By Andy Marso, Topeka Capital-Journal, January 20, 2011
A group of disability advocates said Friday they want the governor's office to put the brakes on a plan to move all state Medicaid services to managed care.
The group of about 30 people who gathered at the Statehouse voiced concerns about the pace and scope of the overhaul and how it will affect the state's disabled population.
"Every other state that's done this has taken their time," said Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. "Kansas needs to take its time with this proposal."
Nichols said his organization wants Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is spearheading the reform effort, to consider keeping the Medicaid waivers for home and community-based care out of the new managed care scheme and then phasing them in gradually.
He argued that long-term care of the disabled is very different than acute medical care and the two should be treated differently, but said the state instead is apparently "going all-in" — a poker analogy.
"The state is taking all these (Medicaid) chips and pushing them all in, gambling with the lives and services of Kansans who need them most," he said.
Colyer couldn’t be reached for comment. In the past, he has said the plan transitions everything to managed care at once so that providers can shift their focus to "whole-person" care, rather than treating patients in limited silos.
Nichols said that no other state has done it that way, noting that Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson began his state's transition to managed care in the 1990s with five counties and the whole state still hasn't been phased in.
Mike Oxford, executive director of the Topeka Independent Resource Living Center, had similar worries.
Though Colyer has said his office did extensive outreach with stakeholder groups while forming its Medicaid plan, Oxford said there wasn't enough and called communication "spotty."
On the other hand, he said the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee had been very receptive under Chairwoman Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka.
"(The committee) has done a great job of creating time and space, for not just professionals and big dogs to have input, but also for providers, stakeholders and perhaps most importantly, individuals that use the services and their families," Oxford said.
Rick Cagan, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness' Kansas branch, also spoke at the gathering.
Cagan agreed that a slowdown in the managed care transition is a good idea and said the state's mental health groups are especially concerned about the change given recent events.
"The cuts to the mental health system over the last several years have been disproportionate to cuts in other areas of government," Cagan said. "So we're calling on the Legislature to restore levels of funding to that of previous years."
The disability groups also agreed that any changes to Medicaid as they pertain to the disabled should focus first on reducing or eliminating waiting lists, rather than reducing costs.
Andy Marso can be reached at (785) 233-7470 or andy.marso@cjonline.com . Follow him on Twitter @andymarso.
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