Leave it to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to come up with the
most bizarre Medicaid/Obamacare story yet. On ABC's
This Week Sunday, Paul insisted that one of his sons had been enrolled in Medicaid against his will and without applying for it.
"We didn't try to get him Medicaid…They automatically enrolled him in Medicaid," Paul said. "For a month they wouldn't talk to us because they said they weren't sure he existed. He had to go down to the welfare office, prove his existence, then, next thing we know, we get a Medicaid card."
Which doesn't happen in Kentucky or anywhere else. In some states the law allows states to enroll people on other forms of assistance who would qualify, but Kentucky isn't doing that. Kentuckians have to apply to participate. Just to make doubly sure of that,
Mother Jones checked with Kentucky officials.
No one is being automatically enrolled for Medicaid in Kentucky, says Jill Midkiff, communications director for the state's health department. "We're not automatically enrolling people," Midkiff explains. "People have to actually go and apply."
Paul has three sons, one a young adult of 20 and two teenagers. Presumably it's the oldest that's involved here. But this story just isn't adding up, on a number of levels. Either Paul is lying like a rug or he's being lied to by his kid who didn't want to admit to his father that he's a would-be moocher.