FRANKFORT — Kynect is coming back.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced Wednesday his administration will revive the state health insurance exchange launched in 2013 by his father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It was abolished by his successor, former Gov. Matt Bevin.
Beshear said he is committed to making health coverage easily accessible to as many people in Kentucky as possible.
"This pandemic shows us that the lack of good health care options make us more vulnerable and less resilient," Beshear said.
Beshear said he plans to reopen by 2022 the online health exchange where people can shop for and purchase commercial health plans, as well as sign up for Medicaid, the government health plan for low-income and disabled people. He said while the system Kentucky built is still available, it needs to be updated and tested before it launches.
"This gives us time to do it and do it right," he said.
Beshear said it will cost about $5 million to reactivate Kynect and about $1 million to $2 million in annual operating costs — compared to the about $9.8 million Kentuckians now pay through a surcharge to buy plans through the federal government site.
Kynect won national acclaim after it was launched, credited for helping Kentucky achieve one of the lowest rates of uninsured residents in the nation. It was recognized for a successful launch even as the federal site, Healthcare.gov, kept crashing in the early days of the new health law under the administration of former President Barack Obama.
But Bevin, a Republican elected after Steve Beshear, a Democrat, was highly critical of Kynect as too costly and redundant and said Kentuckians could use the federal website to buy health insurance. He discontinued Kynect in 2017.
Health advocates had urged Bevin to keep the site, arguing it was easier to use and made coverage more accessible to Kentuckians,
Eric Friedlander, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Wednesday that restoring the state exchange would save money and give the state more control.
Kentuckians now pay a 3% surcharge on insurance plans they buy through the federal site that amounts to about $9.8 million a year, he said,
In addition, he said, operating its own site would have allowed Kentucky to reopen enrollment for insurance plans during the COVID-19 pandemic so people losing health coverage could shop for new plans. The federal government has declined to offer a special enrollment period for such individuals.
"We think we will save money and it give us more flexibility," Friedlander said. "We could have had open enrollments during this whole COVID crisis. "
Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4228. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://ift.tt/2Z9C9oV.
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Kynect is coming back. Beshear plans to revive state health insurance exchange - Courier Journal
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