Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday announced the formation of a special panel to explore the impact of Medicaid expansion in other states.
The committee will not craft or endorse new legislation. Its work will focus on the costs and benefits of expanding Medicaid in other states as lawmakers ready themselves for another expansion debate next session.
The governor hopes the committee will spell out guidelines for what constitutes “responsible” Medicaid expansion based on the experience of other states. She hopes it supplements the legislative work that is already in progress.
The committee will be coordinated by a national, nonpartisan policy expert from the National Governors Association. It will meet three times before the end of the year.
The House passed a Medicaid expansion bill last session, but it languished in the Senate without action.
Senators meanwhile are expected to meet later this fall to craft their own Medicaid expansion plan that’s now being worked on by Majority Leader Jim Denning.
Here are the members of the governor’s panel:
- Tom Bell: president and chief executive officer, Kansas Hospital Association
- Sen. Ed Berger, R-Hutchinson
- Rep. Susan Concannon, R-Beloit
- Denise Cyzman: chief executive officer, Community Care Network of Kansas
- Ximena Garcia: community health advocate
- Cathy Harding: president and chief executive officer, Wyandotte Health Foundation
- Rep. Don Hineman, R-Dighton
- April Holman: executive Director, Alliance for a Healthy Kansas
- Dave Kerr: former president of the Kansas Senate
- Kyle Kessler: executive director, Association of Community Mental Health Centers
- Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick
- Rep. Monica Murnan, D-Pittsburg
- Lee Norman: secretary, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
- David K. Livingston: chief executive officer, Aetna Better Health of Kansas
- Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City
- Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson
- Jerry Slaughter: interim executive director, Kansas Medical Society
- Kevin Sparks: chief executive officer United Health Community Plan for Kansas
- Michael Stephens: president and chief executive officer, Sunflower Health Plan
- Sen. Gene Suellentrop, R-Wichita
- Suzanne Wikle, senior policy analyst, Center for Law and Social Policy
- Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-Kansas City
