President Obama's administration is renewing its push for expansion of Medicaid in states which haven’t done so, including Kansas. Katrina McGivern of the Kansas Association of the Medically Underserved says Medicaid expansion would provide insurance coverage to 130,000 low income Kansans and says the federal funding is desperately needed.
Even though the federal government has promised to cover the initial costs of expansion, Governor Brownback and GOP leaders remain deeply opposed. They say they don't trust the federal government to hold up its end of the bargain and believe expansion would end up costing the state millions of dollars. House Republican Scott Schwab says the cost is simply too high for a state that already has severe fiscal problems.
Kansas is among 19 states which have declined to expand the program.
