Source: Kansas City Star, January 18, 2019
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s first proposed budget calls for hiring 313 additional state workers at a beleaguered Medicaid application center to take over some functions that were privatized by then-Gov. Sam Brownback. The KanCare Clearinghouse in Topeka has been a target of criticism from legislators, nursing home advocates and other groups since Brownback established it in 2015 and contracted with a Virginia-based company called Maximus to run it. Under Maximus, a backlog of Medicaid applications ballooned into the thousands, leaving nursing homes to wait months or even years for compensation. Some had to stop taking in people whose applications were still pending, leaving them to search elsewhere for a bed. …
Related:
Colyer: Kansas Will Pursue Medicaid Work Rules Despite Court Ruling
Source: Jim McLean, Salina Post, July 3, 2018
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer says he will continue to push for a Medicaid work requirement despite a recent court order blocking a similar policy in Kentucky. Last week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee in the District of Columbia, questioned whether the Trump administration had adequately considered the consequences of Kentucky’s work requirement before reversing longstanding federal policy to approve it. Despite the setback, Colyer said his administration will continue discussions with federal officials about requiring some of the more than 420,000 Kansans enrolled in KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to work or pursue job training. …
Kansas chooses 3 companies to manage Medicaid
Source: Associated Press, June 22, 2018
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has awarded new contracts to three insurance companies to manage the state’s privatized Medicaid program. Two of the new contracts announced Friday are renewals for companies currently in the program, Sunflower State Health Plan Inc. and United Healthcare Midwest Inc. The Lawrence Journal-World reported that the third contract went to a company new to the program, Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc….