Manhattan area lawmakers took part in a legislative forum, hosted Thursday by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
Medicaid expansion failed again and each of the Manhattan delegation shared their thought on the topic, which has long been pushed by Gov. Laura Kelly. Kansas remains just one of nine states to not have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
State Rep. Mike Dodson expressed frustration with it not being passed.
“We had Medicaid expansion heard in committee,” he said. “I would equate that whole process to a mock trial.”
State Rep. Kenny Titus held a different view on the issue saying that Medicaid expansion does not fully solve the issues that supporters claim it will.
“The question is what problem are you trying to solve when you expand Medicaid,” he said. “If you break it down into ten talking points you find that most of those talking points don’t really solve the issue.”
Democratic lawmakers on the panel expressed disappointment. Senator Usha Reddi of the 22nd district credited Gov. Laura Kelly for trying to get all sides to the table on this issue.
“40 states have expanded Medicaid,” she said. “Kansas is one of nine or 10 that have not expanded Medicaid. I think the Governor has done a fantastic job of bringing everybody to the table to support it and I think there is support.”
Representative Sydney Carlin said one of the reasons expansion of Medicaid hasn’t passed sooner is due to the fact Kansas cannot hold a referendum on the issue.
“If we put it on a public referendum, I believe it would pass,” she said. “However, we don’t do that in Kansas.”
Other items discussed on Thursday was failed tax legislation that will likely be headed to special session once announced by Gov. Kelly. You can read that story on the tax discussion by clicking here.
