My Kentucky's Healthcare Connection Experience..

[CherokeeDem]

Last edited Tue Dec 24, 2013, 12:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Kentucky's kynect healthcare site proved to live up to the hype. I will admit to being a simple case... I am currently on unemployment and have limited income. (After being laid off from a high paying job and getting the maximum benefits, the job I was lucky enough to find was at less than 50% of my income and then they lost all the contracts they hired me to take over.... so very minimum unemployment benefits.)

Because of that... I qualified for Medicaid and my application start to finish, from the ID verification to the final page was done in less than one hour.

If all the governors had the compassion and concern for their citizens as Steve Beshear, this would have been an easy process for all.

I for one am thrilled... back on my blood pressure meds and thyroid meds in a week... or whenever I can get in to see a doctor. But I'm a happy camper thanks to President Obama and Governor Beshear.

[rickford66]

1. Medicare or Medicaid ? nt

[CherokeeDem]

2. Duh... Medicaid...

Been a long day... fixed it and thanks...

[rickford66]

3. I know how it is.

It's good to get coverage. My son (20) had an accident last year and will be paying it off for another year. We had to negotiate three different bills. At least now he is signed up for Medicaid.

[KentuckyWoman]

4. my experience was similar

Kynect was working perfectly on Oct 1 when I first signed in to check rates. Shopping via Kynect was just as easy as working with my insurance agent. Kynect had a better deal so I went with that. In fact overall costs for me will be 1/3 less plus I do qualify for a subsidy.

[freshwest]

5. More good Democratic governors needed! Thanks for sharing your experience. n/t

[Cha]

6. Good on ya, CherokeeDem! And, I like your attitude.. very positive and grateful for

what you do have.

President Obama, Gov Beshear, and you getting the job you want in the future!

[Puzzledtraveller]

7. I'm a Medicaid caseworker in Kentucky

We were quite busy yesterday in our office. Though we all were trained on Kynect not all our caseworkers are cleared to use the system and see applicants so the few that were on my team stayed busy. Most of the people I saw were Kynect applicants either directed to the office to complete their application or those that needed assistance. We do the application just like we do all other assistance applications and can give the client a determination same day. Most of the applicants I saw ended up being eligible and approved under expanded Medicaid. The system is easy to use even on our end. The only problem I encountered seemed to mainly be network related. The plan selection portion of the application would sometimes no be accessible, probably due to traffic. In those cases the system would select a provider automatically for those approved for expanded Medicaid. I had only a couple of applicants who were eligible for tax credits only. At that point we encourage them to contact a licensed agent to take a closer look at plan options as they will actually be purchasing an insurance product. We were reminded frequently in training that we are not licensed agents and cannot recommend plan options to clients. The exception is when they are eligible for Medicaid because they have to choose something or else the system will do it for them. All in all working well here. I can only speak for myself as a caseworker but most of what I see is expanded Medicaid enrollments.