Beshear: the new kynect offers easier access to health coverage, expanded benefits



[ad_1]

Owensboro Times Chart

Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday that the state has reconnected kynect to provide easier access to health coverage and other benefits.

Beshear said the new kynect offers expanded benefits, improved usability, a new mobile-friendly format and helps prepare the Commonwealth for the return of the state exchange, scheduled for enrollment in 2021 to begin the exchange in January 2022.

The measure is expected to save Kentuckians about $ 15 million a year.

The URL is kynect.ky.gov, and those who visit benefind.ky.gov will be directed to the new site.

Along with Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman, Cabinet Health and Family Services (CHFS) officials, and community partners, Beshear said the portal looks like the original kynect, launched in 2013, but includes new features and services.

The portal provides access to the national health benefits exchange and access to enrollment across the state, including Medicaid, the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), and the Kentucky Integrated Health Insurance Premium Payment Program.

Qualifying families can now also access SNAP food assistance benefits and child care and family assistance programs.

Additional resources include support for job training, foster care, elderly care, and addiction, as well as support for veterans with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, homeless Kentucky residents, and many more.

The portal was created to bring together these benefit information resources and community partners for a better Kentucky in one place.

While the state is making progress, Kentucky still has some of the worst health outcomes in the country, including ranking in the top 10 for lung cancer, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

“We hope that more Kentucky residents will get the help they need to improve health outcomes (through kynect,” Coleman said. “A healthier Kentucky leads to stronger families, better education, a better economy and better quality of care. life for all. is what we are all working for and kynect is helping us to achieve it. “

Kynect, relaunched with partners collaborating to work Together for a better Kentucky, initially started prior to the 2014 health insurance enrollment as a comprehensive website for health coverage. It provided options to apply for Medicaid or choose qualified health plans filed with the Kentucky Department of Insurance.

The CHFS site was lauded as a national model and helped enroll more than 500,000 Kentucky residents in 2014. Since it went offline under the previous administration, more limited information has continued to be accessed through benefind.ky.gov. This site will now be retired as all benefits are simplified at kynect.

Kentucky residents can now also track the progress of an application and view next steps after an application is complete. Applicants can take a photo of the documents with a smartphone and upload it if information is requested for the application.



[ad_2]