Homeless support representatives ponder "How do you save money?" in low-income Kansas health programs
I attended the regular meeting of the Kansas City-based Homelessness Task Force organization at the downtown public library in Kansas City, Missouri today. I arrived at the meeting a few minutes early and joined the 20 or so people waiting to enter the library when it opened at 9:00 am. Most people waiting -- older men and 20-somethings -- would fit a description of a homeless individual using the library to come in from the cold, damp morning. As I learned later none of these individuals attended the meeting of the organization responsible for overseeing solutions to their problem. In fact, a few task force representatives left the waiting crowd to enter the library through another entrance.
The crowd included weather-beaten men without teeth, a young man listening to music on his phone with a tooth brush hanging out of his pocket, two 30-something men conversing about backpacks and KC life -- "this was one of the baddest banks" in its time, announced one of them, referring to the function of the library before its conversion, two men having a lively conversation in Spanish, among others who moved swiftly into the library when it opened promptly on time.
The meeting attendees included a range of homelessness support organizations, local and state government officials, anti-poverty advocates, housing organizations, to name a few. Before the meeting I spoke with Carly from the HALO Learning Center, a group that partners with "homeless shelters and residential homes to provide art therapy" and Amy Thomas with the Wyandotte Homeless Services Coalition, who mentioned that the organization has identified an increase in homelessness for kids aging out of foster care between the ages of 18 and 24.
The meeting started with an abbreviated presentation by Scott Brunner from the Kansas Health Institute on the topic of Medicaid expansion, which was timely and of utmost concern to people advocating for homeless individuals. The presentation only focused on "How do you save money?" through changes in Kansas Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) due to time limits, but was intended to describe the impact and costs to expanding Medicaid in Kansas as indicated on the slides distributed.
Other questions Mr. Brunner posed during his presentation included "Where do you get savings?" by implementing KanCare changes taking place in early 2013. The changes include moving all Medicaid-eligible people into KanCare, the privately managed care system in Kansas.
He stated his concern was "how do you go from 7.5% year-over-year cost increases to 4%?" with the KanCare changes. Several meeting participants peppered Mr. Brunner with clarifying questions about the cost savings with one man providing a personal story of elderly family care about expensive procedures and costs.
The discussion focused on costs, preventative medicine as a way to reduce costs, medical care cards and timeliness with payment to providers before the meeting moved to the next agenda item. I would have thought someone in the meeting would have asked questions about improving the quality of care, expanding coverage, and expanding Medicaid to low-income individuals and families in Kansas.
I am certain the meeting participants would strongly advocate for Medicaid expansion in both Kansas and Missouri as one of the best ways to improve the lives of homeless individuals in the area, as evidence by the conversations with Carly with HALO and Amy with Wyandotte Homeless Services Coalition
The crowd included weather-beaten men without teeth, a young man listening to music on his phone with a tooth brush hanging out of his pocket, two 30-something men conversing about backpacks and KC life -- "this was one of the baddest banks" in its time, announced one of them, referring to the function of the library before its conversion, two men having a lively conversation in Spanish, among others who moved swiftly into the library when it opened promptly on time.
The meeting attendees included a range of homelessness support organizations, local and state government officials, anti-poverty advocates, housing organizations, to name a few. Before the meeting I spoke with Carly from the HALO Learning Center, a group that partners with "homeless shelters and residential homes to provide art therapy" and Amy Thomas with the Wyandotte Homeless Services Coalition, who mentioned that the organization has identified an increase in homelessness for kids aging out of foster care between the ages of 18 and 24.
The meeting started with an abbreviated presentation by Scott Brunner from the Kansas Health Institute on the topic of Medicaid expansion, which was timely and of utmost concern to people advocating for homeless individuals. The presentation only focused on "How do you save money?" through changes in Kansas Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) due to time limits, but was intended to describe the impact and costs to expanding Medicaid in Kansas as indicated on the slides distributed.
Other questions Mr. Brunner posed during his presentation included "Where do you get savings?" by implementing KanCare changes taking place in early 2013. The changes include moving all Medicaid-eligible people into KanCare, the privately managed care system in Kansas.
He stated his concern was "how do you go from 7.5% year-over-year cost increases to 4%?" with the KanCare changes. Several meeting participants peppered Mr. Brunner with clarifying questions about the cost savings with one man providing a personal story of elderly family care about expensive procedures and costs.
The discussion focused on costs, preventative medicine as a way to reduce costs, medical care cards and timeliness with payment to providers before the meeting moved to the next agenda item. I would have thought someone in the meeting would have asked questions about improving the quality of care, expanding coverage, and expanding Medicaid to low-income individuals and families in Kansas.
I am certain the meeting participants would strongly advocate for Medicaid expansion in both Kansas and Missouri as one of the best ways to improve the lives of homeless individuals in the area, as evidence by the conversations with Carly with HALO and Amy with Wyandotte Homeless Services Coalition
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