Gov. Sam Brownback's office says the final terms for Kansas' new managed care plan for Medicaid were approved late Thursday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the waiver
earlier in December. But federal officials have been recently working with the
state to complete special terms and conditions of the agreement.
The new system for providing Medicaid services to Kansas residents is
called KanCare. The system will take effect Jan. 1 and will be managed by
three managed care organizations.
Kansas awarded the management contracts in June to Amerigroup Corp.;
Sunflower State Health Plan, a subsidiary of Centene Corp., and United
Healthcare.
Each group has hired several hundred employees to execute their
contract creating an unexpected bonus for Gov. Brownback. New hires mean more revenue and economic activity in Kansas while the state looks to save nearly $1 billion over five years by curbing the growth in its share of health care costs.
