Study: Kentucky’s Medicaid Population Centered in Impoverished East Region

A new review by a nonprofit health organization shows that the largest share of Kentucky’s Medicaid population lives in the impoverished eastern portion of the state.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has embarked on a three-year study of how the federal Affordable Care Act is affecting Kentucky. The group released its first report on Aug. 18. About a quarter of the state’s population is now on Medicaid after the state decided to expand the program’s eligibility requirements.

Eastern Kentucky accounts for 32 percent of the Medicaid recipients while 25 percent live in western Kentucky. Nineteen percent live in Louisville, 16 percent live in Lexington and 8 percent live in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati.

Kentucky’s uninsured rate dropped 10.4 percentage points following the expansion, outpacing surrounding states and the national average.