Kentucky upends its Medicaid program, thousands to lose coverage

Work requirements and premiums are just two fundamental changes to the 50-year-old program.

AMANDA MICHELLE GOMEZ
JAN 12, 2018, 1:36 PM
UPDATED: JAN 12, 2018, 4:58 PM

It’s official: Kentucky is the first state to fundamentally change its 50-year-old health insurance program.

Created alongside the elderly insurance program Medicare, Medicaid provides affordable health care to low-income people, and is the primary payer of long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities. The federal health department approved Kentucky’s plan to expand Medicaid eligibility to people making up to 138 percent of the poverty level, while concurrently adding unprecedented prerequisites for obtaining coverage.

The state’s upended Medicaid program, Kentucky HEALTH, asks beneficiaries to pay premiums and cost-sharing and imposes work requirements (failing to pay after 60 days or failing to report timely employment changes means coverage is suspended). A few groups are exempted — more on that later. Additionally, the Medicaid expansion group — with the exception of “medically frail” — will not reap the same benefits as the original Medicaid group (whose income difference is about $4,000): non-emergency medical transportation is not covered and beneficiaries will need to purchase separate vision and dental care. Additionally, retroactive eligibility ends for most beneficiaries — meaning coverage won’t kick in until first premium paid.

According to Kentucky administration officials, the changes are expected to save Kentucky $2.4 billion over the next five years. The trade-off? Thousands go without health insurance; state officials say 95,000 people will move off Medicaid and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP) projects nearly 96,700 people over the next five years.

Read more
https://thinkprogress.org/medicaid-kentucky-program-upended-f8e5684be743/