In my capacity as Incident and Problem Escalation Manager with the Cabinet for Health and Human Services, I helped establish and implement the original Kynect project. I witnessed first-hand how it opened the doors to affordable health care for tens of thousands of Kentuckians. Kentucky’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a tremendous success. We need to ensure its continuation by writing it into law and make Kynect a permanent clearinghouse for health plans and other government services. We also need to identify areas in which we can streamline Kynect so it’s easier for everyone to obtain health care.
Access to affordable, high-quality health care should be a right for all Kentuckians. That’s not just the ability to see a doctor when you feel sick, but also the ability to afford necessary prescription medications, preventative care visits, and access to reproductive health care for women. It is not the job of the General Assembly, or any politician, to interfere with health care matters that rightfully fall between a doctor and a patient. It must be the legislature’s job, however, to remove barriers to life saving medical care and that’s exactly what I will work to do.