Kansas legislators denounce 4 percent cut, reform plan for disability services

Republicans and Democrats on a Medicaid oversight committee shared displeasure Friday with a funding cut to service providers and plans by Gov. Sam Brownback to consolidate seven distinct programs serving people with disabilities.

Leaders of organizations providing care to 400,000 disabled individuals under KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid system, received political support from lawmakers after outlining implications of the 4 percent, or $38 million, contraction in reimbursement rates invoked July 1 by Brownback to balance the state’s budget.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the joint House-Senate oversight panel, said he would sponsor legislation in the 2017 session to reinstate the funding.

“The provider cuts, we all realize, were a very tough thing for the system,” he said.

Read more: http://cjonline.com/news/state/2016-08-05/kansas-legislators-denounce-4-percent-cut-reform-plan-disability-services