During her address to hundreds of medical professionals regarding the Kansas healthcare system, Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas brought up Medicaid expansion, a subject close to her heart. Kelly brought up the matter once more on Tuesday at a Wichita public health conference.
“The most important thing we can do to improve health in Kansas is to finally expand Medicaid,” she stated.
Kelly stated to the medical community assembled at the Kansas Governor’s Public Health Conference on Tuesday that she thought Medicaid expansion was the most obvious way to help rural clinics and hospitals that were closing due to staffing shortages and other issues.
“I don’t know how many rural hospitals, health clinics and emergency clinics have to close before the legislature takes Medicaid expansion seriously, but the answer should be zero,” she stated.
Healthcare professionals in attendance at Tuesday’s conference expressed their support for the governor’s efforts to assist healthcare workers as well as their clients and patients.
According to James Gerstner of the Hays’ High Plans Mental Health Center, “Most of our clients are lower-income, so any type of expansion from the governor’s office at the state level can help cover more people, get more people into very needed services.”
The Kansas Community Health Worker Coalition’s Elaine Johnson and Megan Betts described Medicaid expansion as “a logical next step” toward equity and universal access to healthcare, particularly for those living in rural Kansas.
Republican leadership in the Kansas legislature has referred to Medicaid expansion as a nonstarter, arguing that they do not think it would address issues facing rural clinics, in opposition to the governor and others who have advocated for it.
In earlier remarks, the Republican leadership stated that more options for private insurance, not government funding, is the answer to further expanded care and assistance for rural hospitals.
