Sen. Mitch McConnell and Gov. Steve Beshear squared off in a heated debate about the federal health-care law at the Kentucky Country Ham Breakfast.
The Democratic governor said Thursday the Affordable Care Act will work in Kentucky.
Beshear said the law will improve Kentucky's health problems, which include some of the nation's worst rates for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
McConnell, the Senate's top-ranking Republican, said the law is driving up health insurance premiums and forcing employers to reduce working hours for many employees. McConnell said the law should be repealed.
The long-time political adversaries spoke from the same head table at the event in Louisville.
An off-shoot of the health care law is the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange. It will help arrange insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Kentuckians.
