More than 92,000 Kentuckians have signed up for health coverage through the state’s healthcare exchange, Kynect, since it opened in October.Kynect’s executive director, Carrie Banahan, says that the expansion is result of a growing demand for the health exchange’s services, which shows no signs of slowing down.“We are seeing about almost 3,000 people a day approved for either Medicaid or a [qualified health plan] here in Kentucky," Banahan says. "And it started out about two or three weeks ago at a 1,000, then that increased to 2,000, so we’re up to 3,000, so we’re very excited about that response.”In order to meet the increasing demand, the exchange has expanded operations in its contact center to 150 employees from 100, Banahan says. The contact center, which is supported by a collaboration with the Xerox Corporation, processes questions from consumers as well as applications to the exchange.About 70,000 of the current enrollees have signed up for Medicaid, of which coverage was expanded according to the specifics of Kentucky's adoption of the federal health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, she adds.On Friday, the governor's office reported a surge in applications to the exchange in the weeks after Thanksgiving.(Image via Shutterstock)
