402,000 Now Enrolled in kynect;

More than 30,000 in Last 7 Days

Kentuckians who encountered problems

have until midnight Friday to enroll

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 10, 2014) – More than 30,000 individuals signed up for healthcare coverage during the April 4-11 kynect special enrollment period, bringing total kynect enrollment to over 402,000. The deadline to apply for subsidies and purchase new affordable health coverage ends at midnight April 11.

Kentuckians who completed their applications by March 31 can visit the kynect.ky.gov website to select a plan. All individuals must select a plan by midnight April 15, with coverage beginning May 1.

“There’s still time for people to sign up for private health plans and possibly receive discounts, but after midnight Friday, they’ll need to wait until the fall open enrollment period,” said Carrie Banahan, executive director of kynect. “We strongly encourage those who still need to select a plan to do so as soon as possible. Those who have started applications should work to complete them quickly, too.”

To take advantage of the special enrollment period, Kentuckians are asked to attest that they attempted to complete an application by March 31, 2014, and had problems doing so. On the kynect website, this will simply require selecting a button when the special enrollment screen comes up. Applications must be completed by midnight April 11, and a plan must be selected by midnight April 15.

Since the special enrollment period began last week, Kentuckians continued to swarm the website and call center. An average of 4,500 Kentuckians have signed up each day since April 4 – similar to the final peak days of enrollment in late March.

Now, nearly 1 out of every 11 Kentuckians has health insurance through kynect – or 9.3 percent of the state’s population.

These figures do not include previously uninsured individuals who may have purchased health insurance through a private agent, not through kynect.

Kentuckians who need assistance can also contact the kynect call center at 1-855-4kynect weekdays from 7 a.m. to midnight Eastern time or from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday and Sunday. They can also search at kynect.ky.gov to find a kynector or insurance agent who can assist them with enrollment, or visit a local Department for Community Based Services office.

After the open enrollment period, individuals will still be able to apply for Medicaid. Only those who experience a qualifying event, such as the loss of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, will be able to purchase private health plans. The next open enrollment period begins Nov. 15, 2014.

The below statistics reflect activity on kynect as of noon, April 10:

· 402,407 Kentuckians are enrolled in new health coverage

· 322,827 have qualified for Medicaid coverage

· 79,580 have purchased private insurance

· 51 percent of all kynect enrollees are under age 35

· 33 percent of all private health plan enrollees are under age 35

· Nearly 1.5 million unique visitors to kynect website

· 873,084 individuals have conducted preliminary screenings

· 21,314 have enrolled in standalone dental plans

· 87,514 have been found eligible for a subsidy to purchase a qualified health plan (some have yet to select a plan)

· 805,602 calls have been handled by the kynect contact center