(WKYT) – A 4% cut to Medicaid provider reimbursement rates, set to take effect Aug. 1, has been reversed after Gov. Andy Beshear cited an unexpected state budget surplus. The cuts would have lowered reimbursement rates for providers that many say are already underpaid.
Beshear’s administration points the finger at the Kentucky House Majority, he claims Republicans underfunded Medicaid in the state’s budget approved last session.
In a statement, Republican House Speaker David Osbourne said in part that lawmakers actually approved more Medicaid funding than the Governor asked for in the House minority’s budget proposal. Osborne also said the Beshear administration has not provided evidence of why they needed additional funding.
Beshear said with the cuts reversed, families relying on Medicaid waiver services will now have access to the care they need.
Families say these services are needed lifelong
Claire Mynear, 34, has an intellectual and developmental disability, or IDD. For 15 years, her Medicaid waiver has helped her and her family receive services to support her independent living.
“We were all like holding our breaths and worried about what was going to happen by the time August first came,” Mynear said.
Her mother, Jennifer Mynear, said the responsibilities for their family would have changed dramatically without those resources.
“None of the families, none of us are looking for handouts — we’re looking for some help,” Jennifer Mynear said.
Advocates call for long-term protections
With the cuts reversed, families are safe for this year, but many say they remain concerned about projected cuts in the coming years.
Starr Garcia, chair of the Kentucky chapter of the National Council on Severe Autism, said her 18-year-old son, Junior, has severe autism and an IDD and also relies on a Medicaid waiver.
“He needs help with every single thing in his life, getting dressed, the basic needs, eating, all of it,” Garcia said. “Without the care that the waivers help to provide, he would be in an institution.”
Garcia helped organize a rally against the cuts in Frankfort. The Beshear administration thanked the community for their advocacy.
“We shouldn’t have to worry like this every year or two years,” Garcia said. “The General Assembly, the state of Kentucky really needs to do something to protect the disabled community here.”
Garcia said she believes the advocacy effort could mark a turning point.
“I feel like it might be the start of something here in Kentucky that’s gonna give parents a voice,” she said.
State official warns of larger cuts ahead
Dr. Steven Stack, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said the cuts projected for 2028 are larger than those just reversed for 2027.
“While the governor is taking wonderful steps to stall the problem at the moment, the legislature still needs to address these problems in an ongoing manner in this next session,” Stack said.
Jennifer Mynear said the need for care does not end.
“We are just asking that our children have an opportunity to be treated with respect, to have expectations to succeed as much as they possibly can, and to be given a safe future,” she said.