A miscalculation is costing Kansas school districts a total of more than $11 million. During a state legislative budget meeting on Tuesday, August 26th, it was revealed that due to a simple counting error, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been overpaying districts for Medicaid reimbursement costs. The state reimburses Kansas school districts for providing Medicaid services to its students, such as counseling, mental health and nursing services. Recently, several Kansas districts have notified the state about an error that has been giving them more money than they needed. Now, the state is hoping to correct this issue by asking districts to return the money. This counting error has been happening since 2016, and 70% of all Kansas school districts will be required to reimburse the state.
For most schools, it’s a relatively small amount. However, larger districts like Wichita public schools, are being asked to send back over 3 million dollars. The Kansas City school district owes more than $800,000, and the Topeka and Manhattan districts have to send back about $400,000 each. No word on how this might affect USD 290 or other schools around the area.
