Still time to enroll through Kynect

by MATT HUGHES

J-E News Editor

Open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) got underway on November 15, 2014 and will run through February 15, 2015 Although December 15, 2014 was the last day residents could enroll and be guaranteed health care coverage on the first day of 2015, it’s still not to late to sign up for coverage.

More than 521,000 Kentuckians enrolled in Medicaid or private health insurance through the state exchange—Kynect—during its first year. Officials estimate that 75 percent of those enrollees did not have prior health insurance coverage.

“ACA has impacted significantly our patient mix,” said Bill Smith, CEO of Health First CHC in Providence. “We have seen our patient mix for Medicaid about double and our “slide” patient mix fall about half.”

Since November 15, over 100,000 Kentuckians have enrolled in health insurance through Kynect. More than 9,200 of that total were new enrollments, and 6,000 of those new enrollees qualified for some level of financial assistance to help cover a portion of their premium costs.

Kentucky was hailed as a national leader last year when more than 521,000 Kentuckians enrolled in health care coverage through Kynect. Three out of every four enrollees reported that they had no health insurance prior to signing up through Kynect. A Gallup poll this summer reported that thanks to kynect, Kentucky had the second-highest reduction of uninsured people in the country, falling from 20.4 percent in 2013 to 11.9 percent midway through 2014.

Among improvements to Kynect this year are:

•enhancements at kynect.ky.gov to make seeing your costs and options and enrolling even easier

• a Kynect mobile app for Android and Apple devices that can give you a preliminary estimate and guide Kentuckians to help or enrollment events in their area

•additional call center staff and capacity

•a full-service enrollment retail storefront at the Fayette Mall in Lexington.

“We were really thrilled with the number of people Kynect enrolled last year, but there are still thousands of Kentuckians who need insurance for themselves and for their families,” said Carrie Banahan, executive director of Kynect. “Enrolling is easy. You can check out Kynect online, by phone or in-person with an insurance agent or kynectors, or stop by our new location at Fayette Mall in Lexington.”

Webster County residents wishing to enroll in health care coverage have numerous options. You can visit the website at kynect.gov, meet with ‘kynectors’ from GRADD at Providence Housing Authority or local senior centers (call (270) 831-9661 to make an appointment) or meet with ‘kynectors’ at Health First CHC.

“We have a dedicated outreach worker for this program,” said Smith. “Sarah Combs is in our Providence Clinic.  Her number is 667-2020. We have two other outreach workers, one in Providence and one in Henderson, who can assist.  They are Sandra Kanipe in Providence (270-667-7017 ) and Shawnda Daugherty in Henderson (270-826-5522).

Reach MATT HUGHES

 at 270-667-2068 or 

matt@journalenterprise.com