A first in 4 years: Kansas legislature hears testimony on Medicaid expansion

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - For the first time in four years, Medicaid expansion was up for discussion at the Kansas Statehouse on Wednesday.

Supporters and opponents presented their cases during a joint informational hearing with the Senate Ways and Means Committee and Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare Wednesday and later in the afternoon before the House Committee on Health and Human Services.

Kansans who don’t currently qualify for coverage, like Marcillene Dover of Wichita, said they support Medicaid expansion. Dover said she didn’t qualify when she was in college which. She said the gap led to her delayed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

“(It) would mean that I would be able to start treatment a lot earlier and MS is a progressive disease, which means you’re getting more and more disabilities the longer you’re going treated or untreated, specifically more when you’re untreated,” said Dover.

Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter spoke on behalf of the Kansas Sheriff’s Association. He said Medicaid expansion would help counties cover healthcare costs for inmates. Currently, he said the burden falls on the counties. Other supporters included physicians and hospital CEOs.

Governor Laura Kelly has pushed the issue since she was elected in 2018. She said expanding Medicaid would increase eligibility for an estimated 150,000 Kansans including the uninsured and those with insurance who would be liable to switch along with children.

The governor also said Medicaid expansion would help rural hospitals as communities lose clinics and face staffing shortages. But, Republican leadership in the statehouse has resisted her calls saying more options for private insurance would be a better solution. They said expanding Medicaid would cost the state and hurt healthcare marketplace incentives.

Earlier this month, the governor said she hoped to use North Carolina as an example for Kansas after Republican and Democratic leaders in the state passed a bipartisan Medicaid expansion proposal. Legislators from that state also testified during Wednesday’s hearings.

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