Kansas stands to make money if it were to expand Medicaid this legislative session.
That’s because the federal government’s new $1.9 trillion rescue plan includes $16.4 billion to entice the dozen states, including Kansas, that have yet to expand the healthcare program to do so.
Kansas would receive $450 million to expand the aid to an estimated 165,000 citizens. Once implemented, the net effect would be an estimated $250 million to Kansas’ benefit, according to the Kaiser Family Health Foundation.
To date, Kansas Republicans have stood steadfast in turning away the federal funds.
As is, the federal government pays 90% of the state/federal program that provides health insurance for our indigent and disabled.
The program began with 100% federal funding and in 2014, it began incrementally phasing down the federal contribution to 90%. By federal law, it can go no lower than the current 90/10 funding formula.
The terms of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, set the funding formula at a 95/5 match for the next two years. For Kansas, that means a total of $450 million, with expansion figured to cost $210 million.
Even for states that have expanded Medicaid — including our neighbors Missouri and Oklahoma — the Rescue Act includes raising the match by 6.2%, all but closing the gap.
If Kansas were to sign on now, it could expect to receive that boost as well, pushing it beyond the 100% funding level for the next two years.
Even when the two-year “honeymoon” ends, Kansas still stands to gain by the simple fact that hundreds of millions of dollars have been infused into its healthcare system creating new jobs and services.
In rejecting Medicaid expansion, Kansas Republicans have hidden behind the premise that they do not take the federal government at its word to uphold its end of the Medicaid bargain.
For 10 years, it has meant the difference between life and death for millions of Americans by providing them affordable access to healthcare. How many more Kansans must needlessly suffer before we say yes?
FACED with the same situation in Oklahoma and Missouri, citizens there took affairs in their own hands and passed referendums that put the issue on the ballot, where it overwhelmingly passed.
Unfortunately, Kansas law does not allow such citizen engagement.
For the past 10 years, a majority of Kansans have asked for Medicaid expansion, to no avail.
The conclusion: Kansas does not have a representative democracy.
— Susan Lynn
