Kentucky's newly elected governor, Republican Matt Bevin, appears to be keeping his word on one of his key electoral platforms: dismantling the state's health insurance marketplace, Kynect. Bevin plans to close down Kynect and transition residents to the federal exchange, according to an article in the Washington Post.
Late last month, Bevin informed Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell of his plans to close down Kynect, and in a statement made Jan. 11, said he is shuttering the exchange to decrease the program's "redundancy" and because it "adds no value," the article said.
Kentucky residents' ability to choose plans on Kynect and though Medicaid expansion helped the state's uninsured rate plummet from 20.4 percent to just 9 percent, and Kentucky's exchange has been one of the more successful in the country at enrolling residents in insurance plans. The former Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, has urged Bevin to keep the exchange, saying that it is financed through a surcharge on insurance plans, and ending Kynect would cost at least $23 million in state money, the Post said.
Still, consumers likely won't feel negative effects right away, and can still access care on Healthcare.gov. Also, this shut-down will not affect anyone who is shopping for health insurance for the current open enrollment period, nor will it affect anyone who signed up for Medicaid through Kynect, the Post reported.
To learn more:
- here is the Washington Post article