Governor Sam Brownback says that he will talk with the FBI if contacted about an investigation into allegations about the way contracts to operate Kansas’ Medicaid program were awarded.
Governor Brownback says he’s directed state employees to cooperate fully if they are contacted by the FBI.
Several news outlets have reported the existence of an FBI probe into the activities of Brownback confidante David Kensinger and his Topeka firm, Parallel Strategies, which he and two former Brownback staffers formed last year.
Kensinger left the administration in April of 2012, as it was considering five bids from private companies.
The companies wanted one of the contracts to manage the state’s Medicaid program--Kancare.
The three companies that won the bid are now overseeing the $3 billion-dollar-a-year program that provides health coverage for needy and disabled Kansans.
Near the end of June 2012, Governor Brownback's administration awarded contracts to Kansas subsidiaries of Amerigroup Corp.; Centene Corp; and United Healthcare.
David Kensinger's ties to the governor go back decades, before Brownback won a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Kensinger managed Brownback’s successful Senate re-election campaign in 1998 and later served has the chief of staff in his Senate office.
In 2004, he founded his own lobbying firm.
Governor Brownback says he hopes the FBI does contact people about the KanCare charges, because he says the state went through an open bidding process.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton has said repeatedly that the agency never confirms or denies the existence of an investigation.
