Medicaid plans › Kentucky
Kentucky Medicaid Managed-Care Plans for Providers
Enrollments are billed 50% at the start and 50% at submission; everything else 100% at the start.
Kentucky Medicaid is run by the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services. 1,303,955 people were enrolled in its 6 managed-care plans in 2024. To see their patients, a provider enrolls with Kentucky Medicaid through the Kentucky Medicaid Partner Portal (KY MPPA), then applies to each plan separately.
| Plan | Members (2024) | Share | Parent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellcare of Kentucky | 419,036 | 32.1% | Centene |
| Passport by Molina | 280,749 | 21.5% | Molina Healthcare |
| Aetna Better Health of Kentucky | 222,208 | 17% | CVS Health |
| Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield | 157,364 | 12.1% | Elevance Health |
| Humana Healthy Horizons | 142,985 | 11% | Humana |
| UnitedHealthcare Community Plan | 81,613 | 6.3% | UnitedHealth Group |
How Joining Works in Kentucky
First the state: Kentucky Medicaid enrollment through the Kentucky Medicaid Partner Portal (KY MPPA), which gives you the Medicaid ID every plan asks for. Then the plans: each takes its own participation request and credentials you from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile. 6 parent companies run plans here, and plans owned by the same company still contract state by state.
How to Join Each Kentucky Plan
Wellcare of Kentucky (Centene): Centene runs this plan alongside its Ambetter and Wellcare products. Each Centene plan takes its own contract request on the plan's provider website, credentials from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile, and will not load a provider without the state Medicaid ID.
Passport by Molina (Molina Healthcare): Molina credentials each state separately. The contract request goes through the state's Molina provider site and requires an active state Medicaid enrollment; credentialing uses your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile.
Aetna Better Health of Kentucky (CVS Health): Aetna Better Health plans each have a state-specific "Join our network" request on aetnabetterhealth.com. They are separate from Aetna's commercial network, so an Aetna commercial contract does not carry over.
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (Elevance Health): Elevance Health plans take participation requests through the plan's provider site for that state, most of them now inside Availity Essentials, and credential from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile. Each state is its own contract.
Humana Healthy Horizons (Humana): Humana's Medicaid plans take participation requests through Humana's provider site for that state and credential from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile.
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan (UnitedHealth Group): UnitedHealthcare Community Plans use UnitedHealthcare's provider onboarding: a participation request on the UnitedHealthcare provider site, credentialing from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile, then a state-specific Community Plan agreement.
Also in Kentucky: Medicare, Kentucky Medicaid and commercial credentialing.
Questions
Which Kentucky Medicaid plan is the largest?
Wellcare of Kentucky, with 419,036 members in 2024, 32.1% of the 1,303,955 people enrolled in Kentucky's Medicaid managed-care plans.
Do I have to join every Kentucky Medicaid plan?
No. Each plan is a separate contract. Practices usually start with the two or three largest plans in their county, then add others as patients ask for them. All of them require Kentucky Medicaid enrollment first.
Membership from KFF, Medicaid MCO Enrollment by Plan and Parent Firm, 2024. Plans change when the state rebids its contracts; we confirm the current list on every file.