Medicaid expansion in Kentucky would provide health coverage to more than 146,000 uninsured workers across the Kentucky, according to a new report by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy using data from the American Community Survey.
The expansion would offer health coverage to workers in a broad range of industries and services that help drive Kentucky’s economy and improve quality of life — including restaurants, motor vehicle production, schools and universities, nursing care facilities, and hospitals.
Restaurant and service industry workers lead with 22,940 people estimated to be eligible. Construction workers follow with 14,120 eligible. They are followed by workers at grocery stores, department stores, and child care centers.
“Many of the workers who could gain coverage work at jobs that involve caring for the health and well-being of others,” said KCEP Research and Policy Associate Ashley Spalding. “And many do work that is physically demanding or that exposes them to significant health risks. The Medicaid expansion provides an opportunity to improve the health and well-being of these workers who are so critical to the state’s economy and our daily lives.”
Through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) states have the opportunity to expand Medicaid to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line—$31,809 for a family of four. The state would pay nothing for the first three years, and no more than 10 percent of the cost after that.
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy is a project of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED).