Kentucky Democratic Party stops in Bowling Green
Published 8:01 am Monday, September 8, 2025
Western Kentucky University Associate Professor Robert Dietle speaks at the Lisa Rice Library on Thursday for part of a tour held by the Kentucky Democratic Party in defense of Medicaid, with KDP Executive Director Morgan Eaves standing nearby.
The Kentucky Democratic Party visited the Lisa Rice Library Thursday for a statewide tour it’s holding in defense of Medicaid — spotlighting a local father and echoing concerns that surround widely anticipated impacts of upcoming Medicaid cuts due to the One Big Beautiful Bill.
The father, Western Kentucky University Associate Professor Robert Dietle, expressed worry for his son Samuel Dietle, who has mental impairments that hinder daily life and prevent independent living. The state’s Medicaid-funded Michelle P. Waiver provides Samuel Dietle daily contact with a direct support professional — aiding his progress and capabilities, and allowing his father to continue working — as well as weekly support from an occupational therapist.
“He’s a loving child, but he can be very difficult, and that’s why having professionals who are trained and are familiar with him are important,” Dietle said. “These are important supports to allow him to live a life of dignity.”
If the benefits are cut, Robert Dietle said, he would have to retire to become his son’s full-time caregiver. Samuel Dietle’s Michelle P. waiver is a medical coverage support reliant on Medicaid — one among numerous types of supports that major health providers, healthcare groups, analysts and Democrats overwhelmingly say face at least some risk due to the budget bill.
Dietle also expressed concern about the broader implications of a loss in Medicaid funding, and added that a lack of clarity surrounds what provisions will be impacted. Regarding caregivers, multiple national and state policy and advocacy organizations have told the Daily News that waivers such as the Michelle P. Waiver are at threat because federal cuts to programs are anticipated to leave more financial burden on states — which squeezes out state funding for other programs, particularly those that are optional, such as the waivers.
At KDP’s Bowling Green visit, its Executive Director Morgan Eaves echoed concerns raised in recent months over the Medicaid cuts on the state level — fears that unintended Medicaid recipients will fall through the cracks amid Medicaid work requirements and additional paperwork. She referenced 200,000 Kentuckians anticipated to lose insurance, the up to 20,000 Kentucky healthcare workers who could lose their jobs, and the 35 rural hospitals statewide are particularly at risk of closure, figures previously shared by Kentucky Economic Policy, the Kentucky Hospital Association and the University of North Carolina Sheps Center for Health Services Research, respectively.
KDP added that much of the cuts are scheduled to take effect after midterm elections, and singled out Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green, who chaired the Committee on Energy and Commerce through the budget bill’s drafting — a committee that had been tasked with trimming $880 billion from the federal budget act as it went through the House.
Republican representatives and other supporters of the budget bill have widely decried these concerns as fearmongering.
Where the healthcare organizations and Democrats see cuts impacting people not intended to be target, Guthrie, other Congress republicans, and budget bill supporters see money saved from waste, fraud and abuse — funds being preserved for those most in need. The latest Congressional Budget Office estimate found that Medicaid spending would be reduced by an estimated $911 billion and cause 10 million to become uninsured over a decade, according to the nonpartisan thinktank Kaiser Family Foundation.
Guthrie has been a staunch supporter of the bill, recently penning an op-ed stating that Medicaid will be strengthened through the addition of more eligibility checks for the Medicaid expansion population and work requirements for able-bodied Americans who choose to not work.
“This is yet another example of Democrats spreading misinformation to scare Kentuckians,” Guthrie told the Daily News about messaging from KDP’s Bowling Green visit.
He stated that Medicaid funding “is expected to increase by more than $300 billion over the next 10 years.”
Guthrie also pointed to groups exempt from the work requirement, which include people who are medically frail, pregnant or caregivers for dependent children age 13 or under.
“Chairman Guthrie has and will continue to be a staunch supporter of protecting the Medicaid program for generations to come,” a spokesperson for Guthrie stated. “That’s why he worked to craft a piece of legislation that strengthens the program for those it is intended to serve: expectant mothers, children, low-income seniors, and people with disabilities.”
The spokesperson pointed to the bill’s tax cuts. It includes temporary tax deductions to tips, overtime and Social Security, according to KFF.
“What Chairman Guthrie did vote for is the largest tax cut for working families in history,” the spokesperson stated. “The bill eliminated taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security while strengthening Medicaid for those whom the program is intended to serve. Saying anything to the contrary is detached from reality and should be reported on as such.”
