When Medicaid expansion might have saved a mother’s life | Commentary

My mother was the hardest worker I knew. She was known for her hard work ethic. She rarely called in sick. And she worked long hours in the service industry.

In 2016, my world changed. My mother was diagnosed with aggressive non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The healthcare bills added up quickly. My mom didn’t have health insurance. She earned “too much” to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private health insurance.

She fell in the ‘gap.’

We were able to self-fund $500 of her initial cancer treatment. She died eight days later.

In 2017, the Kansas Legislature sent a bill to expand Medicaid to then-Governor Brownback’s desk. I was elated. I thought no family would have to go through what my family did. But Brownback vetoed the bill that would have expanded healthcare for 150,000 hard-working Kansans.

Kansans like my mom.

So, what does expanding Medicaid have to do with my story? If we had expanded Medicaid, my mom would have had access to routine health care that she desperately needed. That routine healthcare could have caught the cancer earlier — in time for treatment to have had a chance of curing it. That routine healthcare could have saved her life, and she’d be with me and my daughter today, going out for dinner.

And I would not have to write — once again — to our legislators, asking them to finally pass Medicaid expansion once and for all.

I write this as an appeal to my personal story. But the truth is that all Kansans would benefit from expansion. Not only would 150,000 hard-working Kansans get health insurance, but expanding Medicaid would reduce healthcare costs for everyone.

Costs are rising, and as Kansans, we are paying more to take care of ourselves and our families. Healthcare costs are no exception. Currently, if someone can’t afford their hospital bill, it becomes uncompensated care. That means hospitals have to cover it, which means our bills get bigger. It’s time to help Kansans get more for their money when it comes to healthcare.

Additionally, we could help stop rural hospitals from closing. Expanding Medicaid would provide coverage to hard-working Kansans and result in much-needed investments in our communities to strengthen our hospitals, clinics, and provider networks.

We could stop bleeding healthcare talent to neighboring states — all of which have expanded Medicaid.

Expansion will also protect and bring in thousands of new jobs, keeping us competitive for local businesses and keeping Kansas a good place to live, work and raise a family.

My home is in Sedgwick County. If we expanded Medicaid, more than 15,000 Sedgwick County residents would become eligible for healthcare coverage. Expansion would also bring more than 5,000 new jobs to Sedgwick County, and inject more than $130 million into our local economy.

Now is the time to invest in our state and ensure that Kansans have access to the care they need when they need it. No one should have to go through what my mom and my family went through. Now is the time to expand Medicaid, or all of us will keep paying the price.

I urge the Legislature to finally allow a vote on the floor. Do what we sent you to the statehouse to do – listen to the people of Kansas who overwhelmingly support expanding Medicaid.