Month: August 2018

by Stephan Bisaha, Kansas News Service

Legal experts say independent candidate for governor Greg Orman faces at least a potential threat to lose his spot on the ballot in Kansas’ general election.

An objection filed with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office on Monday targets the signatures Orman gathered for ballot access. The letter was filed on behalf of William Lawrence, the chief of staff for Democratic state Senate leader Anthony Hensley.

The letter included multiple accusations. The first is the broadest and targets the most votes. It contends that several counties, including Sedgwick and Johnson, submitted the certified signatures for Orman to the Secretary of State’s office after the statutory deadline.

Yet legal analysts said that courts tend to avoid punishing candidates because of technical mistakes outside of a candidate’s control.

“It’s unlikely a court would say that a processing glitch by the county would be enough to disqualify a candidate that otherwise got the signatures,” said University of Kansas law professor Richard Levy.

Other accusations give analysts more pause. One claims a person gathering signatures for the campaign has a felony conviction, making the person ineligible for that work. Though he is only responsible for 323 of the signatures, the letter says there are “at least three examples of questionable signature gatherers.” The letter also points out suspicious timelines associated with some affidavits.

The three-page objection doesn’t contain much evidence, but legal analysts said there is enough that the Orman campaign can’t ignore the accusations.

“It’s a process that has to be taken seriously,” said Mark Johnson, a partner with law firm Dentons. “You don’t know what kind of evidence the person filing the objections has to back up the allegations until they have to provide the evidence.”

An objections board will hold a hearing Thursday morning to review the objection. The hearing is made up of representatives from the offices of attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor. All three are held by Republicans. Polls have suggested the GOP nominee for governor, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, fares a better chance with Orman in the race rather than a head-to-head race with Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly.

Orman poses the risk of splitting the moderate and liberal vote between himself and Kelly, potentially handing the election to Kobach.

The author of the letter on behalf of Lawrence is Pedro Irigonegaray, a lawyer who knocked a Democrat off the ballot in the 2014 election so Orman had a clear run against Pat Roberts for the U.S. Senate.

“(Irigonegaray’s) not one of these people that just suddenly makes unfounded allegations,” said Jeffery Jackson, a law professor at Washburn University. “At the very least, it does signify that the complainants have acquired some competent representation.”

Stephan Bisaha reports on education for KMUW in Wichita and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio, KCUR and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on @SteveBisaha.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

See more at http://www.kcur.org/post/ormans-ballot-spot-jeopardy-legal-challenge-signatures.

by Scott Canon, Kansas News Service

Troubled Medicaid contractor Maximus could soon have a new contract with Kansas officials that pays it more to do less.

State officials say that appears to be the price of getting the job of processing applications for the privatized Medicaid program, KanCare, done right.

The deal would also penalize Maximus millions of dollars for past problems, most centered around long waiting periods created by the contractor’s backlogs.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Jeff Andersen on Tuesday told a committee of lawmakers overseeing KanCare that Maximus initially underbid to secure the contract.

“In many cases, Maximus was not adequately staffed,” Andersen said. “In some cases, you get what you pay for.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Maximus said the company’s bid was based on the original contract proposal, but the scope of the work has expanded over several years.

“As a result, Maximus has funded significant financial investments in additional resources,” the statement said.

Some 400,000 Kansans are enrolled in KanCare, which manages the delivery of care to low-income, elderly and disabled.

The current contract with Maximus runs out at the end of this year. Andersen said the state and Maximus had reached a new agreement that extends through the middle of 2019, with the option to add another six months. The new contract has yet to be completed and signed.

Under the plan, Andersen said the state would take back some responsibilities, including training and processing some of the most difficult claims.

In the end, the state will take on an added cost of $2 million in the current fiscal year to cover both the cost of its new duties and the steeper payments to Maximus.

“Technically, we will pay Maximus more, because we need to do the job right,” Andersen said.

Republicans and a Democrat on the committee expressed frustration at the idea of sending more money to the company after the past problems.

Democratic Sen. Laura Kelly, her party’s nominee for governor, said the plan rewards Maximus for initially underbidding for the job.

“Now we’re saying, ‘OK, we’ll go ahead and pay you what you really should have been getting paid, and we’ll pay you the same or more for doing less,’” she said. “That just makes no sense.”

Republican Rep. Dan Hawkins echoed those concerns, calling the agreement “kind of weird.”

The short time before the current contract expires necessitates the move, Andersen said.

He took over the job in January, when the issues with Maximus were already entrenched.

“We have a good long-term plan,” he said. “There’s some short-term pain to get out of this hole.”

As part of the negotiations, the state will not sue Maximus. Andersen said the new agreement would include more accountability measures and Kansas would be entitled to up to $10 million in concessions for past problems.

Maximus said it’s ready to continue work with the state.

“We have made meaningful progress on our performance,” the company statement said. “We are committed to continuing to process applications timely and accurately.”

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio, a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.
See more at http://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-nears-new-deal-troubled-kancare-contractor-maximus.