Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a bill aimed at addressing complaints from health care providers about KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
Red tape, denied claims and late payments are among the major gripes.
The new law aims to fix those problems by requiring the private companies that manage KanCare to standardize some of their business practices, as well as establishing an external appeals process to resolve disputes.
Republican Sen. Barbara Bollier helped write the legislation.
“It’s our responsibility to supervise/police administrative programs and make sure they’re really doing what we need for our citizens and if not, we need to make the changes,” Bollier says.
For about $3 billion a year, KanCare covers about 425,000 low-income, disabled and elderly Kansans. It was privatized in 2013.
