Statement from Alliance for a Healthy Kansas on updated Senate Health Plan

Statement of David Jordan, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, on the release of the updated Better Care Reconciliation Act in the U.S. Senate:

The updated Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the Senate health plan released today, confirms that the goal of the proposal is to gut Medicaid and devastate the safety net. Kansas’ rural health system will be one of the first casualties of this bill. The Senate plan will still result in hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts for Kansas. These cuts will reduce access to services for children, people with disabilities, and seniors in nursing homes. Kansas’ budget, health care providers, and residents cannot afford these cuts.

The new version of the bill tinkers with provisions that affect the private insurance market, but continues to undermine protections for older Kansans and people with pre-existing conditions. This plan will segregate people into two insurance markets – one for healthy people and one for sick people. This will destabilize the insurance market and put affordable comprehensive insurance out of reach for Kansans and all Americans when they need it most.

The bottom line is that the changes Senate leadership made to the BCRA do little to alleviate the harm the plan will wreak on Kansas. We urge both Senators Moran and Roberts to do what’s best for Kansans and oppose this harmful plan.

-30-