Medicaid Expansion in Kansas
Kansas Democratic Governor, Laura Kelley, has proposed to expand Medicaid for the working poor. https://governor.kansas.gov/governor-kellys-bipartisan-medicaid-expansion-proposal-receives-hearing-for-the-first-time-in-four-years/ Her proposal includes work requirements and an employer buy in; it would cover about 152,000 low-income uninsured Kansans, primarily workers, but also the homeless. https://www.khi.org/articles/2024-medicaid-expansion-estimates/ It was designed to be revenue neutral to the state government and to bring in much needed federal funds for the state’s struggling and imperiled rural hospitals. https://kansasreflector.com/2023/12/14/kansas-governor-unveils-revenue-neutral-medicaid-expansion-plan-with-work-requirement-2/
Her proposal is backed by the business community, the health care providers, the small employers, the sheriffs, and the state’s voting public. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/20/first-medicaid-expansion-hearing-held-in-years-yields-many-kansas-supporters/ It was rejected this week by the state’s Republican legislative leadership. https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/21/despite-overwhelming-kansas-public-support-medicaid-expansion-bill-shot-down/
In Kansas, the current Medicaid eligibility levels for parents are 38% of FPL -- $950 per month for a family of four. https://ksassist.org/kansas-medicaid/who-qualifies The federal Medicaid expansion provides health coverage for individuals and parents with incomes of $15,000 or less and $31,000 or less for a family of four — 133% of the Federal Poverty Level. https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/state-indicator/medicaid-income-eligibility-limits-for-adults-as-a-percent-of-the-federal-poverty-level/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D In other words, it is about three times the state’s eligibility income levels for working parents.
In Kansas, Medicaid excludes individuals and couples without minor children living at home. https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1629 The federal Medicaid expansion covers adults, including parents. https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/state-indicator/medicaid-income-eligibility-limits-for-adults-as-a-percent-of-the-federal-poverty-level/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
Forty states have adopted the Medicaid expansion. https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/state-indicator/state-activity-around-expanding-medicaid-under-the-affordable-care-act/?activeTab=map¤tTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=status-of-medicaid-expansion-decision&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D The neighboring states of Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Missouri have already done so, and Kansas is the only Great Plains state not yet adopting the Medicaid expansion.
The Kansas Constitution does not provide for voter initiatives, thus foreclosing that avenue to expanding Medicaid for the working poor. https://ballotpedia.org/Kansas_2022_ballot_measures The state legislature is governed by GOP super majorities. https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/10/gop-clings-to-kansas-house-supermajority-entering-kellys-second-term-as-governor/ The US Supreme Court and the Kansas Supreme Court have refused to ban racial and partisan gerrymandering that were used to solidify GOP control in Kansas. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/politics/kansas-racial-gerrymandering-supreme-court/index.html and https://www.washburnlaw.edu/publications/wlj/online/volume/62/kornegay-gerrymander.html Kansas voters will need to systematically remove via the ballot box, those members of the legislature who are so intent, committed and determined to deny health coverage to 150,000 uninsured fellow Kansas citizens.
Kansas in the past had elected moderate Republican leaders such as Bob Dole and Nancy Kassenbaum; more recently it elected hard right leaders such as Sam Brownback and Kris Kobach; their policies have been in turn rejected by a working coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats. That coalition needs to be renewed, and it needs to focus its efforts on enacting health coverage for uninsured Kansans.
It should not go without mention the key roles that Kansas played in the adoption and implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care). Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius helped design, pass, and implement the ACA as President Obama’s HHS Secretary. The Koch Brothers, based in Wichita Kansas, funded the Tea Party and conservative foundations opposing the ACA. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/129425186?storyId=129425186/?storyId=129425186
Lucien Wulsin, Founder, Insure the Uninsured Project