Kentucky Health Insurance Consumer Guide

To qualify for health coverage through the Kentucky Marketplace, you must:⁴

• Live in Kentucky
• Be lawfully present in the United States
• Not be incarcerated
• Not be enrolled in Medicare

Eligibility for financial assistance (premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions) depends on your income and how it compares with the cost of the second-lowest-cost Silver plan in your area – which depends on your age and location. In addition, to qualify for financial assistance with your Marketplace plan you must:

• Not have access to affordable health coverage through your employer. If your employer offers coverage but you feel it’s too expensive, you can use our Employer Health Plan Affordability Calculator to see if you might qualify for premium subsidies in the Marketplace. 
• Not be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.

In Kentucky, the open enrollment period for individual and family health insurance runs from November 1 to January 15.⁵

Enrollments must be submitted by December 15 in order to have coverage effective January 1. Enrollments submitted in the final month of the open enrollment window have an effective date of February 1 instead.⁴

Outside of open enrollment, a qualifying event is necessary to enroll or make changes to your coverage. If you have questions about open enrollment, you can learn more in our comprehensive guide to open enrollment. We also have a comprehensive guide to special enrollment periods.

To enroll in an ACA Marketplace plan in Kentucky, you can: 

• Visit Kynect to access Kentucky’s state-run health insurance Marketplace. Here you will find an online platform to shop, compare, and choose the best health plans.
• Purchase individual and family health coverage with the help of an insurance agent or broker, a Navigator or certified application counselor, or an approved enhanced direct enrollment entity.⁶

You may find affordable health insurance options in Kentucky through its state-run health insurance exchange.This means that Kentucky residents would use Kynect (not HealthCare.gov) to shop, review, and enroll in health coverage as well as to determine any available subsidies. 

For residents using the Kentucky exchange, about 83% of eligible enrollees save money on premium payments amounting to an average savings of $495/month – and those subsidies resulted in an average monthly premium of $124/month.⁷

The Affordable Care Act provides income-based advance premium tax credits (subsidies) that offset your premium payments to help keep your expenses down. People with household incomes below 250%of the federal poverty level also qualify for cost-sharing reductions (CSR) that may reduce your deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses when you buy a Silver plan. Between the premium subsidies and cost-sharing reductions, you may find that an ACA plan is the cheapest health insurance option for you.

Source: CMS.gov⁸

There are four insurers offering individual and family health plans through Kynect for 2023.⁹

• Anthem
• Caresource
• Molina 
• Ambetter/Wellcare 

There are just six counties in Kentucky where Anthem is the only option for 2023. In most Kentucky counties, at least one carrier offers plans on the exchange for 2023.⁹

Initially, Kentucky’s health insurance companies proposed an overall average rate increase of 8.2% for 2023. Once the final rates were approved, the overall average rate increase amounted to 6.25%.¹⁰

Kentucky’s individual market insurers have proposed the following average rate changes for 2024:¹¹

In the open enrollment period for 2023 coverage, 62,562 people enrolled in private health coverage through the Kentucky exchange.⁷

The surge in enrollment during these years happened in part due to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which expanded enrollee access to ACA’s premium subsidies.¹²

Source: 2014,¹³ 2015,¹⁴ 2016,¹⁵ 2017,¹⁶ 2018,¹⁷ 2019,¹⁸ 2020,¹⁹ 2021,²⁰ 2022,²¹ 2023,⁷ 2024²²

Kynect – Kentucky’s Healthcare Connection
855-4kynect (855-459-6328)

Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange
Administrative site for Kentucky’s Marketplace

Foundation for a Healthier Kentucky

Kentucky Health Insurance Advocate, Kentucky Department of Insurance
Assists people insured by private health plans, Medicaid, or other plans in resolving problems pertaining to their health coverage; assists uninsured residents with access to care.
(877) 587-7222 /[email protected]