Medicaid expansion should be priority for Legislature

As state legislators prepare for the 2017 session, they should place Medicaid expansion near the top of their agenda.

Legislators have for too long put politics above the health of our state’s residents, the well-being of our communities, the security of our health care institutions and the protection and creation of jobs.

It is our hope that things will change in 2017 with the swearing in of a new Legislature.

For those not familiar with the issue, here is a recap: As part of the Affordable Care Act, health care providers agreed to accept cuts in certain reimbursement rates for their services with the understanding that the federal government would provide states with money to expand Medicaid, known as KanCare in Kansas.

The end result would be an increase in the number of patients with insurance, which would be a financial gain for health care providers.

It is estimated by the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas that the expansion would cover more than 150,000 working poor in Kansas who fall into the so-called health insurance gap – they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid under current guidelines but cannot afford insurance on the open market or through their employers.

Problems began, however, when the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not require states to expand Medicaid. A number of states, including Kansas, refused to accept billions in federal money to expand Medicaid.

To date, Kansas has missed out on more than $1.4 billion in federal funding for expanded Medicaid, according to the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas. That money has not been saved. It has gone to other states or been swallowed up by the federal government.

Medicaid expansion is first and foremost about providing access to affordable health care to the working poor. But it is also about jobs, economic development and the viability of health care providers.

Representatives of Via Christi Health said in a recent meeting with The Eagle’s editorial board that Via Christi is down about 650 full-time positions statewide, due, in part, to the failure of our Legislature to expand Medicaid.

The lack of Medicaid expansion has hurt rural hospitals the most. Many are at risk of closure, and some have not survived. Mercy Hospital in Independence closed last fall, leaving residents there to rely on a hospital 40 miles away in Oklahoma, according to an article in the Kansas City Star.

Communities that have lost a hospital have also lost jobs and a key ingredient for economic development. Companies looking to expand or build new plants want their employees to have access to quality health care in close proximity to where they live.

The expansion of Medicaid itself would create jobs in the health care industry – more than 3,800 new jobs in Kansas, according to the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas.

We recognize that uncertainty exists about the future of the Affordable Care Act. But that does not excuse a failure to act. If changes to the act occur, Kansas will be in a stronger position if it is standing on the side of Medicaid expansion.

The easiest thing for the Legislature to do would be to ignore Medicaid expansion. But members of the Legislature were not elected to make easy choices. They were elected to do what is right for Kansas.

In this case, that means expanding Medicaid.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 4:59 AM with the headline "Medicaid expansion should be priority for Legislature."