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Tea party Republican Matt Bevin had to tone down his anti-Obamacare rhetoric in order to win election as governor of Kentucky last November. Since then, there has been intense speculation over what Bevin would do to make good on his campaign promise to phase out Kynect, Kentucky’s state-run health insurance exchange .... Bevin is a hero among conservative Republicans who have been trying for years in Washington to either dismantle or seriously weaken the ACA, the signature health care initiative of President Obama. However, critics and healthcare advocates warn that Bevin’s move will create chaos and confusion for more than two million Kentuckians who currently are enrolled in private health insurance policies or Medicaid through Kynect. (Pianin, 2/10)

Obamacare is putting the agricultural industry in a tizzy. Many contractors who provide farm labor and must now offer workers health insurance are complaining loudly about the cost in their already low-margin business. Some are also concerned that the forms they must file with the federal government under the Affordable Care Act will bring immigration problems to the fore. About half of the farm labor workforce in the U.S. is undocumented. (Dembosky, 2/11)

More than 162,000 Marylanders signed up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, a 33 percent jump from last year that surpassed a state goal of 150,000 new people on the health insurance rolls. Officials with the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which oversees the state's enrollment efforts, released Tuesday the final numbers for this year's three-month enrollment period, which ended Feb. 5. Consumers had an extra five days to get insurance this year because of the January snowstorm that crippled the region. (McDaniels, 2/10)