Kentucky State Fair Bears Health Message
Experts at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services' exhibit will answer questions about kynect, the state's health benefit exchange.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services are urging visitors to the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville to take advantage of the health information that will be available during the Aug. 14-24 event at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center.
CHFS Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes said Beshear's kyhealthnow initiative challenges people to take meaningful steps toward improving their health. "For many of our agency's fair guests, meeting with a counselor or getting a screening at a relaxed environment like the State Fair can be a first step toward that goal," she said.
Experts at the exhibit will answer questions about the state's health benefit exchange, known as kynect: Kentucky's Health Care Connection. The exchange was launched last year to help Kentuckians enroll for the Affordable Care Act's benefits. Haynes said the event is a great chance for kynect experts to educate the public about how to enroll in or make changes to a health insurance plan through kynect, because the next open enrollment period begins Nov. 15.
"Even if they've successfully enrolled, some people have concerns about their health coverage, and exhibiting at the fair lets us answer visitors' questions about the process to insure their families and employees. Because of kynect, a healthier future for Kentucky is here," she said. More than 521,000 Kentuckians have enrolled using kynect since Oct. 1, 2013, in health care coverage through private insurance plans or Medicaid and the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program.
Other health-related information is available throughout the state fair, such as free blood pressure, stroke, and body mass index screenings; information about chronic disease prevention; nutrition; immunization recommendations; health literacy guidance; and more. Exhibit buildings at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center are open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.