Kentucky’s state-run insurance plan for high-risk individuals ends Tuesday, making way for mandatory health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Kentucky state Rep. Steve Riggs of Louisville helped sponsor the legislation that implemented Kentucky Access fourteen years ago, and says the program has served a good purpose.
“It’s helped about 4,800 Kentuckians every year get coverage which they couldn’t get before because insurance companies didn’t want to insure them,” Riggs said. “Another good thing about Kentucky Access was that the industry and the government worked together to provide a solution for people with these high-cost conditions.”
Individuals in the Kentucky Access program were instructed this summer to enroll in Kentucky’s health insurance exchange Kynect or purchase their own insurance. Open enrollment with Kynect continues through March 31, 2014.
Kentucky Access customers that need continued care because they are in an active course of medical treatment, hospitalized, or in the third trimester of pregnancy may qualify for additional benefits for a short time. An application to request additional benefits for continuity of care is on the Kentucky Access website, and must be received by Jan. 15.
