Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, the popular Democrat who spearheaded Kynect, the state's Obamacare implementation,
fires back at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's claim that repealing Obamacare—also known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA—is "unconnected" with Kynect.
Now comes Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell's amended election-year promise, delivered as he's fighting for his political life: To rid the state of the ACA even while keeping all the good that "kynect" does.
At best, of course, his promise represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the ironclad link between the ACA and "kynect." At worst, it's a blatant attempt to mislead Kentucky families for his political benefit.
And not only does Beshear say McConnell is either clueless or a liar, but he makes it clear what Kentucky would lose if McConnell were to get his way:
In fact, over 421,000 Kentuckians have signed up for health insurance through "kynect" -- about 75 percent of whom didn't previously have insurance and about 52 percent of whom were under age 35.
That's almost 1 in 10 Kentuckians.
Those numbers -- and the testimony of the people behind them -- contradict the mindless nattering of partisan-minded critics who need to leave their Washington D.C. echo chambers and talk to the people they represent.
Because if each of the over 421,000 people who signed up via "kynect" could grab 10 minutes of Sen. McConnell's time to explain what health care coverage means for their families, and if the Senator had the endurance to listen 24/7, it would take eight years to hear from each enrollee.
That's longer than the entire new Senate term he says he deserves.
The simple truth is that as long as Mitch McConnell wants to repeal Obamacare, he has to own up to the fact that if he gets his way, he'll throw more than 400,000 Kentuckians off health insurance. For him to claim otherwise is an insult to their intelligence and should offend everyone in Kentucky who supports Kynect.
