Kansas administrators of the Medicaid program estimate 12,000 adults or children eligible for the health coverage program were stripped of benefits due to problems with processing renewals.
After describing long wait times, sluggish mail returns and unprecedented call center volumes, state officials announced — two weeks after their initial update — that they are trying to turn things around in the beleaguered department’s Medicaid renewal system.
A Kansas advocacy organization said state records indicated children comprised two-thirds of the 45,000 people who have lost Medicaid coverage for procedural reasons since the restart in April of eligibility assessments halted during the COVID-19 emergency.
The Kansas Medicaid disenrollment rate is one of the highest in the country. Almost two-thirds of Kansans have lost coverage because of procedural issues.
An early detection program provides breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment to uninsured people. Yet potentially hundreds of other Kansans diagnosed with other types of cancer remain without coverage.
Thousands of Kansans are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage as the state begins reviewing who still qualifies after a three-year pause. Experts and health care advocates advise people on how to best prepare.
Even when doctors prescribe Kansas Medicaid patients things like wheelchairs, walkers or bath chairs, families can face denials or long waits for medical equipment.
Medicaid inspector general Steven Anderson concluded Wednesday that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lacked “an effective system for tracking” beneficiaries in KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program.
An expansive audit of Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s payments to companies contracted to deliver services under the state’s Medicaid program found $1.3 million in inappropriate compensation for care of people who had actually died.
Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector
Republicans in the Kansas House stiff-armed the latest attempt by Democrats to expand eligibility for Medicaid to 120,000+ lower-income Kansans.
