October 5th–Kentucky on Monday it relaunched a “newer, better and more comprehensive” version of Kynect, the state exchange scheduled to begin offering health insurance to eligible Kentucky residents in 2022, the governor said. Andy beshear announced Monday.
The portal, which went live Monday, will offer Kentucky residents an avenue to eventually enroll in the state health care exchange in 2021 before coverage takes effect a year later. But it will also serve as a more user-friendly way for Kentuckians to access any community-based resource, be it Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), enrollment in the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), information about child and elderly care, unemployment benefits, or substance use disorder recovery services.
“Today is a brilliant moment for the Commonwealth,” the governor said at a morning news conference.
Eligible individuals will be able to apply for benefits from any device, including a smartphone, and then follow the progress of their application.
The objective was to make the request for services as easy as possible, Cabinet for the Health and Family Services Section. Eric Friedlander He said. “We want to keep it simple. This is mobile-enabled, intuitive, and we hope it’s simple so that people can go to a place and get services.”
Kynect, Kentucky The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act was initially implemented in 2013 by Beshear’s father and Democratic predecessor, the Governor. Steve Beshear. Although it was dismantled by the Republican governor. Matt bevin In 2017, during the four years it was in effect, it provided health insurance to half a million Kentucky residents, and the state’s uninsured population dropped from more than 14 percent to just over 5 percent.
When Beshear took office in December, his first major move as governor was to rescind Bevin’s proposed changes to expand Medicaid, known as the Kentucky HEALTH plan, which sought to impose strict work requirements for healthy, working-age adults and would have ended the coverage for about 95,000 Kentucky residents.
Beshear announced in June that he planned to revive Kynect, which he said will save the state roughly. $ 15 million one year in operating costs. In the state Capitol on Monday he said “Kentucky is in the top 10 [states for] lung cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The new Kynect will help change that. “
For more information, visit www.kynect.ky.gov.
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