Medicaid

Advocates For Developmentally Disabled Rally Against KanCare

Associated Press — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:43:49 +0000

More than 1,000 advocates for the developmentally disabled are rallying at the Kansas Statehouse to urge officials to maintain the current system for providing services.

Advocates Seek Reduction In Medicaid Waiting-List Rolls

Kansas Health Institute — Mon, 06 May 2013 20:33:37 +0000

Advocates for Kansans with disabilities are urging legislators to adopt Gov. Sam Brownback's proposal to reduce the number of people on the waiting list for Medicaid services.

Currently, about 5,000 Kansans with developmental and physical disabilities are on the list. Brownback wants to spend $18 million to provide services to approximately 600 of them.

Advocates are using a video to help make their case to lawmakers. It features parents of disabled Kansans and some of the caseworkers who are trying to help them gain access to services.

Lawmakers Mulling Medicaid Expansion

Stephen Koranda — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:09:50 +0000

Starting next year, states will be able to take part in a sweeping expansion of the health care program Medicaid, and the federal government will pick up most of the cost. But it's still not clear if that expansion will take place in Kansas, where the state's Medicaid program is known as KanCare.

As Lawmakers and Gov. Sam Brownback consider the expansion, some Kansans are trying to make their voices heard.

THE PLIGHT OF MARI WHITE

Group Delivers 2,800 Signatures Asking Brownback To Expand Medicaid

Stephen Koranda — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:27:01 +0000

Supporters of expanding Medicaid delivered nearly 3,000 signatures to Gov. Sam Brownback's office Wednesday, asking him to support an expansion of the state's Medicaid program.

Anna Lambertson is with a coalition of organizations pushing for Medicaid expansion. She spoke during a rally at the Statehouse.

“We could bring more health care related jobs to Kansas, and improve the health of our workforce," she said. "Healthy workers, as I’m sure you know already, mean a productive workforce. That’s good for our employers and for our state."

Budget Item Would Assist Kan. Hospitals

Stephen Koranda — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:58:29 +0000

Hospitals in Kansas could lose some federal money if the state doesn't expand Medicaid services under the federal health care law. A lawmaker helping to draft the budget says the state needs to consider assisting those hospitals.

Many hospitals receive payments to help them cover the cost of medical care for the uninsured; they are known as disproportionate shared hospital payments. As the federal health care law continues, the focus will move to funding more Medicaid services, meaning the current disproportionate share funds could be reduced or completely eliminated.

Top Morning News 3.06.13

Briana O’Higgins and Kate Clause — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:47:18 +0000

Sen. Roberts says bill would improve SNAP; Wichita City Council approves funds to renovate pools; Kansas Insurance Commissioner supports Medicaid expansion.

Sen. Roberts Says Bill Would Improve SNAP, Save Money

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts has introduced a bill to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

More...

Council Sets Aside Funds To Renovate City Pools

Poll Shows Kansans Support Medicaid Expansion

Stephen Koranda — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:54:44 +0000

A new poll done for the Kansas Hospital Association shows that 60 percent of Kansans support expanding Medicaid to more low-income adults. Association CEO Tom Bell said that support increases to 70 percent when Kansans learn that saying "no" to expansion would cost the state $800 million in increased federal funding.

"Regardless of whether or not we take advantage of this opportunity, our folks in Kansas are going to continue to pay taxes to the federal government, and those tax moneys are going to go to fund Medicaid expansion in some other state," Bell said.

House Resolution Opposes Medicaid Expansion

Stephen Koranda — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:07:56 +0000

Kansas lawmakers are considering a resolution that would underscore the Legislature's opposition to a proposed expansion of Medicaid programs.

Brownback Faces Growing Pressure To Expand Medicaid

Jim McClean — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:20:31 +0000

The issue of Medicaid expansion is beginning to simmer at the Kansas Statehouse. Competing cost estimates and a report about the economic benefits of expansion are bringing renewed attention to the issue and the decisions facing Gov. Sam Brownback.

The issue of Medicaid expansion is heating up all over the country.

Wednesday, Florida's Rick Scott joined a growing list of Republican governors who agree to the expansion. Like Brownback, many of them are opponents of the federal health reform law.

KanCare Enrollment Packets To Be Mailed

Bryan Thompson — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:17:50 +0000

Kansans whose health insurance is provided through the Medicaid and HealthWave programs will begin receiving a very important mailing in the next few days.