TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas has formally asked the federal government for permission to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s office declined Friday to discuss its application for a waiver of federal Medicaid rules until an afternoon news conference. But the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed for The Associated Press that it received the application Thursday.
Brownback plans to turn over the state’s $2.9 billion-a-year Medicaid program to three private, managed-care companies, starting Jan. 1, 2013. The administration plans to issue contracts this summer, though it has promised to delay including long-term services for the developmentally disabled until Jan. 1, 2014.
The federal government must approve some changes because it provides a majority of the funds for Medicaid, which covers health care for the poor
