TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Gov. Sam Brownback and other Kansas conservatives aren’t rushing to expand Medicaid after a hospital announced it is closing because of insufficient funding.
The Wichita Eagle reports the Mercy Hospital System plans to close its hospital in Independence next month. Mercy spokeswoman Joanne Smith says expanding would have brought the hospital about $1.6 million in additional revenue.
Kansas is one of 20 states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Brownback says the state doesn’t have the resources to expand the program, which is getting more expensive even without expansion.
House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, says the problem isn’t Medicaid, it’s the disastrous effects Obamacare is having on the country.
