HealthLeaders: Medicaid Expansion Could Have Covered an Additional 4M People in 2020

By Melanie Blackman | June 9, 2020 If 15 states had expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an additional 3.9 million people would have been insured in 2020, according to a report released by the Urban Institute Monday. The study, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, made estimations using the Health Insurance […]

How the Affordable Care Act Has Narrowed Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to Health Care

The insurance coverage expansion ushered in by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has significantly increased Americans’ ability to get the health care they need since the law’s main provisions went into effect in 2014. Research also indicates that the ACA narrowed racial and ethnic disparities in insurance coverage1 — a key objective of the law, […]

NPR: What Do Coronavirus Racial Disparities Look Like State By State?

By Maria Godoy | May 30, 2020 In April, New Orleans health officials realized their drive-through testing strategy for the coronavirus wasn’t working. The reason? Census tract data revealed hot spots for the virus were located in predominantly low-income African-American neighborhoods where many residents lacked cars. In response, officials have changed their strategy, sending mobile […]

Wichita Eagle: Abortion politics kills Kansas Medicaid expansion for the year

By Dion Lefler | May 21, 2020 The Kansas Senate has slammed the door on expansion of Medicaid until next year. Stymied for months, Senate Democrats attempted a last-ditch effort to bring Medicaid to a vote on the final day of this year’s session Thursday. But they lost a pivotal procedural vote on a floor […]

100 organizations join together to urge action on Medicaid expansion

In the face of a pandemic and state of emergency caused by the rapid spread of coronavirus COVID-19, the undersigned organizations, business leaders and associations urge you to close the coverage gap and increase access to health insurance by expanding Medicaid.

Hutchinson News: Medicaid expansion must be in recovery

By Debra Teufel | May 20, 2020 There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all our lives. We’ve had to radically shift our professional and personal lives to help flatten the curve. It’s a great sacrifice but important to our community health. The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce and our peers across Kansas […]

Let’s accept the gift of Medicaid expansion

By April Holman | May 13, 2020 My first six years after law school were spent working for the Kansas Legislative Research Department. I couldn’t have asked for a greater group of people to work with or for a more exciting environment. The first year was at the very end of the era of plenty. […]

David Jordan and John Wilson: As crisis hits Kansas, existing federal funds can help families

By David Jordan and John Wilson | May 10, 2020 Kansas faces unprecedented challenges as the new coronavirus sweeps through our state, sickening many and upending the economy for many others. As leaders of two groups that focus on the needs of our state’s children and families, we’re gravely concerned about the toll on our […]