Vote to expand KanCare

The Kansas House is finally holding hearings on expanding KanCare, but it remains to be seen how seriously GOP leaders are taking the issue and whether they will even allow a vote.

More than 150 proponents of expanding KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, provided testimony Wednesday to the House Health and Human Services Committee. Representatives of hospitals, safety-net clinics and businesses spoke about the benefits of allowing about 150,000 Kansans to obtain health insurance.

As proponents noted, an expansion of KanCare could transform the lives of many Kansans, most of whom are working. Boosting the health and financial well-being of these working Kansans could also make them more stable employees.

Expansion is also crucial to Kansas hospitals. The federal government reduced payments to hospitals that serve low-income uninsured patients (in expectation that many of these patients would be joining Medicaid). These reductions – which are estimated to total about $1.3 billion statewide over 10 years – are causing job cuts and threaten to put some smaller Kansas hospitals out of business.

Returning more of our tax dollars to the state would also significantly boost the overall Kansas economy. A 2014 study estimated that expansion could increase federal funding by $2.2 billion between 2016 and 2020 and result in more than 3,700 new jobs.

Despite these clear benefits, GOP state lawmakers and Gov. Sam Brownback have resisted expansion, citing concerns about cost and federal health care. But a proposal this session by the Kansas Hospital Association addresses their concerns and reflects their conservative priorities.

For example, KHA proposes a premium-support program for purchasing private insurance, options for high-deductible plans and health savings accounts, and incentives for healthy behaviors and participation in job searches and training. KHA also would allow for opting out of expansion if the federal funding rate drops below 90 percent. What’s more, Kansas hospitals have offered to pay higher provider taxes to help cover additional state costs of expansion.

Though Brownback has indicated an openness to expansion if the cost is fully covered, GOP legislative leaders have stonewalled. They agreed to this week’s hearings only after Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, attempted last month to force a vote on expansion. And the committee chairman, Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said there won’t be time to work the bill and vote on it.

“I’m just not sure how it goes from here because our committee time is up,” he told the Kansas Health Institute News Service.

But Ward and others likely will find ways to orchestrate a vote by the full House. If and when that happens, lawmakers need to do what’s best for low-income Kansans, businesses, hospitals and the state’s economy, and vote to expand KanCare.

For the editorial board, Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Vote to expand KanCare."