Lost in KanCare

Tammy Leach speaks at Big Tent Coalition Press Conference,
Photo courtesy of KHI News Service

Issues with KanCare are in the news once again.

KHI News Service reported Wednesday of  a press conference at the Statehouse where advocates for Kansans with physical and mental disabilities accused the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services of restricting access to state’s Medicaid-funded in-home services.

“People with disabilities, unfortunately, are far too often getting lost in KanCare,” said Rocky Nichols, who’s also executive director at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. “This is a crisis and, unfortunately, it’s a man-made crisis.”

State reports, he said, show that while almost 7,000 people with physical disabilities received Medicaid-funded, in-home services in 2010, enrollment in 2014 is down to about 5,500.

“Even more troubling,” Nichols said, was that the numbers of people on the KDADS-administered waiting list for the services have been in decline, too.

KDADS, he said, appears to be making it more difficult for people to apply for services and continue receiving them. Nichols also pointed to data showing that under KanCare, per capita spending on the physically disabled has increased more than 40 percent.

Under KanCare, he said, the state appears to be spending more money on fewer people.

“Where is this money going?” he said.

At the press conference, five people with physical and mental disabilities talked about troubles they’ve had with KDADS.

“I am a brain injury survivor who’s lost in the KanCare system,” said Tammy Leach, a 50-year-old Topeka woman who was critically injured in an automobile accident in 2011. “I’ve been waiting patiently for services for five months. There are plenty of slots open and I’ve been declared eligible, but I can’t get the state to approve or deny my application. It just sits there. I can’t get a straight answer from anyone.”

Nichols said KDADS’ efforts to contact people on the waiting lists have been half-hearted.

“We can put them in touch with hundreds of people who’ve been declared eligible for services and been on the waiting list for years,” he said. “These are people who haven’t changed addresses for years, but they haven’t heard a word from KDADS. For the state to say they can’t find them is just not true.”

As a member of the Big Tent Coalition, InterHab is committed to advocating on these topics as they relate to Kansans with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. InterHab’s executive leadership is on the front lines of this issue and regularly provides testimony at legislative sessions. To learn more about how InterHab membership, email Ashley Nadeau, Director of Marketing and Membership Services, at anadeau@interhab.org.