The Kansas Eligibility Enforcement System (KEES) will help the state determine applicant eligibility for state medical programs as well as cash and food assistance. Through cross-referenced state and federal data sources, the system will automatically identify ineligible applicants for the programs and will streamline service delivery for qualifying applicants, the governor’s office said.
The system was formerly called Kansas Medical Eligibility Determination, but the name has been changed to KEES due to the system’s expansion.
Agencies such as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Division of Health Care Finance and the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services will use the new $85 million system to administer the state’s Medicaid program and improve service delivery.
Funding for KEES came from 2009 federal grant funds, state funds and federal matching funds available to states for administering programs like Medicaid, according to the governor’s office.
“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 Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Robert Moser in a statement.
Installing a Web-based system for streamlining service delivery is not new in state health care. Since 2008, Oklahoma has used Electronic Newborn-1, a system developed by Hewlett-Packard that enrolls newborns in the state’s Medicaid program on a Web portal in real time.
