Republicans including Senator Mitch McConnell have spent the last three years trying to undermine, bad mouthing and trying to repeal the PPACA (AKA Obamacare). Mitch is running for reelection this year against a very popular Democrat. His real problem may prove to be that Obamacare is turning out to be very successful and popular in his state of Kentucky.
Despite the efforts of Kentucky’s congressional delegation to stymie the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, uninsured residents in one of the state’s poorer counties were pleasantly surprised to find they could now enroll in health insurance plans.
The Washington Post detailed some interactions between uninsured residents of Kentucky’s Breathitt County, which ranks among the poorest and unhealthiest in the nation, and a worker at a local health clinic as those residents signed up for coverage on the state-based exchange, Kynect.
In one transaction, the health clinic worker told Ronald Hudson, a previously uninsured father of five who makes $14,000 a year before taxes, that he qualified for a medical card.
“Well, thank God,” Hudson responded laughing, according to the Post. “I believe I’m going to be a Democrat.”
Now while Kentucky may be a red state it’s Governor is a Democrat who embraced the PPACA. Perhaps we now know why Republican governors resited, they were terrified it might work.