event: Private: Healthy Kansas Advocacy Community Meeting – September 13, 2023

The Healthy Kansas Advocacy Community is a group of Kansans who want to work together to advocate for KanCare expansion in their communities and social circles. Join us to discuss the latest efforts to expand KanCare and talk about how you can make a difference in your sphere of influence. We welcome anyone and everyone to join the Healthy Kansas Advocacy Community – no prior advocacy experience necessary!

News: More than 50% of rural hospitals at risk of closing, Kansas governor says there’s simple solution

Expanding Medicaid wouldn’t just help regular people, CEO of William Newton Hospital in Winfield Brian Barta said. Barta said it would also take pressure off hospital systems to come up with costs if a person can’t pay for services and don’t have insurance.

“The cost of us providing care for uninsured and underinsured individuals is about 2 and a half million dollars, and that’s our cost just to break even. So, expanding the coverage to individuals, it’s not going to solve our problems but it’s going to help reduce that burden,” he said.

News: Georgia launches Medicaid Expansion in closely watched test of work requirements

Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive and expensive.

The program is likely to be closely watched as Republicans in Congress push to let states require work from some current Medicaid enrollees. Georgia would be the only state that requires Medicaid recipients to meet a work requirement.

News: new report confirms benefits of kancare expansion to behavioral health system

Expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, KanCare, would have a significant effect on the state’s behavioral health system, according to a new study from the Kansas Health Institute. The study showed that, among other things, KanCare expansion would lead to increased resources for behavioral health providers; decrease the costs of county jails in Kansas; and reduce the number of children entering the Kansas foster care system due to neglect. Kansas is one of only eleven states in the national who haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs.