Medicaid mystery: Why is coverage dropping for Kansas children?

For two years now, the staff at Kansas Action for Children has been trying to unravel a mystery: Why is Medicaid enrollment dropping among the state’s youngest children?

Enrollment of low-income children age 1-5 peaked in October 2012 and has been dropping steadily since. Enrollment of children younger than 1 in low-income families also dropped during that period.

In Kansas, children age 1 to 5 are eligible for the state’s privatized Medicaid program, known as KanCare, if they live in families earning less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $36,144 annually for a family of four. Children under the age of 1 are eligible in families earning up to 171 percent of the poverty level, or annually $41,472 for a family of four. The overall child poverty rate in Kansas is trending down, declining from 19 percent in 2013 to 18 percent in 2014, but a Kansas Action for Children spokesperson said it is “highly unlikely” that explains the drop in Medicaid enrollment.

A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said officials at the state’s lead Medicaid agency don’t know why enrollment is dropping among young children.

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