by Don Weber –
FRANKFORT – Community-based people trained to be “Kynectors” – to help people get healthcare through insurance plans on kynect or through expanded Medicaid, are fearful of what will happen to Kentucky’s most vulnerable citizens if the portal to health insurance is disbanded.
Emily Beauregard, executive director of Kentucky voices for Health said that Kynect allowed the Kynectors to building relationships in their communities.
“They’re able to build relationships with their neighbors, their friends, their family members, their co-workers, all sorts of different Kentuckians in different walks of life who need health care coverage and need access to care,” Beauregard said. “They go above and beyond to enroll someone in coverage.”
Ashley Shoemaker, who is a Kynector, and Outreach and Enrollment Specialist for Family Health Centers fears that if kynect is huttered, a number of people will fall through the cracks when it comes to healthcare coverage. Shoemaker currently visits homeless shelters and develops relationships with that vulnerable population.
“In that community, people often do not have access to traditional news outlets like television or newspapers,” Gates said. “I’ve helped many people who were either too hesitant to start the process on their own or began the application on their own only to get lost along the way.”
Jennifer Gates of the Kentucky Primary Care Association is fearful that losing Kynectors will cause hardships on a population which, in some cases, needs one-on-one in-person help when it comes to understanding healthcare.
“Who will help those who can’t understand the various documents and stages of the process,” Gates said. “They are there to help and they have become vital parts of our local communities throughout the bluegrass.”
