News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Medicaid compromise easily clears Ky House

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, Ky – A bipartisan plan for balancing Kentucky's Medicaid budget has easily cleared the House of Representatives. Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh watched the vote...

The House plan, crafted with input from leaders on both sides of the aisle, sailed through the House 94-4. All four opponents, including Rep. Jim DeCesare of Rockfield, are Republicans.

"I don't believe we should be rushed to vote on something as important as this without having time to dissect it and understand it," said DeCesare. "Twenty-five minutes on a multi-hundred million dollar bill is just not enough time. And the time I spent looking at the bill, I found some holes in it.

The bill lets Gov. Beshear shift Medicaid funds forward, but if he fails to meet projected savings from managed care, targeted cuts would have to be made. Beshear likes his original plan better, but is happy education would be spared any cuts. Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers was reluctant to comment on a bill he has not seen.

NEW PROPOSAL

House Speaker Greg Stumbo says the bill allows Gov. Beshear to shift Medicaid funds forward to cover a huge deficit, but if projected savings from managed care fail to materialize, targeted cuts to state agencies would have to be made by October 1st.

"We take much of the Senate's proposal and incorporate it in this document," said Stumbo. "I think you saw today that it reaches across party lines. It reaches across regional lines. I think the members, obviously, by and large, are confident this is a different proposal."

SENATE REACTION

After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers was reluctant to comment on a bill he was still waiting to read.

"It's one thing to talk about concepts versus reading a bill and determining what the details of the bill are," said Stivers. "As I remember, when I first came in, the first time that I heard Sen. Dick Roeding - who was the president pro tem - say, the devil is in the details. Concepts are concepts and you have to deal with them accordingly after you read the legislation."

Stivers says the bill will be sent to the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee.