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Colyer Says KanCare Will Achieve Promised Savings

Kansas Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer says the state's new Medicaid managed care program will deliver on its promise to save $1 billion over five years.

Colyer says the three private insurance companies managing the KanCare program will achieve those savings because their bottom lines depend on it.

"And the big stick in this is, we're going to hold back half a billion dollars from the insurers over the next five years," Colyer says.

To get the money that's being withheld, the companies need to meet certain quality of care and efficiency benchmarks built into their contracts with the state.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.