Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says the state’s implementation of the federal health care law is one of his administration's top accomplishments in 2013.Beshear says his decision to implement the state health care exchange and expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was an effort to address Kentucky’s historically low health rankings.“As we do this, and as our people get affordable health coverage, their lives are going to change, the lives of their children are going to change," Beshear says, "and over the next generation, we will have here in Kentucky a much healthier population, a much healthier workforce, and therefore a much more productive workforce.”About 100,000 people have signed up for new health care coverage throughthe exchange,with most of them obtaining Medicaid coverage.Beshear is touting other accomplishments, including the passage of Next Generation education science standards in public schools; raising the dropout age to 18; public employee pension reform;and beginning construction on theOhio River Bridges Project.
