KanCare overhaul plan may change, GOP lawmaker says

TOPEKA -- Kansas is likely to change its current plan to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program, called KanCare, a high-ranking Republican lawmaker said Wednesday.

“I can tell you that KanCare 2.0 as we currently know it probably no longer exists the way it did,” said Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee.

The program serves more than 400,000 Kansas residents, but has been plagued by delays in application processing and oversight failures that the federal government said could endanger recipients. Postponing its overhaul or changing the proposal could mark a defeat for Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is running for governor.

Colyer spearheaded KanCare’s creation in 2013 and has been advocating for KanCare 2.0. A spokesman for Colyer would not comment Wednesday afternoon.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article195194204.html