Governor Sam Brownback’s administration is proposing significant changes to the Medicaid program in Kansas to curb the state’s health care costs. Under the plan, the state will hire private contractors, which will manage care for Medicaid recipients. Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer (“collier”) led the development of the new plan. He says the contractors will have coordinators who manage health care for patients.
Colyer says the state won’t cut people out of the Medicaid program or reduce payments to physicians. The changes are slated to be in place by the beginning of 2013. The Brownback administration hopes Kansas can save more than $350 million over the next five years.