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Published October 19, 2009 12:35 am - Some Kansas residents face delays when seeking health care coverage. Pressure mounts: 12,000 caught in a backlog By Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com PITTSBURG, Kan. — When Candice Sinclair was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she applied for Medicaid to cover her expenses and those of her soon-to-be-born son, Jake. That was in June. Their applications still haven’t been processed, meaning Sinclair is left without means to pay an estimated $5,000 hospital bill, and for Jake’s first year of immunizations and checkups. “It’s frustrating,” Sinclair said. “It makes me mad. We’ve been waiting four months, almost five.” She began a new job last week, but she won’t be eligible for health insurance until January. The baby’s father, meanwhile, is self-employed and does not have insurance. Sinclair’s application is one of 12,000 caught in a backlog by the contractor that processes applications under the direction of the Kansas Health Policy Authority. Applications are supposed to be processed in two to three weeks — six weeks at the maximum. Peter Hancock, public information officer with the authority, said the agency saw the backlog coming almost a year ago, and as a result it “rang the alarm bell.” The agency requested $1.5 million from the Kansas Legislature to fund the staff needed to speed up the work. The governor called for an allocation of $500,000, but the Legislature didn’t fund it — something not unexpected, Hancock said, in light of shortfalls in state revenue and many other agencies also requesting money. “In social services, this is the constant paradox: When there’s the greatest need, you have the least amount of resources to pay for it,” Hancock said. “The revenue flowing in is plummeting as more and more people are needful.” The problem in Kansas lies in two main issues, as Hancock sees it: rising unemployment and outdated technology. Unemployment The Kansas unemployment rate has continued to rise all year, especially in Southeast Kansas, where several large companies closed or laid off workers late last year. The closing of the Superior Industries plant, Pittsburg’s largest private employer, put more than 600 people out of work. “It is directly tied, we believe, to the economic downturn and rising unemployment rate in Kansas,” Hancock said. “There also are a number of people who may still be working, but either their employer isn’t offering health insurance anymore or isn’t paying the premiums.” According to the Kansas Health Institute, 40.9 percent of adult Kansans without health insurance worked full time, year-round, in 2007-08. 
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