By Sheldon Weisgrau | June 11, 2019 As we focus on the fight to expand KanCare here in Kansas, it’s important that we not lose sight of activities at the federal level that will affect our efforts here at home. Recently, the Trump administration proposed a seemingly small technical change to the way the federal […]

By Laurie McGinley | June 2, 2019 Proponents of the embattled Affordable Care Act got additional ammunition Sunday: New research links the law to a reduction in racial disparities in the care of cancer patients and to earlier diagnoses and treatment of ovarian cancer, one of the most dangerous malignancies. The findings, coming as health […]

By Richard G. Frank and Carrie Fry | May 17, 2019 Federal, state, and local governments have taken steps to reduce deaths from opioid overdoses by expanding access to naloxone, a short-acting drug that reverses the effects of opioid-related overdoses. State Medicaid programs have played a key role by making naloxone affordable for low-income people […]

By Bruce Japson | June 5, 2019 The expansion of Medicaid benefits has been linked to “lower cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged adults” in states that expanded such health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, new research indicates. Heart attacks are a leading cause of death in the U.S. and new research in JAMA Cardiology […]

The failure of lawmakers to pass Medicaid expansion in 2019 will have heartbreaking consequences for tens of thousands of low-wage working Kansas who are stuck in the health care coverage gap. By now, what happened this session has been fairly well publicized. The House passed an expansion bill by a wide majority. The Senate came […]

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 […]

Amy Houston of Mulvane is a small-business owner and mother of four who is in the coverage gap. She loves living in Kansas, but fears she might have to move out of state because of her need for health insurance. Amy was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2009 and began her treatments the following year. […]

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. […]