Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Kansas is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid in the more than a decade since the Affordable Care Act took effect, and it has remained one of our readers’ top issues every election cycle since. Projections suggest expanding Medicaid would allow roughly 150,000 Kansans who can’t currently afford health coverage to be insured. Do you support expanding Medicaid in Kansas? Why or why not?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on the issue:
District 23
Stacey Knoell (Democratic)
Medicaid expansion is one of those things that can feel distant to people like me. I live in Johnson County with several fantastic hospitals and urgent care centers within 15 minutes of my house. I have good insurance. It is not lost on me that I am healthy and I’m thankful to God that my family is also healthy. It may be easy to not notice how difficult it is for many to access good healthcare. So, when I consider Medicaid expansion, I start by looking outside of what I need and listen to what other people around me need.
When I do that, I see overwhelming public support for Medicaid Expansion, but then I see a Republican Supermajority that is unwilling to deliver on this pressing need. We all can recite the stats about how many billions of dollars of our money has been left on the table, how many hundreds of thousands of our neighbors would be helped by expanding Medicaid, or how many rural communities could be saved with expansion. I have a deep suspicion that if Derek Schmidt had won the Governor’s position in 2022, we would have had Medicaid expansion within the year.
So, on this one I go back to some of my guiding principles. Medicaid expansion is about providing healthcare access, but it is more than that. It’s about honoring the voices of Kansans. It is about listening to my community and ensuring that every individual, regardless of circumstance, receives the care and support they deserve. It is loving my neighbor as myself.
Adam Thomas (Republican)
We are facing staffing shortages in our hospitals, and a morale problem among our hospital workers. We expanded access to scholarships for our nurses, and made sure they were able to take advantage of more beneficial repayment plans on their student loans. We also voted to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates, which have been as low as 25% or less what the normal co-pay of folks on non-Medicaid insurance plans.
I hear stories constantly of the nightmare of wait lists, not getting the care needed, and the list goes on. Once we fix staffing issues, and current issues with Medicaid, and continue to work on the inefficiencies, get faster reimbursements, and make sure the program is sustainable, I would be more than willing to discuss expansion.
