The state has been warned by the federal government to clear a backlog of more than 32,000 unprocessed applications for health care for the poor, a state official said Thursday.

Kansas Health Policy Authority Medicaid Director Barb Langner says a number of factors are leading to the backlog, including budget cuts and expansion of the income eligibility for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

There are now 32,481 unprocessed applications and 20,630 of those are more than 45 days old, which is out of compliance with federal processing requirements, she said.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has sent a warning letter to KHPA to take action to clear the backlog.

Langner said CMS could impose a fiscal penalty but she said she didn’t want to speculate on how much that would be.

Langner said KHPA would implement policies to simplify the application process in an attempt to clear the backlog.