An important deadline is just days away for Kentuckians needing health insurance.
Although the second enrollment period on Kentucky’s health care exchange runs until February 15, residents must sign up for coverage by Monday in order to be covered when the new year begins.
"If you wait until February 15th the soonest your effective date can be is March 1st," explains Kynect Executive Director Carrie Banahan. "If you're wanting coverage by January 1st, you really need to enroll by Monday, December 15th."
More than 18,000 Kentuckians have been filed applications for private insurance or Medicaid since open enrollment began a month ago. The first month of last year’s enrollment period resulted in 32,000 applications.
"Keep in mind that last year we enrolled more than 400,000 people," adds Banahan. "There was a lot of pent up demand among people who didn't have insurance coverage, and now a lot of folks do."
Most of the uninsured have gained coverage through an expansion of Medicaid.
According to one poll, Kentucky's uninsured rate fell from 20.4 percent in 2013 to 11.9 in 2014.
