Paducah Sun and New York Times cross editorial swords over Gov. Bevin’s plan to abolish Kynect health-insurance exchange
“His shortsighted and pointless show of defiance against the Obama
administration’s health care reforms could harm thousands of people in
Kentucky, who may fall between the cracks as the state shifts their
coverage from its own exchange, known as Kynect, to the federally run
exchange,” the Times opined.
The editorial said the change could be hard on people who want to sign up for Medicaid, the expansion of which Bevin has said is unsustainable and should be scaled back.
“If someone tries to sign up for private insurance but is judged by the
exchange to be poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, the application is
forwarded to Medicaid, which enrolls the person. If someone tries to
sign up for Medicaid but is deemed ineligible by that program, the
application is forwarded to the exchange for enrollment,” the editorial said. “With the switch from Kynect to HealthCare.gov, the transfer of
electronic information from the exchange to Medicaid is likely to be
cumbersome, at least initially. People rejected by the exchange will
need to submit a new application to Medicaid; some may not realize their
information was not automatically forwarded or could get annoyed by the
process and end up uninsured. Mr. Bevin needs to put a very high
priority on providing a smooth exchange of information and enough
enrollment assistants to help people find the right coverage.”
Jim Paxton, editor of The Paducah Sun, said in an editorial the day before that Bevin is right to abolish Kynect because “there is no reason Kentuckians
should underwrite the expense of the operation when the federal
government is willing and able to do the task. In announcing he would deliver on his promise, Bevin noted that the
state’s exchange is paid for by a 1 percent tax on all health insurance
policies sold in the state, both on and off the exchange. Bevin said
during the most recent enrollment period only 85,000 Kentuckians, or 2
percent of the state population, bought policies on Kynect. An administration spokesperson said that policies sold on Kynect
generate something less than $4 million of the $27 million it takes to
operate the exchange annually, such that the vast majority of people
paying to support the exchange are people who do not use it. When
Kentucky moves to the federal exchange, there will be a 3.5 percent tax
on policies purchased there, but it will only apply to people buying
policies on the federal exchange.”
Paxton concluded that since Bevin ran on the issue and was elected, “so it should come as no surprise that he is following through now. The issue over Kynect has never been whether it is functional or well-run. The question is whether it is needed. Voters have concluded that it is not.”