Kentucky has a new website that shows an up-to-date timeline of all the changes in the state's Medicaid program since 2014; provides links to Medicaid resources such as contracts, court documents, state notices and research; and provides a place for people to share stories about how changes to the program have affected them or their loved ones. It also provides Kentucky-specific Medicaid data, including county-by-county enrollment.
The Kentucky Medicaid Tracker is a combined project of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, the Kentucky Equal Justice Center and Kentucky Voices for Health.
Each of these nonprofit organizations are part of InsureKY, which describes itself as a statewide coalition of nonprofits formed to promote more affordable insurance, better care and stronger consumer protections for all Kentuckians. They support the 2014 expansion of Medicaid.
Kentucky Medicaid has seen many changes since then-Gov. Steve Beshear announced in 2013 that the state would expand Medicaid to Kentuckians with household income up to 138% of the federal poverty line, under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Prior to the expansion, the program was limited mainly to very poor pregnant women and children, disabled people and low-income elderly in nursing homes.
Since its implementation in 2014, about half a million Kentuckians have been added to the Medicaid rolls, most of them working.
Under Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, the state asked for a waiver of federal Medicaid rules to make changes that included, among other things, work and other "community engagement" requirements for most of the "able-bodied" individuals who gained coverage through the expansion. InsureKy has strongly opposed these changes, mainly on grounds that they would create barriers to care.
The latest entry on the timeline notes that a federal judge once again blocked Bevin's proposed changes. His administration and that of President Donald Trump have appealed the ruling. The judge struck down a similar program in Arkansas at the same hearing.
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| Screenshot showing example of looking up county-by-county data on the Kentucky Medicaid Tracker |
Each of these nonprofit organizations are part of InsureKY, which describes itself as a statewide coalition of nonprofits formed to promote more affordable insurance, better care and stronger consumer protections for all Kentuckians. They support the 2014 expansion of Medicaid.
Since its implementation in 2014, about half a million Kentuckians have been added to the Medicaid rolls, most of them working.
Under Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, the state asked for a waiver of federal Medicaid rules to make changes that included, among other things, work and other "community engagement" requirements for most of the "able-bodied" individuals who gained coverage through the expansion. InsureKy has strongly opposed these changes, mainly on grounds that they would create barriers to care.
The latest entry on the timeline notes that a federal judge once again blocked Bevin's proposed changes. His administration and that of President Donald Trump have appealed the ruling. The judge struck down a similar program in Arkansas at the same hearing.
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