Governor Kelly's battle for Medicaid expansion

Governor Laura Kelly (D) has been hard at work trying to convince Kansans that the state needs to expand Medicaid. A quick look at her X (formerly Twitter) profile shows dozens of tweets pushing this issue.

.@dinah_sykes is right. It does not have to be like this — and in 40 other states, it isn't. We need to help more Kansans get health insurance this upcoming legislative session. Call your legislator now at 800-432-3924 and tell them to expand Medicaid in 2024. https://t.co/xjmMFbryF4

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) September 23, 2023

A higher percentage of Kansans don't have health insurance than the U.S. as a whole, but it doesn't have to be this way. Expanding Medicaid would give thousands of working adults access to health insurance — helping us lower healthcare costs for EVERYONE. https://t.co/P8Xdatdiy1

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) September 22, 2023

She believes in the expansion of Medicaid so much, she has started a ‘Healthy Workers, Healthy Economy tour.’ With this tour she is imploring Kansans to ask their lawmakers to commit to the government expansion, stating that 78 percent of Kansans want Medicaid expansion, a statistic from a study from Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, a coalition working to expand Kansas’ Medicaid program.

“Your colleagues did not elect you, your constituents did,” Gov. Kelly said Wednesday in Winfield. “I implore you to start taking positions that reflect their wants and their needs, even if those positions are at odds with leadership.”

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson (R) and House Speaker Dan Hawkins (R) issued a statement that same day, stating that her “Welfare Express Tour will derail the state budget.”

“Big government is not and will never be the answer to increasing healthcare access to Kansans,” the statement says. “We have learned from other states that expanding Medicaid does not solve the problems it promises but actually creates more in the form of unsustainable increases in costs to taxpayers and more government dependency when we desperately need more, not less people in the workforce.”

The statement by Republicans also states that people think Medicaid expansion extends services to the elderly and disabled along with “low-income families and several other truly needy populations.” They point out that expansion extends services to “able-bodied adults who either choose not to work or are already eligible for a free or reduced private healthcare plan.” Kansas taxpayers who are already struggling with inflation would be the ones directly carrying the burden if expansion passed, they state.

“When explained correctly, this is something Kansans are overwhelmingly against. Republicans are laser-focused on eliminating Medicaid waiting lists to ensure the truly needy get the services they so desperately need,” the statement concludes.