LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 14, 2015) — First year findings of a multiyear study, tracking Affordable Care Act (ACA) impact in Kentucky, is now available.
The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has contracted with State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), a health policy research institute at the University of Minnesota, to study how Kentucky’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is impacting state residents. SHADAC has just released an annual report for the first full year of the study.
“The Foundation’s contract with SHADAC provides objective information on the impacts of Medicaid expansion and creation of a state-managed insurance portal, kynect, here in Kentucky,” says Susan Zepeda, President and CEO of the Foundation. “In this first annual report, we can see gains in the numbers of Kentuckians with insurance, a decline in emergency room use, and increased information on findings of preventive screenings. We look forward to future reports under this 34-month study, to help policymakers assess the impacts of governmental policy changes on numbers of Kentuckians with health insurance coverage, access to care, costs of care, and patient experience.”
According to Lynn A. Blewett, PhD Director, State Health Access Data Assistance Center, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health and Principal Director of the study, “Kentucky has made significant gains in health insurance coverage and access to needed care through its commitment to implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Commonwealth has been at the forefront in designing effective strategies to get and keep people covered, providing lessons for the rest of the country. As change continues in KY’s health reform agenda it will be important to monitor and document the impact on Kentuckians and their families over time.”
Click here to view the complete report.
SHADAC is a health policy research center with a focus on state policy. The staff has a broad expertise, ranging from economics, statistics and evaluation, to sociology and journalism. SHADAC is passionate about the importance of using sound data to inform policy decisions, and strives to produce analyses that are rigorous and policy-relevant.
The quarterly snapshots, along with a report on the Affordable Care Act’s impact on children’s insurance in Kentucky are all available online. Along with producing quarterly snapshots during the study timeframe, in the spring, researchers will conduct a telephone survey to better understand the effects of ACA in Kentucky.
The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is a non-profit philanthropic organization created in 2001. The Foundation’s mission is to address the unmet health care needs of Kentuckians, working on policy and systems changes to improve access to care, reduce health risks and disparities, and promote health equity.
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