Increased Awareness Drives Up Kansas Medicaid Enrollment
State officials say it is a result of the "woodwork effect." Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports that some state Medicaid managed care plans are looking for help dealing with the cost of Sovaldi, the new hepatitis C drug.
Kansas Health Institute News Service: Kansas Officials Say Medicaid Enrollment Growth Expected To Continue
State officials today said they expect more than 13,000 Kansans currently eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid will sign up for it by July 2015 due to greater awareness of the program from the Affordable Care Act and KanCare. Kari Bruffett, director of the Division of Health Care Finance at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said Medicaid enrollment so far this year already has outpaced "normal growth" patterns and that trend was expected to continue at least over the next year or more thanks to the so-called "woodwork effect” (Shields, 4/29).
In other Medicaid news --
Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Plans Look To States For Help With Expensive Hepatitis C Drug
Medicaid managed-care plans are looking to state officials for help as they face massive outlays for the new hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment (Dickson, 4/29).