Kansas paid managed care organizations $193 million for idle home and community-based service program beneficiaries, the Medicaid inspector general reported April 13.
Four things to know:
1. The inspector general's audit covered services delivered to Medicaid enrollees in home and community-based service programs from January 2018 through April 2021.
2. During that time, there were 2,854 beneficiaries who did not have any program claims filed for a year or more. The inspector general said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment lacks an effective system to track program beneficiaries.
3. Individuals on waiver programs must use the service at least once a month to remain eligible. The lack of use should have been identified by program managers and the managed care organizations, which would have triggered efforts to have lapsed users removed, according to the report.
4. The state's Medicaid system, KanCare, is privatized, according to the Kansas Reflector. The state contracts with three companies to deliver $3.9 billion in services annually. KanCare serves more than 440,000 state residents.