TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas risks losing federal money if it doesn’t improve its privatized Medicaid program.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a letter dated last Friday that the program, known as KanCare, is “substantively out of compliance.” Issues cited include a failure to adequately oversee the companies that the state contracts to provide managed care for the health care program that covers the poor.

The letter gave the state until Feb. 17 to submit a corrective plan for the program, which has an annual cost of about $3.4 billion. The letter said that failing to address the issues could lead to “financial sanctions.”

Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer said in a statement Thursday that the federal agency’s letter was a politically-motivated “parting shot” from the outgoing Obama administration.