Kentucky Health News
State officials recognize that there is a shortfall in the number of people who have signed up for subsidized health insurance plans through Kynect, the state insurance exchange, but disputes the recent report that two-thirds of eligible people have yet to take advantage of the opportunity.
"We do not feel the numbers related to the two-thirds are correct," Gwenda Bond, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in an email. "The figures cited to arrive at that conclusion were preliminary estimates for Medicaid expansion and qualified-health-plan subsidy eligibility based on Census data, completed prior to the first open enrollment period."
Qualified health plans are bought through Kynect, with the premiums reduced by a federal subsidy, structured as a premium tax credit.
Bond noted that Kentucky more than doubled the number it expected to enroll in Medicaid through the ACA and "some people who were originally assumed to qualify for subsidies qualified for Medicaid instead."
Those who enrolled in both private insurance and Medicaid through Kynect have had more health issues, which has caused insurance companies to pay more claims than expected and raise rates.
Kynect works to reach both the uninsured who are not eligible for Medicaid but are eligible for subsidies, as well as those who have bought or are planning to buy insurance in the individual market but are unaware that they may qualify for subsidies through Kynect.
One of the exchange's most recent efforts is a media campaign encouraging those who have bought insurance in the individual private market to check rates on Kynect first and informs them that they can enroll now if their coverage period is ending. Open enrollment runs through Dec. 11.
Kynect is also emphasizing that some areas of the state will have up to eight insurers to choose from this year, Bond said.
Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.
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