More than 114,000 Kentuckians have newly enrolled for health care coverage or renewed their current plans through kynect in the eight weeks since open enrollment officially began on Nov. 15, 2014.
This enrollment total includes individuals who have either newly enrolled in a private health insurance plan, qualified for Medicaid coverage or renewed the private insurance plans they purchased last year through kynect.
In the last three weeks, kynect has newly enrolled 3,000 individuals in one of the qualified health plan offered through kynect. Another 75,700 individuals have auto-renewed the private health insurance plans they purchased last year through kynect.
An additional 9,581 individuals newly met eligibility requirements for Medicaid, the majority of which qualified for coverage under the expansion. An individual’s income must fall below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to qualify for the Medicaid expansion. This equates to an individual making less than $16,000 a year or a family of four with an annual household income at or below $36,000.
With the heavy holiday foot traffic at Lexington’s Fayette Mall, the kynect retail store welcomed approximately 1,300 visitors over the last three weeks, helping individuals complete nearly 900 new applications for health care coverage.
The following statistics are current as of Jan. 6:
•398,541 unique visitors viewing more than 13.6 million pages;
•215,923 individuals have conducted preliminary screenings;
•306,213 calls have been handled by the kynect contact center;
•22,352 new accounts have been created;
•5,744 people have downloaded the new kynect app;
•35,493 new applications for coverage have been submitted;
•25,720 have enrolled in Medicaid coverage;
•75,760 individuals have renewed their enrollment in a qualified health plan;
•12,529 individuals have newly enrolled in a qualified health plan;
•5,079 individuals have enrolled in dental plans; and
•5,541 visitors to the kynect store at Fayette Mall in Lexington have completed 3,215 applications for new coverage.
Last year Kentucky saw more than 521,000 individuals enrolled in health care coverage through kynect, 75 percent of whom reported they were uninsured prior to signing up through kynect. A Gallup poll this summer reported that 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.
“We have been extremely pleased with the steady pace of enrollments this year, but there remain many Kentuckians who are in need insurance for themselves and for their families,” said Carrie Banahan, executive director of kynect.
“We encourage anyone without health insurance to contact us. 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,” Banahan added.
Open enrollment continues through Feb. 15, 2015. Those who need health insurance are encouraged to log on or contact an insurance agent to see their options for quality, affordable health coverage in 2015.
(story provided by Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office)
