The Kansas City Medical Society and the Kansas City Medical Society Foundation strongly urge the states of Missouri and Kansas to expand Medicaid to improve access to care for hundreds of thousands of uninsured individuals, bring millions of dollars of needed funding to our states, and strengthen our health care system. Here is a summary of the reasons to expand Medicaid.
For our patients:
- Access: Provide access to needed health care for over 400,000 uninsured Kansans and Missourians.
- Prevention: Enable individuals to address conditions before they become more serious and require more extensive and expensive treatment. Reduce pressure on emergency departments as last resource for treatment.
For our community:
- New funds and jobs: Bring Kansas and Missouri taxpayers’ money back from Washington to invest in local workers and local communities instead of sending it to other states.
- Working families: Prevent workers from missing time off from work by treating conditions sooner.
- Rural health care: Shore up the finances of rural hospitals and prevent further closures–11 Kansas rural hospitals and 10 Missouri rural hospitals have closed since 2010.
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Legislative Update – Kansas
The Kansas bipartisan compromise Medicaid bill (SB 252) was voted down in committee on Feb. 20 after amendments were added. It currently is stalled in the Senate. If you live or practice in Kansas, you are advised to continue contacting your state senator where you live and/or practice to express your support. If you don’t have the name or phone number of your state senator, you can look it up here.
This article from the Kansas City Star provides more background on the current legislative battle.
Details on the Jan. 9 bipartisan compromise:
– KCUR
– Topeka Capital-Journal
Petition Update – Missouri
Healthcare for Missouri announced in mid-February that it has collected 75% of the 172,000 signatures needed to place Medicaid expansion on the November 2020 ballot.
On February 11, three prominent Kansas City civic organizations announced their support Healthcare for Missouri’s Medicaid expansion ballot initiative: the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the United Way of Greater Kansas City.
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Join Our Supporter List
Do you support Medicaid expansion? Add your name to our supporter list. Help demonstrate physician support for Medicaid expansion.
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For More Information
Alliance for a Healthy Kansas: Leading advocacy efforts in Kansas. On January 9, Gov. Laura Kelly and Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning announced a major bipartisan compromise plan. This was introduced on January 13 as SB 252.
Healthcare for Missouri: Leading advocacy efforts in Missouri. Activities focus on gaining signatures to place a Medicaid expansion measure on the November 2020 ballot.
Resource Links
- The Coverage Gap: Uninsured Poor Adults in States That Do Not Expand Medicaid (issue brief from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Medicaid Expansion Fills Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Mothers and Babies (Georgetown University Health Policy Institute report)
- What Kansas Can Learn from Medicaid Expansion in Other States (Kansas Health Institute Report, June 2019)
Status of Medicaid Expansion by State
(Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) (click on image to enlarge)
36 states plus the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid as of January 2, 2020
