Tom Eblen Recognizes Giant Unaffordability of Obamacare, If Begrudgingly
Today in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Tom Eblen devoted 540 words to how great the new Obamacare law will be:
The report paints a generally positive picture of how the law will affect Kentucky, the 47th-poorest state in per-capita income, at only 80 percent of the national average....
Expansion of Medicaid eligibility for poor people will extend coverage to an estimated 261,000 Kentuckians -- or about 40 percent of the state's currently uninsured population -- by 2014, the report says.
The law will allow 16,800 young adults in Kentucky, up to age 26, to remain on their parents' insurance policies if they don't have coverage available through their own employer.
There will be gradually better coverage for people who now fall into the Medicare prescription drug program's "donut hole" of cost-sharing. The report estimates that this will apply to 129,000 Kentucky seniors next year. In addition, about 63,200 Kentuckians will benefit from a reinsurance program for early retirees who are not yet old enough for Medicare.
Is there anything problematic about the law? in the next to last sentence, Tom begrudgingly acknowledges:
It remains to be seen how well this new law will deal with some fundamental problems, especially rising costs, in the nation's health and insurance systems.
What a great undertaking that we may or may not be able to afford! Let's just be glad no one ever has to pay for it!
