try to find a way through this," said Beshear.
Senate President David Williams has raised serious questions about the administration's ability to reap enough savings through managed care. Beshear believes the savings can be realized in the next year.
"'m very confident that the savings that we project in the second year will happen. We've got track records from other states that have gone to managed care that give us that confidence," added Beshear.
Beshear says a number of proposals from private firms are already in.