In the News

This Is What Happens When You Let a For-Profit Company Run Public Benefits

Becky Dernbach  |    Mother Jones    |    December 16, 2019
Children lost health coverage, pharmacies stopped filling prescriptions, and seniors were unable to access the care they needed due to problems at Maximus, a private company that administers public services like state Medicaid programs and food stamps, according to a new report from the Government Contractor Accountability Project.

Op-Ed: Kansas should cut ties with KanCare call center contractor

Jeremy Mohler  |    Kansas City Star    |    Sept. 18, 2019
On a frozen January evening in 2016, then-Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback bragged to a packed state capital building that his administration was providing “economic opportunity instead of government dependency.” He wasn’t referring to his notorious tax cuts, which had by that time blown a $170 million hole in the state budget.

‘It was just terrible’: After years of Kansas Medicaid complaints, change is coming

Andy Marso  |    Kansas City Star    |    July 24, 2019
After years of criticism over delays and mishandling of Medicaid applications at a centralized call center, the state of Kansas is sending more workers to help people directly, face-to-face. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly announced this week that Kansans will soon be able to walk into regional offices again and get help with Kansas Medicaid, or KanCare, applications for themselves or loved ones.

At least 220,000 Tennessee kids faced loss of health insurance due to lacking paperwork

Brett Kelman & Mike Reicher  |   Tennessean    |    July 14, 2019
CHATTANOOGA – When the leukemia was finally gone, Tricia Sewell thought her family’s nightmare was over. It was October of last year. Sewell’s 5-year-old son, Abel, had just finished three years of chemotherapy, all of which had been covered by Tennessee’s state Medicaid program, known as TennCare. Chemo was successful, but now Abel needed monthly blood tests to check if the cancer ever came back.

US union seeks $100m in largest wage theft case involving federal contractor

Michael Sainato    |   The Guardian    |    April 4, 2019
An American union is seeking to win more than $100m in back wages from a private call center firm in a move that, if successful, would win the largest wage theft case involving federal contractors in history. The Department of Labor is currently reviewing several complaints filed by the Communications Workers of America against the federal contractor General Dynamics.

Medicare Call Center Woes Persist With Maximus Taking Charge

Madison Alder    |    Bloomberg Law    |    March 11, 2019
A General Dynamics selloff hasn’t improved working conditions at Medicare call centers, workers allege, as House appropriators give the 10-year contract closer scrutiny. Under new manager Maximus Inc., workers at a Virginia call center aren’t receiving adequate wages, in violation of the federal service contract law, the Communications Workers of America allege in a complaint filed Jan. 31 with the Labor Department.

How One Company is Making Millions off Trump’s War on the Poor

Tracie McMillan    |   Mother Jones    |    Jan./Feb. Issue, 2019
One night last March, Sue Fredericks ran into trouble. She had been watching snow accumulate for hours from her post at a 24-hour gas station. Busy stretches on her overnight shift were rare, on account of the size of the town in which she worked; with a few thousand residents an hour from Indianapolis, it is small and quaint, surrounded by corn and soy fields and featuring a shuttered Walmart.

Editorial: Maximus money move was wrong call

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Editorial Advisory Board  |  The Topeka Capital Journal    |    Aug. 27, 2018
Nothing but problems. That’s been the theme of the state’s transition to a privatized Medicaid program that closed regional offices and failed to deliver on promises of efficiency and cost savings. KDHE contracted with Maximus, a for-profit company with annual revenues in access of $2.4 billion, that specializes in privatizing government programs such as Medicaid.

Kansas tells Medicaid contractor: Shape up, or face millions in fines

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Kansas Map
Jonathan Shorman    |   The Wichita Eagle    |    Feb. 16, 2018
The company processing Kansas Medicaid applications is so out of compliance with its contract that it could face fines of more than $250,000 a day. Maximus is operating with 40 percent accuracy on financial payments; 98 percent is required. The company is also falling behind on handling applications and cases, the state of Kansas says.

Medicaid application delays are forcing Kansas nursing homes to turn people away

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Kansas State Seal
Andy Marso    |    Kansas City Star    |    Dec. 15, 2017
Administrators at Villa St. Francis nursing home in Olathe have a checklist of questions before taking in a new resident with a pending Medicaid application. How many Medicaid-pending residents are we already subsidizing? Is this person likely to survive the months it will probably take for the state of Kansas to approve their application? If not, is there a loved one who is willing to follow through on the application after this person dies?


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