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Stranded: Rural Hospitals in Crisis

For more than 50 years, Medicaid has been our nation’s health care safety net — paying health care costs for people with very low incomes, people with disabilities, and some older adults. When the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, it included a provision to expand Medicaid eligibility. A 2012 Supreme Court decision made this […]

Kansas needs Medicaid expansion now more than ever

By Molly Gotobed | Feb. 24, 2021 As the COVID pandemic rages on, health coverage and access to care is more important than ever. Thankfully, we have a new president who is supportive of the Affordable Care Act and recognizes the dire need for coverage. The Biden administration recently re-opened enrollment for the health insurance […]

Medicaid Expansion’s Effects on Families: More coverage, improved maternal health, better preventive care

By Adam Searing, Allie Corcoran and Joan Alker | Feb. 19, 2021 We’ve been tracking the rates of uninsured children for more than a decade now, and after reaching an all-time low in 2016 nationwide, the number started going in the wrong direction over the past three years. From 2016 to 2019 approximately 726,000 more […]

April Holman: Why Kansas needs to join the 38 states that have expanded Medicaid

By April Holman | Feb. 13, 2021 For more than a decade, Kansas’ conservative legislative leaders have done everything in their power to block expansion of the Medicaid program. Unfortunately, their political games have left us as the last holdout state on expansion in the Midwest. An island. And it’s wreaking havoc on our hospitals, […]

Topeka Capital Journal: Expanding Medicaid would enable treatment for mental health illness and ease burden on law enforcement

By Brandon R. Davis and David Jordan | Feb. 13, 2021 County jails and state prisons have become the largest providers of mental health services in the state, and community police departments have become de facto behavioral health providers, even though the majority of them are not trained in this area. Using law enforcement professionals […]

Kansas Reflector: Billions of dollars for Medicaid expansion dangled in front of holdout states

By Daniel C. Vock | Feb. 10, 2021 WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats are trying again to entice a dozen holdout states — including Kansas — to expand Medicaid coverage with the prospect of billions of dollars in federal cash. The new offer, included in a massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that House Democrats […]

Health Provisions in House Relief Bill Would Improve Access to Health Coverage During COVID Crisis

By Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | Feb. 10, 2021 COVID-19 relief legislation that House committees are considering includes several vital provisions that would make comprehensive coverage more affordable and accessible for millions of people. The legislation would enhance premium tax credits available through the health insurance marketplaces for two years, boost financial incentives […]

Kansas Reflector: Rural Kansas superintendent makes personal plea for Medicaid expansion

By Sherman Smith | Feb. 1, 2021 TOPEKA — For Rex Bruce, the prospect of Medicaid expansion is personal. The superintendent for the Sublette school district has stage four prostate cancer, and his wife suffers from anaphylaxis shock, which causes her throat to shut off. There are times they would have died if they didn’t […]