Studies find Oregon’s Medicaid expansion improved prenatal care access, birth outcomes

By Molly Rosbach | Jan. 4, 2021 CORVALLIS, Ore. — A pair of recent studies from Oregon State University found that Oregon’s Medicaid expansion in 2014 has led to increased prenatal care among low-income women, as well as improved health outcomes for newborn babies. In the three years after the expansion, one study found that […]

Kansas governor promises another push for Medicaid expansion

By John Hanna | Jan. 1, 2021 TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly will push again this year to expand Medicaid in Kansas even though top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature are less receptive to the idea than they were last year. “I will never stop fighting for Medicaid expansion,” she said during […]

Governor Laura Kelly’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice Releases Recommendations Inbox

Dec. 10, 2020 TOPEKA –Governor Laura Kelly today announced that her Commission on Racial Equity and Justice has released to the public their initial report on law enforcement and policing in Kansas. In June of 2020, Governor Laura Kelly signed Executive Order No. 20-48, establishing the Governor’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice. The Commission […]

Pandemic, Job Losses and Supreme Court Case Focus Attention on Affordable Care Act Deadline

By Tammy Worth | Dec. 8, 2020 The day after her first chemotherapy treatment in 2017, Laura Packard watched Congress vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Packard, diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was a small business owner with a health policy purchased through Colorado’s marketplace. “It was terrifying,” she said. “I was […]

New Report Explains How Medicaid Expansion is Key to Ending HIV Epidemic in USA

By Adam Searing | Nov. 30, 2020 As we live through the COVID-19 pandemic, our other challenging health problems haven’t gone away. In recognition of World AIDS Day and in honor of all those whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS, I would like to focus attention on public policy options that could help finally […]

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 […]