Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday denounced Senate efforts to block Medicaid expansion, which is likely now headed for a study committee after the Legislature adjourns.
“I am here today to say that enough is enough,” Kelly told reporters at a news conference.
“No more stall tactics. No more bait and switch. No more excuses. It is time to expand Medicaid in Kansas.”
Immediately after Kelly’s news conference, Senate President Susan Wagle held a news conference across the building from where Kelly met with reporters.
Wagle said she would send the bill passed by the House to a committee for further study after the Legislature wraps up.
“Gov. Kelly would like us to surrender to Obamacare, a broken and bloated system,” Wagle told reporters.
“The governor just called for the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders, a socialist, endorsed,” Wagle said. “That’s not going to happen in the Kansas Senate.”
Wagle said Medicaid expansion will be reviewed as part of an interim study committee before the Legislature returns next year.
Wagle said the state needs to look at options such as a work requirement and drug testing to include any expansion plan.
She also suggested changing the threshold for people to qualify for the expanded Medicaid program to 100 percent of the poverty in comparison to the 138 percent threshold now in the bill passed by the House last month.
“I want plenty of time to do what’s best for Kansas and to do what’s best for all Kansans who are paying the bill,” Wagle said.
“If it passes, it will be a plan that’s affordable for Kansas and it will catered to our needs in Kansas,” she said. “We’re willing and open to discuss it, but we want to do the right thing that’s best for Kansas that does not cause another tax increase.”
Kelly said leadership in the House and the Senate has worked throughout the legislative session to block debate on Medicaid expansion. She said he was disappointed that Senate leadership hasn’t moved to act on Medicaid expansion.
“No hearings. No votes,” Kelly said. “Nothing but a request for an interim study on the issue. When it comes to Medicaid expansion, study is a code word for stall.”
About two weeks ago, the House used a procedural maneuver to expand Medicaid for adults under 65 who don’t earn more than 138 percent of the poverty level.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would cover 90 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid and the state would pick up the remaining 10 percent.
The House bill includes a provision that would require the state to halt expansion if the federal government’s share falls below 90 percent.
“This issue has been studied from every possible angle from the Legislature to the executive branch and countless entities,” the governor said.
“Regardless of the angle, whether it be economic benefits, the support it will bring rural hospital, the relief it will provide our strained corrections system, the results have been consistently clear: Medicaid expansion is the best path forward.”
