Lawmakers question whether nonprofit benefited from political ties to Sebelius

[bijou]

TOPEKA | Kansas lawmakers want to know whether a Johnson County nonprofit used its political connections to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to get a special funding increase last fall.

But a hearing into the matter Wednesday left lawmakers with more questions than answers.

Lenexa-based Community Living Opportunities was awarded nearly $713,000 in extra Medicaid funds. The group serves developmentally disabled Kansans, primarily in Johnson and Douglas counties.

At the time, the agency’s board of directors included Kansas Democratic Party Chairman Larry Gates, a Sebelius confidant, and his former law partner, Dan Biles, whom Sebelius appointed to the state Supreme Court this year. Lew Perkins, the University of Kansas athletic director, also serves on the board. Biles has since stepped down from the board.

The allegations come as Sebelius, a Democrat, awaits U.S. Senate confirmation to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicaid.

Neither Sebelius nor Gates was at the hearing Wednesday. But Sebelius has said she had nothing to do with the funding decision, which was made by Don Jordan, her secretary of social and rehabilitation services. Gates also has denied speaking to Sebelius about the funding request.

Yet other service providers maintain that the state told them no extra funding was available. They told lawmakers at the hearing Wednesday that Community Living Opportunities was allowed to skip the usual process of requesting extra funds, which involves going before a local agency that oversees such requests. ...

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[Konssurvative1]

I work in this field in Indiana...we have rate setting that takes place every two to three years...The state will look at the past two to three years receipts and payroll expenses and what it costs to maintain the group home...then it sets a daily rate based on that.  You can only get per day per client what the state allows...Medicaid does not allow for this kind of dispersment.  There had to be something fishy going on because this kind of increase to one agency or another would send up a huge red flag...if they do something different in Kansas that allows the Governor or her Secretary to dole out that kind of case then there is something wrong with the system...NO WONDER MEDICAID IS ALWAYS BEING CUT!!!