TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The company processing Kansas Medicaid applications is days away from potentially facing millions in fines for inadequate performance that has frustrated state officials, health providers and patients for years.
Kansas officials told Maximus in January that it must improve by June 1 or pay retroactive penalties potentially exceeding $250,000 a day, the Wichita Eagle reported .
Maximus contract calls for 98 percent accuracy on financial payments, but the contractor has been achieving 40 percent and falling behind on handling applications and cases.
Company officials expect to meet their June 1 performance target. But lawmakers and advocates are skeptical after years of missing or wrongly processed applications that cost providers money and patients time.
Application issues with the states Medicaid program, KanCare, have sometimes caused nursing homes and other care facilities to not receive payments theyre owed.
Republican Rep. Dan Hawkins, who chairs the legislative Kan-Care oversight committee, said he spoke with KanCare officials a few weeks ago.
They said that although Maximus was doing a little better, they still werent meeting the expectations of what they needed to, Hawkins said. I know that they have been working on contingency plans if they dont meet those goals or those targets.
