Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, says the state needs to move forward with reauthorizing its privatized Medicaid program and that concerns over provisions such as a work requirement for some recipients can be ironed out in the process.

Topeka ? A divided legislative committee voted Wednesday to recommend that the Brownback-Colyer administration move forward with the next generation of its privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare 2.0, despite concerns by many that the plan has not been thoroughly thought out.

The majority of the joint KanCare oversight committee voted to recommend that the administration move forward with issuing “requests for proposals,” or RFPs, from private insurance companies who would manage people’s Medicaid benefits on contract with the state, starting in January 2019.

KanCare provides health care coverage to more than 400,000 low-income individuals, mainly children, pregnant women, elderly and disabled Kansans. The program is jointly funded by the state and federal governments.

During a lengthy day of public testimony Tuesday, the committee heard from numerous individuals and advocacy groups who argued that the administration’s proposal, which would include imposing a work requirement and lifetime benefit caps on some individuals, would do more harm than good, and may well violate federal Medicaid guidelines.

But Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, vice chairman of the joint panel and chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, said he thinks those concerns can be addressed along the way, as the state negotiates new contracts.

Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, says the state needs to move forward with reauthorizing its privatized Medicaid program and that concerns over provisions such as a work requirement for some recipients can be ironed out in the process.

“There are some people who are against the work requirement, and I think that will be fleshed out during this process,” he said. “But I think we’ve got to move forward.”

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, was among a handful of committee members who voted against the recommendation, while at least two other Democrats, Reps. Barbara Ballard, of Lawrence, and Jim Ward, of Wichita, were not present Wednesday for the vote.

During Tuesday’s testimony, Ward, the House minority leader and a candidate for governor, strongly urged the administration to delay the launch of KanCare 2.0 another year.

“I think it’s the wrong thing to do at the wrong time,” Kelly said during an interview after Wednesday’s vote. “Obviously we have a change in administration coming. We know what happens in the last year of an administration. There will be lots of people fleeing the ship, going to look for other jobs in anticipation of the transition. So it’s going to be a very unstable time … In addition to something new, we would be locking in the next administration for five years.”

The Brownback administration launched the first version of KanCare in 2013, although Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Johnson County physician, is largely credited with being its chief architect.

Colyer is preparing to take over as governor, possibly in December or January, pending Gov. Sam Brownback’s confirmation to a diplomatic post in Washington under the Trump administration. Colyer is also seeking a full four-year term of his own in 2018, but he is running in a crowded field of other contenders for the Republican nomination.

Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit, also voted against moving forward on Wednesday, but she said she could change her mind about authorizing the new program once the details are ironed out.

“I don’t know what my vote will be ultimately,” she said after Wednesday’s meeting. “I was a no vote today because I didn’t feel I knew enough to make a recommendation.”

Hawkins noted that by moving forward, the administration can negotiate details of the new plan with the potential contractors.

The administration has said it hopes to sign the new contracts by June of next year and launch the new KanCare 2.0 in January 2019, pending approval of the new program by federal regulators.