On September 20th, Governor Kelly announced at a live press conference in Winfield that expanding KanCare will be her number one priority for the upcoming legislative session, and that she will be embarking on a statewide tour called “Healthy Workers, Healthy Economy.”
At the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, expanding Medicaid remains a top priority of ours because we recognize that expanding Medicaid is critical to lowering health care costs in Kansas and reducing medical debt, protecting rural hospitals in danger of closing and growing our workforce to ensure our communities can continue to thrive.
Expanding Medicaid is not a partisan issue – nearly 80% of Kansans support Medicaid expansion – it is a commonsense policy solution that will benefit all Kansans and improve the state’s finances.
With a growing number of uninsured Kansans (higher than the national average for the second straight year), more financially vulnerable hospitals in Kansas than in any other state, and a growing number of health care workers being recruited to neighboring states that expanded Medicaid, we cannot afford to wait any longer to expand Medicaid.
We are excited to join the Governor and the overwhelming majority of Kansans in supporting Medicaid. To take action to expand Medicaid, we encourage to you to engage with our partners at the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas.
Later this year, we will be hosting a faith and Medicaid expansion event. Let us know if you are interested in a future event by filling out this form. We hope you’ll join us in supporting this effort that will benefit all Kansans.
Sincerely,
David Jordan