TOPEKA — A committee of the Kansas Legislature opened an inquiry into the Kelly administration’s replacement of one of three Medicaid contractors with a Blue Cross and Blue Shield entity linked to the disgraced company that stiffed Kansas health care providers for millions of dollars when forced out of the program in 2018.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced in early June the retention of two KanCare contractors — Sunflower Health Plan and United Healthcare Community Plan — and ouster of the third incumbent contractor Aetna Better Health Kansas. KDHE chose Healthy Blue, which had joined forces with a holding company associated with Amerigroup, the company that burned bridges in Kansas by refusing to pay millions of dollars to service providers after it failed to win renewal of its KanCare contract.
“I cannot imagine why on earth they (Amerigroup) would ever be considered to be brought back in,” said Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit. “I’m just appalled that we … are reentering into a contract, with the way they behaved when they exited.”
Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat and also a member of the Medicaid oversight committee, told KDHE officials during a statehouse hearing on KanCare that her constituents were concerned Healthy Blue was affiliated with a company that didn’t have a good reputation.
“Did you totally disregard past performance?” Ballard asked.
KanCare provides health coverage to approximately 450,000 low-income children, parents, pregnant women, people with disabilities and seniors in Kansas.
The method deployed by KDHE to award three-year deals worth more than $1 billion annually to each of three contractors led to an initial third-place tie between Aetna Better Health and Healthy Blue. The administration of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly broke the deadlock in favor of Healthy Blue. That prompted Aetna Better Health to formally challenge the decision. It also triggered the inquiry by the Republican-led House and Senate committee responsible for oversight of the state’s Medicaid program.
In addition to Aetna Better Health, another of the seven bidders — CareSource Kansas — filed a protest with the Kansas Department of Adminstration. The agency’s secretary said reviews of the two complaints could be completed around the Fourth of July.
The pending complaints limited KDHE’s ability to comment on the controversy and hindered release of documents associated with awarding of the contracts. In reponse to questions posed by legislators, KDHE secretary Janet Stanek defended integrity of the selection process.
“It was the entire picture,” Stanek said. “As the leader of the agency, I’m very confident in the process that was used. It was much more comprehensive than the past process. I’m not worried about the move forward.”
The hunt for documents
The joint committee of the Legislature voted to ask Attorney General Kris Kobach to prepare a memorandum articulating what information about the KanCare procurement process could be obtained by legislators. In part, lawmakers want access to documents showing how KDHE scored applicants on a series of questions posed to each bidder.
“We have a responsibility to the people of the state of Kansas and 450,000 Medicaid folks,” said Rep. Will Carpenter, an El Dorado Republican.
Aetna Better Health, the company at risk of losing a KanCare contract after holding it five years, filed requests under the Kansas Open Records Act for detailed records on the scoring of rival companies on 36 questions submitted to each. A summary of scoring among bidders has been made public. An executive with Aetna Better Health said the company may go to court to force prompt release of KDHE documents.
On June 7, KDHE announced selection of the three managed care organizations to serve the Medicaid program from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2027.
