A conversation with Daniel E. Dawes on Medicaid expansion

State of the Heart is Community Care Network of Kansas‘ monthly vodcast series in which they explore themes of health-related foundational beliefs, policy development and implementation, and current/future practices with subject matter experts from across Kansas. These themes are grouped in four distinct topic areas: Community, Care, Network and Kansas. Daniel E. Dawes is a […]

Kansas Reflector: Kansas mother makes plea for Medicaid expansion after donations spare her from death

By Noah Taborda | Nov. 29, 2020 TOPEKA — For months after being diagnosed with an advanced stage of uterine cancer, Shelby Fehrenbacher resigned herself to death. Fehrenbacher, a 29-year old mother of four living in Topeka, was diagnosed with the deadly disease last year. Doctors told her she needed surgery to survive, but she […]

Kansas Reflector: These 3 things will make rural Kansas communities healthier

By David Jordan | Nov. 14, 2020 A strong health system is critical to thriving rural communities and the health of rural Kansans. Even before COVID-19 began surging in rural Kansas, it was becoming more difficult to sustain health care services in a changing Kansas, where the rural health system is starved of resources with […]

Kansas elections set up hidden referendum on Medicaid expansion

By Joel Mathis | Oct. 26, 2020 David Larson was alarmed in June when he started feeling sick. The coronavirus was spreading in Kansas, and the 56-year-old Wichita resident – who lives with diabetes, high blood pressure and clinical depression – knew his preexisting conditions made him vulnerable to the illness. “I came down with […]

Kansas Speaks survey shows wide support for Medicaid expansion

A statewide poll reveals that the majority of Kansans endorse Medicaid expansion. The annual survey by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University indicated that 71.8% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed that expanding Medicaid would help rural Kansas hospital remain in business, and 64% strongly or somewhat agreed that the […]

New resource: Medicaid Expansion and Disabilities

Medicaid expansion is a policy that benefits all Kansans, including Kansans with disabilities. In states that have expanded Medicaid, thousands of people with disabilities—and personal care attendants for people with disabilities—have obtained health care coverage. These states also have saved millions in spending and decreased waiting lists for home- and community-based services (HCBS).

Pittsburg Morning Sun: Protesters march for Medicaid expansion

By the Morning Sun | Oct. 6, 2020 PITTSBURG, Kan.—The Southeast Kansas Independent Living (SKIL) Resource Center and Kansas Poor People’s Campaign joined forces in Pittsburg over the weekend to march for the expansion of Medicaid in the state. SKIL President/CEO Shari Coatney, other SKIL employees, representatives of Kansas Poor People’s Campaign and others called […]

New report shows huge economic impact of expansion for Montana

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Gov. Steve Bullock highlighted how critical Medicaid expansion is for Montana businesses and their employees when he visited Bozeman Tuesday. Bullock met with Bozeman economic development and business leaders at Bozeman City Hall to present a report on Montana Medicaid expansion. He said the report, using data from 2019, shows how Medicaid […]