Kentucky Governor Bevin May Get FBI Probe, As $18M In Tax Breaks Given For Ark During Health Care Benefits ‘Crisis’
Is Matt Bevin, the governor of Kentucky, finally so out of control that the FBI is stepping in to shut down a reign of terror that has further decimated one of the most at-risk states in America?
Reuters reported on April 27 that Matt Bevin was alleged to be under investigation by the FBI, according to the former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear, and he was quoted stating the following.
“He demanded that Democratic legislators switch parties and threatened to cancel road projects in their districts if they didn’t comply… When they refused, he said he would destroy them… I understand that the FBI may be looking into that kind of conduct.”
Adding to the Matt Bevin leadership crisis, Kentucky is the sixth-most impoverished place in America, according to Business Insider and the New York Times, yet the governor has decided to slash millions from the budget while making erratic changes that have resulted in thousands of Kentuckians (living below the poverty line) being booted from programs including affordable healthcare and/or SNAP benefits (food stamps).
Despite the intense blame-game with the Benefind/Kynect or political bullying scandal in Kentucky between Bevin and Beshear, the end result is thousands of Kentuckians left without coverage for health care or SNAP benefits since at least the end of February, according to WFPL and as previously reported by the Inquisitr.
Now, there are new rumors that suggest many SNAP recipients (many of whom are already having trouble contacting benefits workers due to the Kynect/Benefind crisis) in Kentucky will receive letters around May 1 explaining they have become ineligible — thanks to Bevin, according to OA Now.
This action against up to 17,000 SNAP recipients has its roots in a decision made by Matt Bevin on January 15 to demand that anyone between 18 and 50 without dependents to “spend an average of 20 hours a week either working at a job, doing volunteer work or taking classes,” according to WKYT.
Adding to the list of reasons Kentucky voters are petitioning to have Matt Bevin impeached or removed from office; instead of setting aside money to pay for indigent health care (called the “Quality and Charity Care Trust”) and money to fund other key Kentucky programs, according to Courier-Journal, Governor Matt Bevin has decided that Kentucky needs $18 million in tax breaks to recreate Noah’s Ark from the Bible, according to Lexington Herald-Leader.
For now, no formal impeachment procedures have been made against Matt Bevin for his surrealist approaches to governing Kentucky, and time will tell if there will be charges filed against Matt Bevin.
There is also the unfortunate fact that Matt Bevin’s actions with health care could have unforeseeable outcomes, one of which was quoted by the Courier-Journal on March 28. At that time, Matt Bevin had fired “the top official in charge of complaints” at the SNAP and Medicaid access offices a month after the Benefind/Kynect crisis began.
This health care and SNAP benefits top official, Norman “Chip” Ward, was fired the day after he warned bosses like Matt Bevin that Kentuckians would be “so angry over problems with a new public benefits system [like Benefind]” that he was afraid “some might become violent, endangering state workers.”
Chip Ward also said the following after being fired from the benefits access complaints department.
“I expressed my concern that something bad was going to happen. [The Benefind switch-over crisis] was really reaching a boiling point.”
On April 7, the Courier-Journal reprinted estimates by a Kentucky non-profit called Kentucky Voices for Health that stated these Benefind/Kynect problems caused by Bevin are affecting up to 50,000 people in a state with an estimated population of 4.4 million.
On April 15, the Courier-Journal updated their story on the intense suffering that Kentuckians are going through due to their loss of coverage by Medicaid and SNAP benefits, and quoted Representative Darryl Owens of Louisville stating the following.
“Kentucky is facing a crisis… We simply do not have time for further blame or finger-pointing… I am deeply concerned for those people who have no voice in the process… We have heard about the nightmares, even catastrophic circumstances.”
As of April 29, according to The Gleaner, Matt Bevin has announced that there are now new centers open to assist those with Benefind troubles over the past two months.
In some cases, Kentuckians have been restored with part of their former benefits, but not necessarily all of them. Matt Bevin’s new strategy to get everyone enrolled in Benefind involves hiring Brandon Carlson, a retired U.S. Army major.
About fixing the health care benefits paperwork crisis in Kentucky caused by Matt Bevin’s decision to switch from Kynect to Benefind, Brandon Carlson stated the following.
“I modeled this after tactical operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Although other independent agencies might debate his estimates, over the next two weeks Brandon Carlson feels that 18,000 outstanding cases will be processed. Currently, an estimated 1.3 million Kentuckians are eligible to access the type of benefits the Benefind system should facilitate.
[Picture by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
