Provider complaints drive Kansas lawmakers to consider KanCare 'fix' without Gov. Brownback

KanCare, the state's privatized Medicaid program, could undergo changes following complaints from physicians and hospital administrators, according to a report from KMUW's Kansas News Service.

Here are five things to know.

1. Kansas initially privatized its Medicaid program in 2013. The program provides health coverage to approximately 425,000 people, according to the report.

2. Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has long supported the move and continued to do so in his 2017 State of the State address to state lawmakers, according to the report.

"We've seen more Kansans served than ever before, steady or improving health outcomes for beneficiaries, and dramatic cost savings to taxpayers in the amount of nearly $1.4 billion," Gov. Brownback said.

3. However, Medicaid beneficiaries have expressed concern about having to fight efforts by for-profit managed care organizations to lessen their services, the report states. Additionally, according to the report, hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers have complained to lawmakers, saying payment timeliness has been an issue, and they have had trouble getting managed care organizations to authorize certain tests and treatments.

4. Now state lawmakers are responding to these complaints. According to the report, they are working on legislation under which MCOs would be required to standardize some of their business practices, such as credentialing providers. Also, the report states, such a measure would create an independent review process to resolve disputed claims.

5. Rather than make the proposed changes into state law, the MCOs and the Brownback administration instead want to change language in the KanCare contracts or in the rules and regulations written and enforced by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, according to the report.

For more on this story, read the full report here.

 

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