Skip to main content

On Point: Tracking the ACA in Kentucky

Lynn A. Blewett, Principal Investigator
August 10, 2016

SHADAC has been engaged in a project sponsored by Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky to assess the impact of the ACA in Kentucky over time. We are grateful for this opportunity and to be working with the foundation at a time of significant change. 

As part of our project work, we produce quarterly snapshots intended to provide the most up-to-date data available on select health reform topics of interest to the state. In a newly-released snapshot, we focus on data from the first quarter of 2016. Here are a few highlights:

  • Remaining Uninsured

    We are still reporting on the significant drop in uninsurance from the access expansion provisions of the ACA. In the current report we also identify some of characteristics of the remaining uninsured: When compared to those with coverage, the uninsured are more likely to be Hispanic/Latino, young adults (age 19-25), have low incomes and less likely to have some college education or a college degree.

     
  • Uncompensated Care

    We continue to monitor the significant drop in uncompensated care over time. The most recent data, however, show an uptick in uncompensated care for rural hospitals. This is a trend we will be watching closely.

     
  • Child Medicaid/CHIP Participation

    In many of our reports we compare Kentucky to the U.S. and neighboring states. From 2013-2014, Kentucky had the second largest increase in children’s Medicaid/CHIP participation rates compared to neighboring states, with 94 percent Kentucky child participation in 2014.  West Virginia and Arkansas also show high rates of child Medicaid participation (95.9% and 95.8%, respectively).

     
  • Medicaid Service Provision  

    Medicaid covered over 6,500 births in Kentucky in the first quarter of 2016 along with thousands of prevention screening services, including: 6,300 for colorectal cancer; more than 5,400 for Hepatitis C; and more than 9,500 for breast cancer.   

     
  • Enrollment

    Medicaid covered nearly 611,000 working-age adults  (ages 19-64)in the first quarter of 2016. The Medicaid expansion was particularly important for young adults in the state: over 50% of the expansion population was age 19-25 (23%) or 26-34 (28%).