TOPEKA – Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. announced Tuesday the State of Kansas has finalized a contract with Accenture for the acquisition and implementation of KEES, the Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System. This $85 million, state-of-the-art computerized platform will provide an integrated eligibility determination system among state services that will identify fraud, waste and efficiencies within Medicaid and other eligibility-based programs.
“KEES is designed with the entire State of Kansas in mind. As the electronic front door to state services, this system will improve the eligibility process and identify significant savings for the state,” Lt. Gov. Colyer said. “We will achieve program reliability and integrity across all facets of health and human services in the State of Kansas.”
The name given to this system—KEES—represents the expansion of what was formerly known as K-MED, the Kansas Medical Eligibility Determination system. It is expected to be under way by the end of 2013.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s (KDHE) Division of Health Care Finance will use KEES in administering the state Medicaid program. KDHE-DHCF purchases health services for children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, the aged and the elderly.
“KEES will play a large role in helping reduce costs associated with Medicaid and other state benefits by streamlining the eligibility phase of the process, which is essential in our efforts to improve health outcomes in Kansas,” said KDHE Secretary Robert Moser, MD.
The state expects to realize significant savings from improved accuracy in determining eligibility for state medical, cash and food assistance programs. KEES will automatically cross-reference state and federal data sources to identify ineligible applicants. At the same time, the system will streamline service delivery for those who qualify.
According to SRS Secretary Robert Siedlecki, “KEES will enable our organization to improve information systems that have long been ignored. This system will allow SRS the flexibility to more effectively deploy our workforce, and improve service delivery to Kansas children and their families. The big winners are the taxpayers of Kansas and the people who are in true need of assistance. KEES is designed to identify fraud, eliminate duplication and reduce error whenever government assistance is needed.”
Funding for the development of KEES is comprised of three sources: a competitive federal grant awarded to the state in 2009; state funds dedicated to this purpose by the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) in fiscal year 2010; and federal matching funds available to states for administering jointly funded programs such as Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
Through the enhanced 90-percent federal share from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Kansas is not required to implement a state health insurance exchange. Authority for enhanced 90/10 funding for development of new eligibility systems is a re-interpretation of longstanding Medicaid IT funding rules found in Section 1903(a)(3)(a)(1) of the Social Security Act. This new application of the statute extends access for enhanced funding of Medicaid payment and information-gathering systems to include eligibility systems as well.
“With this approach, match-funding is made available for eligibility systems, and we will use a combination of state and federal funds to design KEES to meet Kansas’ needs without the kind of strings that tied the early innovator grant to the implementation of federalized health care and the individual mandate,” Dr. Colyer said.
The original request for proposal was published Oct. 7, 2010, and the state received competitive bids from five vendors.