Kentucky Republican Governor Bevin's Attacks on Medicaid Part II.

Now kids who are on Medicaid in KY are being turned away from dentists’ offices because of Bevin’s decision to eliminate vision and dental coverage for Medicaid recipients.

The state's decision to abruptly cut Medicaid dental and vision benefits for about a half-million adults has created chaos and, in some cases, forced dentists to turn away children and other patients who are mistakenly showing up in the state's computer system as having lost coverage.

Besides children, patients listed as having lost dental coverage include pregnant women and disabled adults — all of whom should have been exempt from the cutoff of Medicaid benefits announced over the weekend by Gov. Matt Bevin's administration.

Bevin’s cronies in the Health cabinet say:

Doug Hogan, a spokesman for the cabinet, said the agency is “actively working through impacts from the judge's order” in order to eliminate confusion he said was created by the court ruling.

He said that “without specifics,” the cabinet can't confirm whether people were wrongly classified or if a provider is getting incorrect information. But, he said, “according to system checks, eligibility is being correctly applied to children and pregnant women.”

Hogan said anyone with concerns about eligibility should call the state at 1-800-635-2570 for assistance

Cruel and incompetent.  Seems to be in the DNA of Republicans.

Among those affected, besides the kids, was a patient of Dr. Stephanie Poytner in Louisville who said the following:

Among those affected was a patient who needed dental treatment in order to undergo urgently needed heart surgery, Poynter said. The patient lacked money to pay for the visit and left without getting care, distraught and frustrated.

And this is from a dentist in Pikeville in Eastern Kentucky — home of lots of registered Republican voters in KY:

In Pikeville, Dr. Bill Collins, a dentist, said he and a local oral surgeon have both been forced to cancel multiple appointments for Medicaid patients since Monday, some for patients who should not have lost coverage, including children and a pregnant woman.

“I'm telling the patients, if they've got a problem, I'm giving them the governor’s number,” he said. “They can call him. Let him get the calls I'm getting.”

I think more healthcare providers will need to do what Dr. Collins suggest.  Not only will poor people in Louisville be turned away — a significant number are minorities, but those in the rest of the state are poor WHITE people who thought it was great to vote for Republicans.  The same Republicans who said that they wanted to eliminate Obamacare.