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Undercounted Medicaid application backlog irks lawmakers

Rep. Daniel Hawkins
Rep. Daniel Hawkins

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Lawmakers are voicing frustration after the state disclosed that a backlog in unprocessed Medicaid applications is four times as large as previously thought.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the disclosure late last week that Kansas had under-counted the number of unprocessed applications by 12,000 is drawing fresh attention to the state’s electronic eligibility system nearly a year into its troubled rollout.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, says the state needs to “figure this out” and described the problems as “getting pretty bad.” Kansas says a reporting problem from a contractor tasked with implementing the eligibility system produced the under-counting, not the eligibility system itself.

An official legislative inquiry will likely have to wait until August. House and Senate leadership have ruled out hearings during the upcoming special session.

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