Kansas is in danger of losing federal money to help pay for treating poor, uninsured patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says that failing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act will jeopardize funding that helps pay hospitals and doctors for treating uninsured people. Kansas receives about $45 million a year in federal funding for the program. Sara Belfry of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says the state first needs to cover its share of funding for a large number of people already waiting for services.
The Kansas legislature would have to allocate almost $98 million dollars to cover the state’s cost for people on that waiting list. Federal officials have also warned lawmakers in Tennessee, Texas and Florida that they risk losing funds to cover the uninsured unless they expand Medicaid.
