MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) -- Officials are making their way across Kansas this week, educating health care providers and citizens about KanCare, Kansas’ new Medicaid program.

Educational meetings are being held in cities across the state Monday-Wednesday and on Monday, officials on the tour made a stop at the Holiday Inn in Manhattan.

Health care providers and Medicaid recipients were able to learn about the program and ask questions.

Kansas has contracted with three new health plans to begin coordinating health care for nearly all Medicaid beneficiaries.

“Kan Care in our new Medicaid program and so, basically what we’re changing in Medicaid is that we’re having new groups of people who haven’t been in managed care Medicaid be brought into that but what that’s going to allow us to do is to integrate and coordinate the care across all the different types of providers- behavioral health, physical health, long term care and services. So this integration of care, that’s what’s really going to provide the improvements in outcomes for our patients and our beneficiaries and so it’s important that we talk to the people that are receiving the Medicaid services and also to the providers who are providing those services so that they understand the new program and the new added benefits that are coming,” said Dr. Susan Mosier, Kansas Medicaid director.

The KanCare program is scheduled to begin in January 2013.

For more information on the other meetings this week in Kansas go to: http://www.kdheks.gov/news/web_archives/2012/download/KanCare_Second_Educational_Tour_Sept_24-26_2012.pdf.