Kansas' Great Hope: Managed Care Will Tame Medicaid Costs

She was working as a waitress, without health insurance, when she found out she was pregnant. "I was 17, and you know Medicaid really helped me, because I felt like I had no other way of paying for my care, and paying for all these hospital bills." Her daughter, Kimberly, is four years old now. Aside from a dental surgery, check-ups and preventive care, she doesn’t have many medical needs. And she’s staying healthy.

In fact, pregnant women and children do make up the bulk of the state's Medicaid population. But the vast majority of Medicaid dollars spent in Kansas isn't spent on people like Corado. The program also pays for low-income Kansans with disabilities, and for impoverished elders in nursing homes. Their care is at least 10 times more than the $240 per person, per month that pregnant women and children cost.

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Source: Kaiser Health News