Snapshot: Kansas Medicaid and Public Health Partnership

Medicaid and public health agencies play complementary roles in improving population health, yet they often operate in silos. Kansas is taking a different approach by building a structured, ongoing partnership that brings the two systems together around shared priorities, from newborn screening and infectious disease response to rural health and maternal and child health. Various factors, including different funding streams, program priorities, and operational structures make alignment complex across agencies. But as states and territories navigate tight budgets, workforce shortages, and new federal requirements and initiatives (for example the Rural Health Transformation Program), Medicaid and public health agencies are increasingly identifying opportunities to foster sustainable collaboration.

From Episodic Coordination to Sustained Partnership

Historically, collaboration between Kansas’ Medicaid and public health agencies was inconsistent and often triggered by specific events, such as disease outbreaks, rather than sustained efforts to advance shared goals. Over the past two years, however, the agencies have worked intentionally to strengthen their partnership. By establishing regular forums to discuss priorities and emerging issues, their work together has moved from episodic engagement toward a model grounded in consistent communication, shared goals, and greater understanding across agencies.

A few practices Kansas has implemented to help bridge these historical silos include:

• Monthly cross-agency meetings. Staff from the Kansas Medicaid agency and the Division of Public Health meet monthly to issue-spot and identify areas for joint work, alongside a standing monthly one-on-one between the public health medical director and the Medicaid medical director.

• Public health representation at Medicaid Advisory Committee meetings. The Medicaid Advisory Committee includes a representative from the Division of Public Health, ensuring public health priorities have a consistent seat at the table when Medicaid policy is shaped.

• Data sharing and governance. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) supports data exchange between Medicaid and Public Health, laying the groundwork for coordinated identification of emerging issues and shared priorities.

These structures have also fed into a standing working group with members from both agencies, which serves as a forum to:

• Identify emerging issues and opportunities for alignment.

• Move beyond a service-by-service approach to Medicaid benefits and instead ask what combination of services could most improve outcomes for specific vulnerable populations (for example, pregnant women, infants).

• Build shared understanding of each agency’s operational realities, including federal requirements, budget constraints, and on-the-ground population needs.

Putting Partnership into Practice: 

With this structure in place, Kansas’ Medicaid and public health agencies have been able to move from building the partnership itself to applying it to shared challenges across several key areas.

• Newborn Screening. One of the earliest collaborative efforts focused on newborn screening, including hearing screenings and lead testing. Through this joint partnership, the agencies identified barriers — including delayed reporting, incomplete follow-up, and communication gaps between birthing facilities and primary care providers — and developed shared expectations for timely testing and follow-up.

• Infectious Disease Response. A recent syphilis outbreak in one of the state’s largest counties demonstrated the need for managed care organizations (MCOs), providers, and public health to have timely access to sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing data and to drive access to services. Kansas reports that the response, while still a work in progress, has fostered ongoing efforts to expand access to rapid syphilis testing. In addition, Kansas Medicaid and public health are exploring opportunities to engage and partner with community-based organizations.

• Expanding the Workforce: Leveraging Community Health Workers (CHWs). Kansas’ public health agency has played an integral role in standing up the state’s Community Health Worker (CHW) benefit. The public health agency developed a CHW certification program, enabling Medicaid to cover and reimburse for CHW services. Currently, both agencies are looking to build on this work and establish a statewide CHW network designed to support licensed practitioners and allow them to practice at the top of their license.

• Embedding Public Health in Managed Care. Coordination between public health and Medicaid managed care organizations has historically been limited. Kansas has since taken concrete steps to strengthen that relationship:

• Pay-for-Performance: Public health measures, including newborn and lead screenings, have been incorporated into the state’s managed care pay-for-performance program.

• Community Reinvestment Requirement: Managed care organizations are required to reinvest 3% of annual profits into community initiatives aligned with public health priorities outlined in the Kansas 2030 plan.

Looking Ahead: Future Partnership Efforts

With a strong foundation in place, Kansas has outlined several areas for new joint initiatives between public health and Medicaid.

• Telehealth for rural obstetric care (OB). Kansas Medicaid and public health are focused on expanding telehealth support for obstetric care in rural communities, where limited access to obstetric care providers remains a significant barrier. Public health, Medicaid, and managed care partners see an opportunity to build a coordinated model that reduces travel burden, supports early identification of risk factors, and improves perinatal outcomes.

• Rural Health Transformation Program implementation. In Kansas, Medicaid and public health jointly lead Rural Health Transformation Program implementation. As this work continues, the agencies are collaborating to expand Community Health Worker (CHW) capacity.

• Improving Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes. Sudden Unexpected Infant Death prevention has emerged as a new area for joint partnership. With Medicaid leadership bringing subject-matter expertise to the table, the collaboration has expanded the state’s approach beyond surveillance and toward prevention. Early discussions have focused on strengthening maternal and child health care delivery and addressing barriers to newborn safe sleep through coordinated education, postpartum support, and alignment with existing maternal and child health infrastructure.

Lessons Learned

Kansas experience offers several takeaways for other states working to build stronger relationships across Medicaid and Public Health.

• Relationship-building takes intentional effort, time, and trust, particularly in states where prior tension or inconsistent collaboration has existed.

• Cultural and operational differences are real but solvable. Differing funding streams, regulations, and priorities can create friction between agencies, but transparency and a shared commitment to common goals help mitigate that friction over time.

• Learning each other’s language matters. Medicaid and public health are each complex systems with their own terminology, federal requirements, and levers they can pull. Taking the time to understand each other’s operational language helped both agencies see more clearly where Medicaid could realistically partner and advance shared goals.

Interested in reading more about public health partnerships? Check out our New Hampshire case study and the Medicaid Leader’s Playbook for Building Public Health Partnerships.

Acknowledgements

We’d like to thank the Kansas Medicaid and public health leaders who shared their time, expertise, and thought leadership to inform this blog. Their insights were invaluable in shaping this piece.

• Dereck Totten, Chief Medical Officer at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment

• Christine Osterlund, Deputy Secretary for Agency Integration and state Medicaid Director for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment