Kentucky Relaunches Kynect As Central Hub For Access To Social Services

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)

Oct. 5--Kentucky on Monday re-launched a "newer, better, more comprehensive" version of Kynect, the state-based exchange slated to begin offering health insurance to eligible Kentuckians in 2022, Gov. Andy Beshear announced on Monday.

The portal, which went live on Monday, will offer Kentuckians an avenue to eventually enroll in the state-based health care exchange in 2021 before coverage goes into effect a year later. But it'll also serve as a more user-friendly way for Kentuckians to access any community-based resource, whether it be Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, enrollment in the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP), child and senior care information, unemployment benefits, or substance use disorder recovery services.

"Today is a bright spot for the commonwealth," the governor said in a morning news conference.

Those eligible will be able to apply for benefits from any device, including a smart phone, and then track the progress of their application.

The aim was to make applying for services as easy as possible, Cabinet for Health and Family Services Sec. Eric Friedlander said. "We want to make it simple. This is mobile-enabled, it is intuitive, and we hope it will be simple for folks to be able to come to one place and get services."

Kynect, Kentucky's Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, was initially rolled out in 2013 by Beshear's father and Democratic predecessor, Gov. Steve Beshear. Though it was dismantled by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2017, during the four years it was in effect it provided health insurance to half a million Kentuckians, 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 expanded Medicaid, known as the Kentucky HEALTH plan, which sought to impose strict work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults and would've ended coverage for an estimated 95,000 Kentuckians.

Beshear in June announced he planned to revive Kynect, which he said will save the state roughly $15 million a year in operating costs. At the state Capitol on Monday he said, "Kentucky is in the top 10 [states for] lung cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The new Kynect is going to help change that."

For more information, visit www.kynect.ky.gov.

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