Expanding KanCare could cure lots of health care problems. Why won’t Kansas do it? | Opinion

Kansas is jeopardizing the health of its own people, and it’s happening under our noses.

Since 2014, legislative leaders in Topeka have rejected expanding our state’s Medicaid program, KanCare. They claim that they are protecting Kansans, but they are actually preventing our most vulnerable from accessing affordable health insurance. They’ve restricted the workforce and prevented rural communities from getting health care when and where they need it.

Legislative leaders have forced political wins on the backs of hardworking Kansans while simultaneously promising their constituents that they know what is best.

As a physician, a KU Med graduate and retired science and education VP of the American Academy of Family Physicians, I have seen the difficulties people encounter in the U.S. medical system, especially those without health insurance. We have the most expensive health care system in the world but rank last in health outcomes among 11 wealthy countries examined by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. We are the only developed nation in the world that allows people to go bankrupt because of necessary medical care. Medical debt is the biggest driver of personal bankruptcies, across the nation and here in Kansas.

Year after year we hear Kansas legislative leaders give vague reasons why we can’t expand Medicaid. Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Kansans (72% to 78% in four polls last year) support expansion and are ready for a permanent solution to the health insurance coverage gap.

I spent the first part of my career as a family physician in a rural community. Rural hospitals in non-expansion states such as Kansas are six times more likely to close than rural hospitals in states with Medicaid expansion. And with five Kansas hospital closures since 2010, we cannot afford to have any more of these valuable community resources shuttered.

According to the Kansas Hospital Association, the additional revenue that Kansas would receive from KanCare expansion would cover more than 25% of a rural hospital’s uncompensated care costs (and more than 44% of a frontier hospital’s uncompensated care costs). Lower uncompensated care in hospitals means lower health care costs for everyone, even those with insurance.

Right now, when everyday expenses keep getting higher, I suspect we can agree that lower health care costs are critically necessary.

Additionally, a recent study from the Kansas Health Institute shows that expanding KanCare would benefit the behavioral health system in Kansas. Federally Qualified Health Centers and Community Mental Health Centers, which are vital to people and local communities all over the state, would see significant financial gains. KanCare expansion would likely also increase the number of mental health providers and facilities accepting Medicaid patients.

The report also shows that Medicaid expansion would likely result in a reduction in the number of Kansas children entering foster care. In fact, it could reduce foster care admissions because of neglect by as much as 32%. Using 2022 numbers, that’s about 305 fewer children entering the Kansas foster care system each year.

Then the criminal justice system would likely see fewer arrests and a significant reduction in property and violent crime, including reduced rates of vehicular theft, homicide, robbery and assault. Why? Access to care, including treatment for mental health and substance disorders, in part.

So while some lawmakers might not be moved by stories of single parents and low-wage Kansans struggling to get critical health care each day, surely they can see the benefits to the state as a whole: lower health care costs for everyone, fewer children removed from their homes and lower rates of crime in our communities. And if none of those is convincing, perhaps they should ask themselves why they are fighting so hard against KanCare expansion.

After all, it’s what is best for Kansas.