TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration has gotten a preview of what working with a less conservative Legislature could be like.
It came Friday in the form of an oversight committee’s angry, bipartisan scolding over issues within the state’s Medicaid program.
The public dressing-down of Department of Health and Environment officials came only three days after the state’s primary election. Voters showed their unhappiness with Brownback by ousting at least 11 conservative Republican incumbents in the Legislature.
Members of the House-Senate oversight committee were upset about budget-balancing cuts in payments to pharmacies, doctors and hospitals providing services to Medicaid participants.
They also were frustrated with a backlog in Medicaid applications and angry that the state is still pursuing some changes opposed by many advocates and legislators.
