(The Center Square) – A lack of knowledge of program eligibility is harming Kansas Medicaid recipients and potential recipients, the state’s Medicaid Inspector General said in a recent report.

The report from Steven D. Anderson said that a lack of consumer education regarding the TransMed program is hurting the state’s residents. It is a barrier to coverage and for recipients gaining employment and higher wages as they fear they will lose their health insurance.

“If more consumer education was present on the KDHE website, members would receive reassurance that they will not be penalized for seeking meaningful job growth and can retain 12 months of coverage through the TransMed program,” the report said.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment program staff shared these concerns with the Inspector General.

“Ease of use was identified as insufficient when an attempt was made to locate TransMed program information on the KanCare website,” the report said.

Past audits drew similar conclusions, according to the report. It said that while the KDHE has updated its site to help people better understand how to report Medicaid fraud, the state has not done the same for other information pertinent to the state’s residents.

Therefore, the report recommended that the state do the following:

1. We recommend KDHE update the KanCare website to include more education on the TransMed program and improve the website for ease of use.

2. KDHE should consider other ways to educate the population on the TransMed program in an effort to eliminate barriers for Medicaid recipients seeking job growth and income stability.