The elimination of Kynect, the Kentucky exchange whose success drew national attention, has made insurance enrollment a “real mess,” according to at least one healthcare advocate.
Emily Beauregard, executive director with Kentucky Voices for Health, told WUKY this week that there has been an increase in application errors, longer wait times for help, and a number of people who have been “mysteriously disenrolled” from Medicaid.
“The wait time for the people who stay on the line is over two hours, but 6,000 to 7,000 calls a day go unanswered,” Beauregard told the news outlet. “That’s a lot of people who can’t get assistance.”
The allegations come after Kentucky’s new Governor Matt Bevin ordered the enrollment platform dismantled by late this year. Since then, the Department for Community Based Services has taken over Medicaid enrollment and individual and small group insurance has reverted to the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov.
Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokesman Doug Dogan has acknowledged the “difficulties” with the transition, but says the cabinet is “working diligently with the contractor to correct problems and make the system perform as was intended.”
That isn’t enough for Democrats in the state, however, who have put together legislation that would keep Kynect and protect Medicaid expansion. They cite in support of their bill a Kaiser Family Foundation poll that indicates 72% of Kentuckians want to keep Medicaid expansion without any changes. A similarly high number are reported to be in favor of keeping Kynect open for business.
Republicans, however, say the state exchange is costing Kentucky too much money and that Medicaid delivery needs to be restructured.
Regardless of the outcome, Kentucky residents are struggling now to get used to the transition.
Medicaid recipient Connie Holt told WUKY that managing her chronic health conditions through the new facilitator has transformed into a daily nightmare.
“I was in tears by the end of the day,” Holt said. “I would make calls until my battery went dead on my phone and I’d have to plug it in to charge. Back and forth all day long.”
During the height of its popularity, Kynect was revered as one of the most successful state insurance exchanges while the rest of the country struggled with chronic technological snafus and enrollment errors.
