**IRONY ALERT** In Depressed Rural Kentucky, Worries Mount Over Medicaid Cutbacks

[progressoid]

For Freida Lockaby, an unemployed 56-year-old woman who lives with her dog in an aging mobile home in Manchester, Ky., one of America's poorest places, the Affordable Care Act was life altering.

The law allowed Kentucky to expand Medicaid in 2014 and made Lockaby – along with 440,000 other low-income state residents – newly eligible for free health care under the state-federal insurance program. Enrollment gave Lockaby her first insurance in 11 years.

"It's been a godsend to me," said the former Ohio school custodian who moved to Kentucky a decade ago.

Lockaby finally got treated for a thyroid disorder that had left her so exhausted she'd almost taken root in her living room chair. Cataract surgery let her see clearly again. A carpal tunnel operation on her left hand eased her pain and helped her sleep better. Daily medications brought her high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol level under control.

But Lockaby is worried her good fortune could soon end. Her future access to health care now hinges on a controversial proposal to revamp the program that her state's Republican governor has submitted to the Obama administration.

Next year will likely bring more uncertainty when a Trump administration and a GOP-controlled Congress promise to consider Obamacare's repeal, including a potential reduction in the associated Medicaid expansion in 31 states and the District of Columbia that has led to health coverage for an estimated 10 million people.

more...http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/19/502580120/in-depressed-rural-kentucky-worries-mount-over-medicaid-cutbacks?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2046

FYI, Clay county voted for Trump by 87%.

[Squinch]

1. Well....like the man said, the sins you do two by two, you pay for one by one.

I am still so mad that I hope they all get exactly what they voted for. And this is part of it.

[guillaumeb]

2. Elections have consequences.

And the 87% of white county residents will soon experience the consequences of their choice. All part of making America great again.

[Blanks]

3. Trump?

They've been sending McConnell to the senate with the promise of repealing Obamacare forever.

Their Obamacare would probably have been safe if they'd given McConnell the boot two years ago.

[Hoyt]

4. So how did ypu vote, lady?

[DavidDvorkin]

5. If they voted for Trump

[CincyDem]

6. If Clay county voted for Trump 87%...

...it's because 13% of the population stayed home.


Unfortunately, it isn't what trump threatens to do to ACA that makes a difference for these folks. It's that they elected a republican Asshat for governor who ran on the promise of shutting down the state exchange established by his D predecessor.

Seriously - this guy's sole promise was to dismantle ACA. And he won by a ton IIRC. He pretty much said, I'm going to screw you senseless and I hate Obamacare. What everyone heard was the "I hate Obama" part and said yeah baby - he's our man.

So, Frieda, sorry for your loss. Sometimes you actually do get what you vote for. And make no mistake, you voted for this.

[LonePirate]

7. I no longer give a damn about idiots like Lockaby.

My sympathies and assistance will be directed to the Hillary voters who will be getting screwed over because of dumb fuck Trump voters.

[DFW]

8. And how did MS. Lockaby vote on November 8th?

If, indeed, she voted?

[Coventina]

9. 60% of the county is on Medicaid, and 87% voted for Trump. Fuck them.

[liquid diamond]

14. I just

cannot fathom such stupidity. These are the "working class whites" some DU posters say we have to win over?

[Liberal Veteran]

15. An excellent point.

It's easy to sit back and say, "You reap what you sow."

But if we want to win, our real thought should be "How do we win them over?"

[onecaliberal]

10. I have no fucks to give. You wanted it, you got it.

[Achilleaze]

11. d'oh

The Republican masses - as opposed to the Republican elite puppet masters - voted against themselves again.

How do you spell S-U-C-K-E-R-S.

Trump and his Republican cabal of cronies are laffing their asses off at the Republican Rubes they have suckered.

"Eat it, suckers." - Gold-Plated RepubliTrump Elite

[Dawson Leery]

12. I don't care.

I told my mother to stop giving the Appalachian Project after the 2010 midterms.

All we were doing was feeding a cancer more subsistence at the expense of our own survival. Highly immoral and unethical......

[Dawson Leery]

13. Than can go to hell...

They complain about trade, but line up for the latest smartphone, buy Herstal and Beretta guns.
They hate trade yet will buy a foreign made car.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! These pieces of shit have now forced a true fascist upon the world.
America, the nation that defeated fascism in Europe now has it's own!