Health care compact a reckless move
It will never happen, they said. It was just a protest vote against “Obamacare,” they said. No way does state government want to take over Kansans’ Medicare, some say.
But Kansas voters should know what their Legislature and governor did last spring in approving House Bill 2553 enacting the health care compact. They also should hold those politicians accountable for the reckless move.
The law, which was pushed by a Houston-based group and passed with 74 House votes and 29 Senate votes, starts off with vague language about separation of powers and individual liberty. But it’s a clear declaration of independence by each “member state” within the multistate compact from any federal authority over health care, setting out how states would be entitled to receive federal monies but have the power and responsibility to regulate health care themselves.
The Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach testified in favor of the bill, which was unaccompanied by any estimated cost of such a massive state expansion of health care oversight. Kansas became the ninth state to sign onto the compact, which would require the approval of Congress – something that could come courtesy of a newly GOP-controlled Senate depending on Tuesday’s elections.
What might have been viewed at the Statehouse as just another jab at the unpopular Affordable Care Act makes no exception for Medicare, the federally run program that covers 448,000 senior citizens in Kansas.
When Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, tried on the House floor to exempt Medicare from the bill, his amendment failed by four votes. So compact proponents who think it’s fearmongering to talk of a state Medicare takeover had their chance to prove otherwise. Gov. Sam Brownback’s signing statement opposing “any effort at the state level to reduce Medicare benefits or coverage for Kansas seniors” isn’t reassuring, especially considering the problems of his KanCare privatization of Medicaid. Some legislators openly favor a state-run Medicare.
Speaking Wednesday in Wichita, retiring Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger condemned the idea. Praeger also has warned that state leaders might treat the federal health care money as they long have transportation funding, as a source of cash to plug budget holes.
In the race to succeed Praeger, Republican Ken Selzer supports the compact (claiming it won’t affect Medicare for current recipients) while Democrat Dennis Anderson opposes it.
Kansans should check the House roll call for the health care compact, and factor it into their votes on Tuesday. And lawmakers should avoid voting for bills they don’t actually want and don’t expect to see implemented.
Here are the area House members, all Republicans, who voted “yes” and are on Tuesday’s ballot: Steve Brunk, Will Carpenter, Pete DeGraaf, Mario Goico, Dan Hawkins, Dennis Hedke, Kyle Hoffman, Steve Huebert, Mark Hutton, Mark Kahrs, Kasha Kelley, Les Mason, Les Osterman, Virgil Peck, Marc Rhoades, Joe Seiwert and Gene Suellentrop.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Health care compact a reckless move."