Seventy percent of Kansas’ public school districts will have to repay some $11.2 million in overpayments from Medicaid. Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment Janet Stanek told a legislative budget committee Tuesday the payments amount to 4.4 percent of what was paid out in fiscal years 2016 to 2023.
Stanek said the overpayments were due to an incorrect calculation of administrative claims covering costs of providing services at school. This does not affect claims for actual services such as physical or speech therapy.
Wichita USD 259 Medicaid coordinator Deanna Beard told the committee districts are currently excluded from key components of the calculations used to verify Medicaid-eligible students who received services, and the lack of that information prevented them from validating data and any ability to identify errors early.
The Wichita district took the largest hit of any Kansas School District, having to repay over $3 million. 18 of Kansas’ 256 school districts are facing repayments in excess of $100,000, five of them owing more than $250.
Hutchinson USD 308 is by far the hardest hit district in south central Kansas aside from Wichita, owing $243,841.29. Buhler USD 313 will have to repay $43,201.02, while McPherson USD 418 is facing a $26,252.61 repayment, Newton USD 373’s bill came to just over $150,000.
On the other extreme, eight districts including Burrton USD 369, Chase-Raymond USD 401, Cheney USD 268, Little River-Windom USD 444, Remington USD 204, Renwick USD 267. Sedgwick USD 439, Sterling USD 376, and Valley Center USD 262 owe nothing.
Nineteen school districts will face repayments of less than $1,000, and 133 districts will not have any payments, many of which did not bill Medicaid during the eight years in question.
Stanek attributed the issue in part to staff cuts and being “under-resourced” in previous administrations. Of the fiscal years involved, five of them and part of one other came after current Governor Laura Kelly took office in 2019. She also cited turnover in school districts and with the outside contractor, Public Consulting Group.
In response to a question from State Representative Kristey Williams (R-Augusta), Stanek said there was nothing in the contract that allowed Kansas to hold PCG responsible for the error, but said the state has asked for a corrective plan. Stanek added in discussing oversight of the contractor “I would say it was loose, and that’s on us.”
