Physician Sign-on Letter: Help Expand KanCare

Dear Kansas Legislature,

We write as physicians and health care providers in Kansas concerned about the lack of consideration and discussion of a critical need in our state: KanCare expansion.

Expanding our state's Medicaid program, KanCare, would have overwhelming benefits to Kansas, including many critical needs being discussed in the Legislature now -- the vitality of rural health care and hospitals; access to behavioral health care; workforce shortages; and rising health care costs for everyone. Despite the Legislature's recognition of the importance of solving these needs, we don't see serious consideration of KanCare expansion.

Instead, the Kansas Legislature seems more inclined to continue a piecemeal and patchwork approach to these needs. Not only does this approach still leave gaps in coverage, but it likely costs the state even more money in the long run than the simpler and inevitable solution -- KanCare expansion.

As medical practitioners and clinicians, we see patients everyday making critical health care decisions based not on their needs, but on what they can afford. We also know that there are many Kansans who choose not to seek medical care because they don't want debilitating medical debt. And in extreme -- but very real -- cases, choosing to forgo medical treatment in order to prevent their families from being saddled with medical bills after their death.

The benefits are clear:

  • Expanding KanCare will reduce health care costs for everyone. Every Kansan is paying the price for not expanding Medicaid. Not only does this mean more uncompensated care for hospitals, but it also results in untreated mental and physical health needs.
     
  • Expansion will protect Kansans from medical debt. Nearly half of all Kansans know someone who has medical debt, or has medical debt themselves. By expanding KanCare, tens of thousands of Kansans will be able to afford insurance coverage, protecting them from new medical debt and improving their social mobility.
     
  • KanCare expansion will preserve and strengthen rural health care. This is critical in the face of modern challenges. Kansas has more rural hospitals at risk of closing than any other state our size. But even hospitals that aren't at risk of closing may be at risk for having to reduce the services they offer. KanCare expansion is a vital lifeline for these facilities and health care providers.
     
  • Expansion helps address general workforce issues. This is especially important as Kansas faces a shortage of personal care attendants and other health care and social assistance workers. Nearly 18,000 Kansans in this industry alone would see immediate benefits from expansion.

The time is now for the Kansas Legislature to act. Kansas is one of only eleven states that haven't enacted Medicaid expansion, leaving our state and the health of our citizens behind the rest of the country. The health of our patients and the stability of our health care system depend on our lawmakers doing the right thing. Please expand KanCare this legislative session.

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