Kansans from across the state have called for Medicaid expansion. Will Legislature act?

Between 100,000 and 125,000 individuals in Kansas could lose coverage under Medicaid when the COVID-19 emergency declaration ends.
Between 100,000 and 125,000 individuals in Kansas could lose coverage under Medicaid when the COVID-19 emergency declaration ends.

Not to sound like a broken record, but it’s time Kansas expanded Medicaid.

In January, we advocated for how expanding KanCare would help new mothers receive postpartum care.

We’ve written about how Medicaid expansion was discussed on the gubernatorial campaign trail.

"We need to bring that money home to Kansas," Kelly said at an Olathe rally days before her victory in the Nov. 8 election. "We need to take care of folks. We need to protect our rural hospitals, and we need to create the 23,000 jobs that Medicaid expansion can do."

The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Andrew Bahl reports the last serious push to do so came in 2020, when a deal between Kelly and the former majority leader of the Kansas Senate, Jim Denning, ultimately collapsed after the issue became blended with a debate over abortion.

We’ve had columns from Lt. Gov. David Toland, Topeka Public Schools’ Tiffany Anderson, professors from Wichita State University, Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, Kansas Action for Children, among others, all advocating for expansion.

More:Thousands could be kicked off Medicaid next year in Kansas. Here's why.

Bahl reports between 100,000 and 125,000 individuals could lose coverage under Medicaid when the COVID-19 emergency declaration ends. Bahl reports some of these individuals are simply no longer eligible for KanCare but were preserved from being kicked off during the pandemic because of the health emergency.

But others could be victims of a phenomenon known as "churn," where individuals are disenrolled and then re-enrolled in a short period of time, causing a coverage gap.

Kansas lawmakers should prioritize coming up with a solution for those affected. They shouldn't be seen as numbers on a list. They are our neighbors, our children's friends, co-workers and people we sit next to in church. They are parents and grandparents doing their best and trying to make ends meet. They are innocent children who can’t bootstrap themselves to the doctor’s office.

They shouldn’t be discarded for political points.

We must find ways to bridge the gap for those who are struggling. We've been screaming into the wind for years about the need to expand Medicaid, but legislators have remained stubborn and entrenched in their views. But with as many as 125,000 Kansans at risk of losing coverage, legislators must act.

It’s time to do something. The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. So far, 40 states have used it to expand Medicaid. Let’s make Kansas the 41st.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansans from across the state have called for Medicaid expansion