KanCare Notice of Action — What It Means and What to Do Next

A KanCare Notice of Action is the state's official letter telling your parent what the Clearinghouse decided about their Medicare Savings Program application or renewal. It arrives by mail, and inside the bureaucratic formatting are deadlines that matter. Families who set these aside as "just paperwork" sometimes lose benefits that could have been saved with a phone call.

What the Notice Actually Tells You

Every Notice of Action includes:

• The decision — approved, denied, or terminated
• The MSP tier — QMB, LMB (SLMB), ELMB (QI), or QDWI
• The effective date — when coverage starts, ends, or changes
• The reason — a code or short explanation for the decision
• Appeal rights — how to request a fair hearing and the deadline

If the notice approves benefits, check the tier. Families sometimes expect QMB (which covers premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance) but receive LMB or ELMB (premium only). If the tier is wrong, the income calculation may be off — contact the Clearinghouse at 1-800-792-4884 to review how income was counted.

Denial Notices

A denial notice means the Clearinghouse found your parent ineligible. The notice should state why — typically income over the limit, resources over the limit, or missing verification documents.

Before accepting the decision:

• Verify the income figure. The Clearinghouse should use gross Social Security (before the Part B premium deduction), minus a $20 general income disregard. If it counted gross benefits without subtracting the $20 disregard, countable income is too high and the denial may be wrong.
• Check the resource count. The home, one vehicle, household goods, and burial spaces are all excluded. If something was incorrectly counted, gather documentation.
• Look at the document list. If the denial says verification wasn't received, check whether you have proof of submission — fax confirmations, upload timestamps, or mailing receipts.

If anything seems wrong, you have 33 calendar days to appeal.

Termination Notices

A termination notice means your parent had MSP benefits that are being ended. This usually happens at annual redetermination — the Clearinghouse reviewed eligibility and found income or resources now exceed the limits.

The critical timeline: if you request a fair hearing before the effective date of the action or within 15 calendar days of the notice date, whichever is later, benefits continue while the appeal is pending (aid paid pending). After that point but within 33 days, you can still appeal, but benefits stop on the effective date stated in the notice.

Common termination triggers:

• A Social Security COLA raised gross income above the tier limit
• A spouse's pension or other income pushed the household over
• A bank balance at the time of redetermination exceeded the resource limit
• The Clearinghouse sent a renewal form (KC-1600 or KC-1700) that wasn't returned on time

Information Request Notices

Not all notices are decisions. The Clearinghouse also sends evidence request notices asking for specific documents — bank statements, pension verification, a burial fund designation. These come with a deadline, typically 10 to 15 days. Missing the deadline can result in a denial for failure to provide verification.

If the deadline is too tight (your parent is gathering statements from multiple banks), call the Clearinghouse before it expires to ask how to submit the available records. Document the call — date, time, representative name.

Keep Every Notice

Even after a notice is resolved, keep it. Notice dates establish the timeline for any future appeal, and prior notices show the history of your parent's coverage. If a renewal goes wrong next year, having the original approval notice proves continuous enrollment.

The Kansas Medicare Savings Programs & Extra Help Guide includes a notice response tracker and templates for organizing every piece of correspondence from the Clearinghouse.

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