Open enrollment for kynect, Kentucky’s Health Benefit Exchange, ends this month, which means many Kentuckians still need to enroll in health insurance before time runs out. And kynectors, those certified by the state to help folks navigate the enrollment process, are heading into overdrive with less than 30 days left to enroll.

Last week, the Lexington Herald-Leader examined enrollment by county.  The paper’s analysis indicated that throughout the state, the percentage of people who were previously uninsured who now have health coverage ranged from 17 percent in Owen County to 67 percent in Perry County.

Ky enrollment

As of Friday, February 28, 264,914 Kentuckians had enrolled in new health coverage. This included 210,545 enrolled in Medicaid and 54,369 purchasing private health insurance. This number shows just how many Kentuckians are interested in affordable health coverage. At a meeting last week of the Education and Outreach Subcommittee of the Health Benefit Exchange Advisory Committee, representatives from kynector agencies shared stories about how their kynectors are putting in as much as they can for this final enrollment push. As soon as a kynector empties his or her voice mail box, it’s full again by the end of the day. These folks are busy as demand is high.  It’s a testament to the work of the employees at kynect and to the kynectors throughout the state that so many have enrolled thus far, and so many are still interested in enrolling.