Kan. fixes Medicaid billing that cut your pediatricians’ pay

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Medicaid director is reversing a billing change that resulted in pay cuts to pediatricians.

Kansas Medicaid Director Jon Hamdorf, right, talks with House Minority Leader Jim Ward in the Statehouse-photo courtesy Kansas News Service

KanCare Director Jon Hamdorf announced Monday that Kansas is fixing the change that went into effect Nov. 1, which split a bundle of services for child checkups into 12 separate codes. Hamdorf says he realized the billing change led to a reduction in reimbursed services after reviewing data submitted by doctors last week.

Pediatricians had reported that checkup rates for children of certain ages had dropped dramatically, including from $70 to $26 for 1-month-olds. Some doctors had said they’d have to cut back on serving KanCare patients.

Hamdorf says $70 will be the lowest rate for future visits, with additional fees for each of the formerly bundled