The State of Kansas Medicaid program, KanCare, is collecting important household information from beneficiaries to meet new federal eligibility guidelines mandated by the Affordable Care Act. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment began today mailing the instructions and a data collection form in a letter envelope to about 130,000 KanCare households of beneficiaries who are parents with children and pregnant women. This mailing is not being sent to elderly and disabled KanCare beneficiaries.
The federal eligibility rules beginning Oct. 1 change the type of information the states need when determining Medicaid coverage for their residents. Currently, the State of Kansas does not require KanCare applicants and members to report whether and how many people in a household are filing income taxes. This data collection form asks the family to list how each person in a household is related to one another and indicate which members of that household plan to file income taxes in 2014.
 The Kansas Medicaid eligibility system needs this information starting Oct. 1. For new applicants, this information will be collected at the time of application. However, for current KanCare households, this information is needed in the system so that the automated eligibility determination can work when the members are up for review.
 “We are asking all current KanCare members who are parents with children or pregnant women to actively check their mailbox for this form and then complete the form and send it to us in the return envelope that we’ve provided. This information should be returned by September 15th, and it will help us in our work to assist our members with their coverage,” said Susan Mosier, M.D., director of Medicaid services at KDHE. “For those requiring assistance, phone numbers are provided in both English and Spanish. If members call the KanCare Clearinghouse and provide this information over the phone, the form does not need to be returned.”
 For KanCare members who need assistance with the information mailed to them, the number to call is: 1-855-751-4012 for English, or 1-866-305-5147 for Spanish. Enclosed is a copy of the household Information mailing, which includes the tax relationship form and cover letter.
 At the same time these new federal rules will be taking effect, the State of Kansas will be implementing Phase II of the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System (KEES), which is a new computer system replacing the legacy system that has required the manual processing of applications for 20-plus years. The new household information from KanCare members will be entered into KEES Benefits Management System. For the past 12 months, KEES has allowed Kansans to apply online for medical benefits, though the functionality for processing applications has not been fully automated during this time.
 On Oct. 1, KanCare applications submitted online will be processed electronically through KEES. Paper applications will continue to be accepted. For more information about KanCare, visit www.KanCare.KS.gov.