Tagged: KanCare

The clock is ticking for the 380,000 Kansans whose health insurance comes through the Medicaid program now known as KanCare. 

The KanCare program assigned each member to one of three private companies administering the benefits as of the first of the year.  Members who prefer to switch to a different company have to do so no later than this Thursday. 

At a recent educational meeting in Hays, KDHE policy and program analyst Effie Swanson said one reason to switch might be if your doctor is not signed up with your health plan’s network.

A series of informational meetings about KanCare has been rescheduled, after being cancelled due to snow storms last month. 

Meetings for providers will take place March 18th, in Hays; March 19th, in Dodge City, and March 20th, in Wichita.  Each of those sessions will run from one to three in the afternoon.

Meetings for consumers will be held in Hays March 18th, and in Wichita March 20th.  Those events will take place from six to eight in the evening. 

Medicaid is the second-largest program that Kansas operates, next only to education. And costs of the health program for the poor and disabled have been growing at a faster pace than most other programs. A desire to control those costs and improve care is why officials in Governor Sam Brownback’s administration have embarked on a massive plan to overhaul the system.

KanCare is arguably the biggest change in the history of Medicaid in Kansas. The proposal would privatize the entire program.

Governor Sam Brownback's administration has been working on a plan to make sweeping changes to Medicaid in Kansas.

Less than five months from now, the Kansas Medicaid program is scheduled to convert to a privatized system.

Kansas health officials have been touring the state this week, holding public education sessions on a plan to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program.