Heed voters on Medicaid expansion
The August primary already is having a positive impact: The Legislature is expected to hold hearings and vote next session on Medicaid expansion – and it could pass.
It remains to be seen whether Gov. Sam Brownback will loosen his opposition to expansion – or whether the loss of more of his allies in the Nov. 8 general election is needed to help change his priorities.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay nearly all the cost of expanding eligibility for Medicaid. But Brownback and the GOP leadership in the Legislature refused to allow expansion, even though it would enable about 150,000 low-income Kansans to receive health insurance and would help struggling Kansas hospitals. So far, Kansas has forgone more than $1.4 billion in federal funding (our tax dollars) to pay for expansion.
But Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and an opponent of expansion, acknowledged recently that the political makeup of the Legislature – and support for Medicaid expansion – shifted due to the defeat of many conservative Republicans in the primary.
People want to talk about expansion, he told the Kansas Health Institute News Service, and “we’re going to do that.”
Hawkins expects his committee to consider at least two Medicaid expansion proposals next session and to hold votes.
“We’ll see where it goes from there,” he said. “We’ll see what the Legislature thinks, and, of course, if the governor will sign whatever we were to come up with.”
Brownback hasn’t given any indication that he has changed his mind about expansion – or even wants it discussed.
Rep. Jim Kelly, R-Independence, tried to bring up expansion during a recent meeting of a working group that Brownback formed to study problems and solutions for rural health care, KHI News Service reported. Kelly noted that Medicaid expansion could help communities avoid hospital closures, as happened in Independence last year.
But Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who leads the working group, blocked the discussion, saying that Brownback wants the group to find solutions that don’t involve expanding eligibility for Medicaid.
Other Kansans aren’t waiting for permission to discuss expansion. They’ve been gathering at meetings across the state, including one last week in Wichita.
The Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a coalition of more than 100 groups and health care associations, organized the forums to help build public support for expansion. Already, 76 percent of Kansans support a budget-neutral expansion plan, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Kansas Hospital Association.
Many in the business community also back expansion, including the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce. They recognize the value of a healthy populace and the potential economic impact of the federal funding.
Brownback and the Legislature stubbornly resisted these calls for expansion. But the primary – and, hopefully, the general election – sent a loud and clear message that at least some lawmakers heard and seem ready to heed.
“The electorate spoke,” Hawkins said, “and we need to be listening.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 5:06 AM with the headline "Heed voters on Medicaid expansion."