The House Health and Human Services Committee has endorsed a bill aimed at speeding up payments to Kansas health care providers who participate in KanCare. The bill now heads to the House floor. It requires the private companies that operate the program for the state to pay interest on late payments. It also would allow providers to sue the managed care companies over payment disputes. The bill was drafted in response to complaints from hospitals, doctors and nonprofit organizations that provide support services to Kansans with developmental disabilities. Tom Laing heads the organization that represents many of those service providers.
Governor Sam Brownback replaced the state’s Medicaid program with KanCare a little more than a year ago. He said privatizing the program would save money and improve the care it provides to approximately 400,000 Kansans.
