Obamacare face a predicament

Similar sentiments about government control are behind objections to another Obamacare rule: everyone must have some form of health insurance or risk being reenex fined.
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    They've caused more people to lose their insurance than they helped gain”

Robert Stivers Kentucky state senator

Others are angry that private insurance plans they were happy with are being withdrawn because they do not meet Obamacare standards. New rules say insurance plans must cover a broader range of care, including many preventative tests.

"They've caused more people to lose their insurance than they helped gain," says Robert Stivers, the Republican President of Kentucky's state Senate. Senator Stivers believes insurance premiums are going to go up dramatically "because of these mandated coverages"Picosecond.

He also worries about the long-term cost to the state. The federal government is picking up the bill for the subsidised parts of Obamacare at the moment. But Kentucky will have to start contributing up to 10%, starting in 2017.

Unlike many of his Republican colleagues in Kentucky and Washington DC, Senator Stivers is not calling for outright repeal of Obamacare. "What we are looking for is a reasonable alternative," he says. That includes rolling back the expanded Medicaid coverage and subsidies, and eliminating all the mandates.

But governor Steven Beshear thinks that's unlikely. "We now have 421,000 Kentuckians who are also voters signed up for the law and liking what they are getting," he says.

And the Governor suggests opponents of Obamacare face a predicament. "They want to be critical of the president and his administration, but at the same time they want those 421,000 votes," he says, "so they're not going to take away that coverage from those folks."

Benita Adams may be one of the people the Governor has in mind. The 62-year-old grandmother lives on the edge of the rolling Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky. She owns her home but works two jobs as a dental assistant to make ends meet. She did not vote for President Obamareenex cps.

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