by , @Joe_Gerth –

A new radio ad for Rep. John Yarmuth’s reelection stars President Barack Obama, who spends most of his time attacking Gov. Matt Bevin and his attempts to roll back Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion.

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth is on the air with a radio ad starring President Barack Obama that promotes Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion and attacks Gov. Matt Bevin as much as it promotes the congressman.

Except for a required disclaimer at the end, the ad is all Obama and even mentions Bevin before it mentions Yarmuth.

“This is Barack Obama. Over the past few years, Kentucky’s version of the Affordable Care Act provided health insurance to more than half a million Kentuckians. In fact, Kentucky had the largest drop in its uninsured rate of any state in the country.

“Now, Gov. Bevin wants to end our Medicaid expansion in Kentucky, leaving more than 400,000 people without health care. Don’t let him,” the ad says.

That’s in reference to Bevin’s decision to dismantle kynect, the state’s health insurance exchange, and the waiver he is seeking to scale back the Medicaid expansion by requiring people to pay premiums, lock out those who don’t pay, make it harder to get coverage and include a work requirement.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services is now considering Bevin’s application for the waiver. Bevin has said he could end the Medicaid expansion if the federal government turns him down.

Bevin’s spokeswoman, Amanda Stamper, criticized the ad, calling it “misleading.”

“It’s a shame that at the same time we negotiate in good faith with President Obama’s administration on our Kentucky HEALTH waiver, Kentucky Democrats have chosen President Obama to be their spokesperson for misleading political ads on this very topic,” Stamper said in a statement.

“The health care of Kentuckians is too important to be kicked like a political football by President Obama and Kentucky Democrats days before an election. The transition to healthcare.gov will save Kentucky’s taxpayers $10 million a year and Gov. Bevin’s transformative and financially sustainable Medicaid plan, Kentucky HEALTH, will actually improve health outcomes for Kentuckians and encourage self-sufficiency,” she said.

Yarmuth, who has represented Kentucky’s 3rd District since beating incumbent Republican Anne Northup in 2006, faces lightly funded Harold Bratcher in the Nov. 8 election.

The seat is considered a “safe” Democratic seat. The Republican Party hasn’t expended any significant resources to win the seat.

That has freed up Yarmuth to use his campaign cash, in this case to attacking Bevin and his efforts to restructure the Medicaid expansion enacted by executive order of his predecessor, former Gov. Steve Beshear.

Christopher Schuler, a spokesman for Yarmuth, said the 60-second ad is running on WHAS, WGHL, WMJM, WTFX, WLOU-AM and WLLV-AM in Louisville.

Here’s the full transcript of the ad:

“This is Barack Obama. Over the past few years, Kentucky’s version of the Affordable Care Act provided health insurance to more than half a million Kentuckians. In fact, Kentucky had the largest drop in its uninsured rate of any state in the country.

“Now, Gov. Bevin wants to end our Medicaid expansion in Kentucky, leaving more than 400,000 people without health care. Don’t let him.

“The Affordable Care Act has been a national success story and your congressman, John Yarmuth, has been a big reason why. When I’ve needed to get an important bill through the House, I’ve relied on the smarts and savvy of my friend, John.

“Now, once again, John’s standing up to Gov. Bevin and doing all he can to save Medicaid in Kentucky. Time and again, John’s been there for me and he’s been there for you. Now I’m asking you to be there for him.

“Kentuckians need health care. Kentuckians need Medicaid, and we need fighters like John in Congress. On Nov. 8, please re-elect Congressman John Yarmuth.”

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.