BOARD OF HEALTH ISSUES
REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IN
LOUISVILLE
MORE THAN 80 PERCENT OF THOSE ESTIMATED TO BE UNINSURED HAVE
GAINED HEALTH COVERAGE!
Sherry Babbage, DMD; Kate Probst, PharmD, BCACP; William Altman, JD, Craig Blakely, PhD, MPH; Karen M. Cost, PhD; Erin Frazier MD; Sarah Moyer, MD, MPH*; Sadiqa
Reynolds, JD; Connie Sorrell, MPH; Gerald Temes, MD*; William Wagner; Lawrence
Wilbon, Anthony Zipple, ScD, MBA (*Only GLMS Physician members are pictured as authors in Louisville Medicine.)
I
n February the Louisville Metro Board
of Health issued a
report on the impact
of the first year of implementation of the
Affordable Care Act
(ACA) in Louisville.
The report, co-authored by Craig H. Blakely, PhD, MPH, Board of Health member
and Dean of the University of Louisville School of Public Health
and Information Sciences and by Susan Buchino, PhD(c), MS,
OTR/L of the University of Louisville School of Public Health and
Information Sciences, credits a coalition of community groups for
working to boost ACA enrollments in Louisville.
The authors detail enrollment figures, make recommendations on
improvements to the enrollment process, and cite a need for more
data to identify gaps in the Louisville health care workforce to meet
the needs of the newly insured. The first year of implementation
was judged successful and enrollment figures were characterized
as “exceeding expectations.”
The Board report credits high enrollment numbers to advertising;
the outreach work of Kynectors, who are paid by the state to help
individuals and small businesses find coverage; and partnerships
among health care companies, foundations, universities, nonprofits
and community groups. In August 2013, the Louisville Metro Board
of Health convened this large working group – a move that might
have set a precedent for the nation – to evaluate the opportunities
for expanding access to care via the ACA and for improving the
health of the community. No other city seems to have brought such
an inclusive and well-chosen stakeholder group to the forefront of
ACA implementation.
MAY 2015
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