KanCare payment delays squeezing rural hospitals

Slow payments from the insurance companies managing KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program, have caused significant strain on Wichita’s hospitals. But the problem is even more acute for many rural Kansas hospitals that have fewer resources. The amount of unpaid KanCare claims at the Hanover Hospital in Washington County represents more than half of its monthly budget, the Kansas Health Institute News Service reported. “Going broke is not a fiction with us,” said Roger Warren, who leads the hospital. A billing clerk at the hospital complained that insurance companies say they will look into the payment problems but little gets resolved quickly. “Very seldom do you hear back,” she told KHI. “You have to call them again. And again and again and again.” – Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published September 2, 2014 at 1:09 PM with the headline "KanCare payment delays squeezing rural hospitals."