TOPEKA — Administration officials today said they would continue to push for a Jan. 1 launch for KanCare and plan to begin running a software program on Wednesday designed to "auto assign" Medicaid beneficiaries to the KanCare managed care plans.

"We will take time to assess the results and then communicate with members about their initial assignment," said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, spokesperson for Gov. Sam Brownback.

Brownback officials today also described their discussions Thursday with federal officials in Baltimore about the state's Section 1115 waiver application as "productive."

"We had productive conversations with our partners at CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) in Baltimore and look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure KanCare is a success," Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer said in a prepared statement. “The State of Kansas will go forward with activities to ensure our readiness as we continue to work towards a Jan. 1 start date."

The officials did not provide specific information about the status of the managed care companies' respective provider networks or the outcomes of the readiness reviews of the companies that were scheduled for completion this week. The companies had an Oct. 12 deadline for demonstrating to state officials that they had achieved 90 percent "network adequacy."

But Miranda Steele, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said, "everything is still on track with the planned readiness activities."

KanCare is Brownback's plan to move most of the state's 380,000 Medicaid enrollees, including the mentally ill and people in nursing homes, into managed care plans operated by three insurance companies: Amerigroup, United Healthcare and Sunflower State Health Plan, a subsidiary of Centene. The Kansas Medicaid program is expected to cost about $3.2 billion next year. Brownback officials have predicted that KanCare will save the state and federal governments $1 billion over five years while improving the health outcomes for Medicaid clients.