By Sherman Smith | May 15, 2019 A rift between Republican factions in the Kansas Legislature and pressure applied by Gov. Laura Kelly threaten a tenuous agreement to produce a Medicaid expansion plan this year and vote on the legislation in January. Medicaid expansion supporters in the House are frustrated that Senate leadership intends to […]

By Jason Beets | May 15, 2019 Two area healthcare providers say hospitals and clinics would benefit from Medicaid expansion. The Kansas Legislature will undoubtedly reconsider Medicaid expansion next year, after supporters fell one vote short of overruling Senate Republican leadership’s decision to block debate of the measure earlier this month. Officials from the Salina […]

By Sarah Jane Tribble | May 14, 2019 A slight drizzle had begun in the gray December sky outside Community Christian Church as Reta Baker, president of the local hospital, stepped through the doors to join a weekly morning coffee organized by the Fort Scott, Kan., chamber of commerce. The town manager was there, along […]

By Jim McLean | May 13, 2019 A deal to clear the way for Medicaid expansion next year that some Kansas lawmakers thought they had brokered in the waning hours of their just-finished legislative session appears to be unraveling. Instead, the conservative leaders and moderate rank-and-file Republicans find themselves splitting in an intra-party fight. Rep. […]