Topeka ? Lawmakers want to deal with rising Medicaid costs this session, and the Senate moved in that direction Wednesday by giving first-round approval to a trio of bills designed to make it easier to address fraud, abuse and waste in the health care program.

A final vote by the chamber, scheduled for Thursday, is needed to send the bills to the House. Senate leaders expected easy passage of the measures that were the center of the Legislature’s first health policy debate this year.

For years, legislators have fretted about rising Medicaid costs and prospects for fraud and abuse. While there’s no firm figures on the amount of fraud, one estimate indicates at least $110 million a year in Medicaid payments are improperly paid in Kansas.

The marquee bill creates an inspector general’s position in the attorney general’s office. The inspector general’s job would be to examine allegations of Medicaid waste and fraud and turn over findings to the attorney general’s office for legal action.

Originally, the inspector general was to be appointed by the governor and be part of the Division of Health Policy and Finance. But the Senate wanted the inspector general appointed by the attorney general, subject to Senate confirmation, and work in that office.

The bill was amended in committee to expand the inspector general’s investigative authority to state employee health insurance. But an amendment offered by Sen. David Wysong removed that on a 30-8 vote.

“There may be a time when we want to add this, but now isn’t the time,” said Wysong, R-Mission Hills. “We need to crawl before we walk.”

Sen. Jim Barone, D-Frontenac, who opposed the change, said, “I believe it’s important as we look for dollars and efficiencies in state government, we look in every place.”

Another bill allows the attorney general’s office to file civil lawsuits to recover Medicaid money improperly paid. Currently, only criminal charges can be filed.

Violators would be subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 and could pay triple damages when fraud is proven. The damages would be the state’s loss of money.

The third bill creates the crime of obstruction of a Medicaid fraud investigation and would expand the state’s assets forfeiture law to cover Medicaid fraud.

“It gets the specific authority on the books, that’s the point of it,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.

Senate Ways and Means Chairman Dwayne Umbarger said while the bills will help, lawmakers eventually must look at other areas.

“If you want to save significant money, you are going to have to look at raising eligibility requirements and lowering benefits,” said Umbarger, R-Thayer. “I’m not proposing that, just saying that’s something that needs to be looked at.”

He said lawmakers want to get suggestions from the health policy division and won’t move in that direction until the 2007 session at the earliest.

The state already has some of the most stringent eligibility requirements in the nation: 45 states are more generous than Kansas when it comes to Medicaid coverage for adults, and 25 are more generous with benefits for children.

The health care program for low-income and disabled residents spends about $1.7 billion, mainly on medical care and nursing facilities, up from $678.1 million a decade ago.

Add in-home services for the physically and developmentally disabled and for children with severe emotional disorders and total spending is $2.2 billion, with the federal government providing 60 percent of the funds and the state making up the difference.

On average, there are around 230,000 Medicaid recipients per month. The biggest increase in numbers are children, but the biggest costs are for the aged and disabled.