kynect Ready for Post-Holiday Surge of Web Traffic and Applications for Affordable Health Care
Applications remain steady; more than 60,000 have enrolled since Oct. 1
FRANKFORT, KY. (Nov. 27, 2013) – Kentucky’s health insurance exchange, kynect, is prepared for an expected surge in website traffic and new applications beginning Thanksgiving weekend.
“Over the long holiday weekend, we expect families will talk about their health care options and even help other relatives to navigate the kynect website to sign up for health coverage,” said Governor Steve Beshear. “Our kynect team has enhanced its technology systems to expand processing capability to make sure all kynect visitors will have a smooth shopping and application experience.”
The kynect team reviewed all technology systems to make sure each element could handle a significant increase in web traffic, including account creation, application, eligibility determination, shopping, and verification tasks.
Beginning Dec. 2, the kynect website will boast a more than 80 percent increase in capacity due to adding more servers to the core infrastructure, along with other solution refinements.
The increase in web traffic and calls to the contact center will likely continue through Dec. 23, which is the new deadline to apply for coverage in order for the plan to take effect on the earliest possible date of Jan. 1, 2014.
Weekly Statistics
Thanks to kynect, more than 60,000 Kentuckians are enrolled in new health insurance, and 41 percent of them are under the age of 35 – a rate that has held steady for several weeks. Kentucky’s health exchange, kynect, continues to enroll about 1,000 Kentuckians each day into new health coverage.
kynect has been hailed as a national model since its launch Oct. 1 for its continuous smooth operation and easy interface for users looking for affordable health coverage.
The below statistics reflect activity on kynect as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26:
· 512,514 unique visitors viewing 14.3 million web pages
· 417,169 people conducted preliminary screenings to determine qualifications for subsidies, discounts or programs like Medicaid
· 60,282 enrolled in new health coverage, including Medicaid and private insurance
· 48,507 have enrolled in Medicaid and 11,775 have enrolled in a qualified health plan
· 41 percent of the enrollees in qualified health plans are 35 years old or younger
· 23,549 have been found eligible for a subsidy to purchase a qualified health plan, but most have not yet chosen a plan
· 3,962 have enrolled in dental plans
· 1,063 small businesses have started applications for employee coverage; 407 of those businesses have completed applications and are eligible to offer coverage to employees.
· 156,628 calls answered by the kynect call center
Additional data from Tuesday, Nov. 26 show:
· Highest enrollment numbers are in Jefferson (9,433) and Fayette (3,210) counties.
· 41 percent of total enrollees are under 35 years of age. About 31 percent are between 18 and 35.
· The silver level plans remain the most popular at 40 percent of enrollment, followed by platinum level at almost 31 percent, gold at nearly 17 percent, and bronze at about 10 percent. Catastrophic plans, available to residents under the age of 30, were less than 2 percent of enrollments.
· Slightly more women (59 percent) have signed up than men (41 percent).
· Nearly 1 out of every 4 enrollments so far is for a qualified health plan, including dental plans. However, 15,363 pending enrollments have qualified for a subsidy, which means enrollees are likely seeking additional information about the best qualified health plan for themselves and their families. We expect many of these enrollments will be completed before the new Dec. 23 deadline for enrollment for coverage by Jan. 1.
For further updates on kynect numbers, visit governor.ky.gov/healthierky. Statistics will be updated there regularly.