KanCare educational tour scheduled for February

KHI News Service
Jan. 30, 2013

TOPEKA — State officials have scheduled meetings next month in 16 cities around the state to answer Medicaid beneficiaries’ questions about the transition to KanCare. They said they were mailing meeting notices to each KanCare household in the state.

They also announced today that they will continue through Feb. 15 the daily troubleshooting teleconference begun in late December in anticipation of KanCare’s Jan. 1 launch.

KanCare is the name given Gov. Sam Brownback’s initiative to move virtually all of the state’s 380,000 Medicaid enrollees into managed care plans run by three major insurance companies: United HealthCare, Amerigroup and Sunflower State Health Plan, a subsidiary of Centene.

Medicaid officials held similar “education” tours prior to KanCare’s launch, but this is the first scheduled since the program began.

A similar tour to respond to questions from Medicaid providers also is planned for next month, officials said, but dates and locations are yet to be determined.

Here’s the schedule for the tour geared toward Medicaid enrollees and their families. Meetings at each location are scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.:

-Monday, Feb. 18-

Dodge City: Dodge City Senior Center, 2408 Central.

Manhattan: 
Holiday Inn at Campus, Landon Room
, 1641 Anderson Ave.

Winfield: Baden Square Community Center, 700 Gary St.

Topeka: Capitol Plaza Hotel, Shawnee Ballroom, 1717 SW Topeka Blvd.

-Tuesday, Feb. 19-

Garden City: Clarion Inn, North Central Ballroom, 1911 E. Kansas Ave.

Salina: Bicentennial Center, NW Heritage Hall, 800 The Midway.

Parsons: Parsons Recreation Center, Betty Anderson Room, 200 S. Heacock

Kansas City: Hilton Garden Inn, Wyandotte 2, 520 Minnesota Ave.

-Wednesday, Feb. 20-

Colby: City Limits Convention Center, Otterbourne Room, 2227 South Range.

Great Bend: Highland Hotel, North Heritage Room, 3017 10th St.

Fort Scott: Fort Scott Community College, Ellis Fine Arts Center, Meeting Rooms, 2108 S. Horton

Olathe: Holiday Inn, Ballroom A/B, 101 W. 151st St.

-Thursday, Feb. 21-

Hays: Hays Ramada Inn, 3603 Vine St.

Wichita: Wichita State University Metroplex, Lowe Auditorium, 5015 E. 29th St. North.

Emporia: Emporia Senior Center, 603 E. 12th Ave.

Atchison: Heritage Conference Center, American Suite, 710 S. 9th St.

Transportation to the meetings is not provided. But persons with a disability may request accommodations, such as Braille or an interpreter. Requests should be made by noon Feb. 13 by emailing [email protected] or by calling Rita Haverkamp at (785) 296-5107.

The troubleshooting teleconference is held each business day from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Those who wish to participate may access dial-in information on the KanCare website.