Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is shuttering his state’s Obamacare insurance marketplace, the freshly elected Republican announced Monday.
Bevin has notified the Department of Health and Human Services that he will close down the marketplace Kentucky created in 2013 and transition residents to using the federal website, healthcare.gov, to buy health insurance plans, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
While Kentucky’s marketplace, dubbed “Kynect,” has been widely recognized as one of the best-functioning exchanges in the country, Bevin’s office said he wants to eliminate “the redundancy” of the marketplace, since healthcare.gov offers the same services. He wants to dismantle the website “as soon as is practicable.”
Kynect will remain open through the rest of enrollment season, which lasts through the end of January and the changes won’t affect anyone who bought a private plan or signed up for Medicaid coverage this year.
HHS spokesman Benjamin Wakana noted the successes of Kentucky’s marketplace, and said his agency is “committed” to working with the state for a “seamless transition.”
“Kentucky’s state-based marketplace has helped tens of thousands of Kentuckians shop for and purchase quality, affordable health insurance,” Wakana said. “A successful transition from Kynect to the federal marketplace will require strong cooperation and commitment from the state of Kentucky to its residents who have gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.”
Bevin, who is a Tea Party favorite, had promised during his campaign to dismantle Kynect and reverse the state’s Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. He has backpedaled on his Medicaid vow, now saying he will add rules and requirements for the program’s newly eligible enrollees, but is staying true to his promises to ditch the marketplace.
