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Laura Kelly on Health Care
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Kansas must become 37th state to expand Medicaid
This must be the year Kansas becomes the 37th state to expand Medicaid. After weeks of tough negotiations and lots of give and take, we developed a
proposal that will not only expand healthcare to 150,000 Kansans, but also has the potential to lower health insurance premiums in the marketplace.
Source: 2020 Kansas State of the State address
, Jan 16, 2020
Cover an additional 150,000 Kansans by expanding Medicaid
State Senate President Susan Wagle's meeting with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) offers some insight into her ideological positioning in the fight with Kelly over Medicaid expansion. NFIB was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit
against the Affordable Care Act--former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was the defendant as HHS secretary--that resulted in a 2012 Supreme Court decision that found the federal government lacked the power to require states to expand Medicaid.The ruling left
the discretion to expand up Medicaid up to states. The Kansas Legislature passed a law in 2014 to require the governor to obtain legislative approval before expanding. Kelly, who was recruited into the race for governor by Sebelius, has made it her
mission to expand the program to cover an additional 150,000 Kansans after watching 36 other states and the District of Columbia expand Medicaid during the past seven years.
Wagle is firmly set against it because of concerns about the long-term costs.
Source: Wichita Eagle on Kansas legislature voting record
, Apr 17, 2019
Expand Medicaid, without further study or compromises
As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, the state Senate's top Republican is opening the door to a health care bill that would include provisions favored by conservatives, such as work requirements. But Senate President
Susan Wagle wants the Legislature to study expansion later this year and take up a bill in 2020. Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come to mean "stall."
If Kansas increases eligibility in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities, to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, then the federal government will pay for
90 percent of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated at somewhere between $34 million and $47 million a year.
Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2018 Kansas Gubernatorial race
, Apr 2, 2019
KanCare-based Medicaid expansion to save rural hospitals
According to some reports, 30% of our state's hospitals are considered financially vulnerable. Just by expanding KanCare--the state's Medicaid program--we can help keep these important facilities stay open and provide affordable health care to
150,000 more Kansans--no matter where they live. To date, our failure to act has cost Kansas over $3 billion in federal funding. By Kansas Day, there will be a plan to expand Medicaid put before the Kansas Legislature.
Source: 2019 State of the State address to Kansas legislature
, Jan 16, 2019
Expand Medicaid for more coverage and jobs
More than 150,000 Kansans have been left without healthcare coverage due to Brownback and Colyer's failure to expand Medicaid. Not only that, hospitals and clinics across the state are at risk of closing. Laura Kelly has consistently supported expanding
Medicaid to provide health coverage to more Kansas families. She also knows that expanding Medicaid will provide significant impact on our state's economy and create thousands of jobs in the process.
Source: 2018 Gubernatorial campaign website LauraKellyForKansas.com
, Aug 14, 2018
Page last updated: Mar 16, 2020
