April 1, 2014 the office of Kentucky’s Governor Steve Beshear announced that 8.6 percent of the state’s population now has health insurance through kynect. Included in the announcement are the below statistics reflecting activity on kynect as of midnight Monday, March 31:
• 370,829 Kentuckians are enrolled in new health coverage
• 293,802 have qualified for Medicaid coverage
• 77,027 have purchased private insurance
• 50 percent of all kynect enrollees are under the age of 35
• 33 percent of all private health plan enrollees are under age 35
• 85,167 have been found eligible for a subsidy to purchase a qualified health plan, some have yet to select a plan
• Silver is by far the most popular metal level of private health insurance, with more than 42 percent of plans purchased. Platinum is next with 26 percent, followed by gold at 17 percent and bronze at 13 percent. Catastrophic plans make up less than 2 percent of plans purchased.
March 31, 2014 marks the end of open enrollment for the individual market. After Open Enrollment, you can enroll in coverage only if you have a qualifying life event. If you do, you get a special enrollment period allowing you to buy a health insurance plan.
Examples of qualifying life events include:
· Marriage
· Having a baby
· Adopting a child or placing a child for adoption or foster care
· Moving outside your insurer’s coverage area
· Losing other health coverage—due to losing job-based coverage, divorce, the end of an individual policy plan year in 2014, COBRA expiration, aging off a parent’s plan, losing eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP, and similar circumstances. Important: Voluntarily ending coverage doesn’t qualify you for a special enrollment period.
· Gaining citizenship
· Leaving incarceration
· For people already enrolled in Marketplace or kynect coverage: Having a change in income or household status that affects eligibility for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions
The Open Enrollment period for 2015 coverage is November 15, 2014 to February 15, 2015 for coverage starting as soon as January 1, 2015.
Don’t forget our Business Benefits Insurance Marketplace is a private insurance exchange created to assist a diverse range of individuals in Kentucky and Ohio when making personal decisions to choose healthcare coverage in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Our online tool will provide the ability for those seeking coverage to compare healthcare plans, run quotes, evaluate opportunities for federal tax subsidies, and sign up for coverage through ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace or directly with private health insurance carriers.