By Trish Svoboda

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has announced the selection of three managed care organizations (MCOs) that will serve the Kansas Medicaid program, known as KanCare, from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2027. The KanCare program currently serves 458,000 individuals throughout the State. The contracts include two incumbents, Sunflower Health Plan and United Healthcare Community Plan, and one new organization, Healthy Blue.

The MCOs were selected from a pool of seven candidates who submitted bids during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process that began in October 2023 and concluded on May 14.

Some of the key improvements in the new contracts include:

· Educating, engaging, incentivizing and empowering members to achieve personally defined health goals.

· Enhancing care coordination to ensure timely access to needed services, continuity of care, successful care transitions and improved member outcomes.

· Improving prenatal and postpartum care, including requirements for maternity care coordination.

· Increasing the recruitment and retention of providers.

· Expanding access to services in rural and frontier areas.

The selection process was extensive and included a multi-step review conducted by several teams of staff members with subject matter expertise, experience in, and knowledge of the Kansas Medicaid system. Stakeholders, including plan members, providers, legislators, and community-based organizations, provided input that was the impetus for the majority of RFP requirements.

At this time, current KanCare members do not need to take any action. Members who are currently enrolled in the MCO that were not selected will be contacted soon about their options to select another MCO.