09/21/2026
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 65!
KEHP UPDATE
Members of the ACRTA attended the Middle Cumberland Retired Teachers Association District meeting. Among other things, we heard an update to the Under 65 retiree/active health care program-KEHP. As many have heard, Open enrollment for health care will be arriving soon. This year, the under 65 age group is an Active enrollment-which means one has to re-enroll regardless if you have been enrolled previously. This year, a new mandate was issued by the Department of Employee Insurance Director (independently) which was neither from the Legislature nor Governor. The add-on essentially states “if one does not re-enroll, employees/retirees insurance will be dropped and be without coverage.”
This particular add-on is contrary to the Department of Employee Insurance Bylaws and Policy/Procedure, which essentially states that if one does not re-enroll during active enrollment, the employee will be automatically enrolled in the lowest level of insurance. This under 65 active enrollment not only impacts teachers but also employees/retirees of local government, police officers, firemen, etc.
Our KRTA Executive Director, Greg Roush, spoke to Governor Beshear about this situation and provided the legal documentation that supports this current route of eliminating insurance for people that do not re-enroll is likely illegal and, at the very least, contrary to the Department of Insurance own policies. Mr. Roush reported that he is guardedly optimistic this situation will be corrected-but EVERYONE under 65 should be monitoring this situation.
This is but one example where our Kentucky Retired Teacher Association went to bat for retired teachers even though this situation is larger than our teacher group! If you have not joined the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association, please consider joining. Dues are $25 yearly which is a small price for such strong advocacy for retired teachers.
