New Medicaid and HIPAA Changes

There have been changes to Kansas Medicaid program this past month; Due to budget cuts Medicaid has cut out all Provider Representatives for the state of Kansas. I was told we will have to go through Customer Service for all our issues.

Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA) changed the Kansas Medical Assistance Program (KMAP) policy meetings for providers, from quarterly to biannual. KHPA also agreed to hold interim meetings to discuss important changes within KMAP. To that end, KHPA will conduct a conference call on Wednesday September 30, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. to provide an update about the reorganization within KHPA and EDS. This call is open to all Medicaid providers.

Phone # to Call: 866.620.7326
Conference code: 2719426287

Reminder: Effective September 15, 2009, covered entities will now be subject to explicit HIPAA breach notification requirements.

What Can You Do Now?

Because of these changes in the law and to ensure compliance with the September 15, 2009, deadline for the breach notification requirements and with the February 17, 2010, deadline set by the HITECH Act for compliance with the other numerous amendments to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, covered entities and business associates should:
(a) update old, and develop new privacy and security policies and procedures to comply with the new requirements and limitations;
(b) amend existing Business Associate Agreements and determine whether new Business Associate Agreements are warranted; and
(c) develop breach notification policies and procedures that comply with the new requirements.