Medicaid eligibility system flaws leave Kansans without coverage for months

Technical problems with the state's Medicaid eligibility system and a transfer of Medicaid management between state agencies has left thousands of Kansans without coverage for months, reports KCUR.

In July the state launched a new Medicaid software system, and in January, it transferred Medicaid eligibility services for the elderly and disabled from the Kansas Department for Children and Families to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Since the administrative changes, thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries have been improperly dropped from their coverage, reports KCUR.

Staffing shortages have delayed Medicaid eligibility requests, which used to take days or weeks, to a period of several months, according to the article.   

Many for-profit and nonprofit nursing homes — both heavily dependent on Medicaid funding — told KCUR they have accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding bills for care provided to residents with pending Medicaid coverage.

Even insurance applications for pregnant women, traditionally presumed eligible for Medicaid benefits in Kansas, are taking three or four months to process.

"This delay in service is highly detrimental to pregnant women, new mothers, newborns and infants," the Wyandotte County Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Board warned state legislators, according to KCUR. "If pregnant women are unable to present a medical card to initiate medical treatment, then prenatal care becomes delayed or nonexistent."

KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry told KCUR the department currently has around 10,000 Medicaid applications pending, up from 6,000 prior to taking on DCF's eligibility role. 

"We continue to take steps to address and eliminate the pending applications for all Medicaid populations," Ms. Belfry told KCUR.

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