Commentary by Kim Moore, President, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund — New legislation titled “The Bridge to a Healthy Kansas” program would make health insurance affordable for hardworking Kansas people with low incomes. It provides a bridge from public assistance into the private market over time by promoting personal responsibility and accountability.

This new Kansas solution is not Obamacare. It is centered on our values of hard work and personal responsibility – a solution that does not leave those in need without health care coverage. The Bridge to a Healthy Kansas is not only good for 150,000 Kansans; it also is good for Kansas taxpayers, businesses and the economy.

Opponents of expansion tend to use the term “able-bodied” to describe a population they imply does not deserve access to health insurance. These are our bus drivers, child care workers, medical assistants, dishwashers, housekeepers, landscapers, fast food workers, college students and single parents staying home with young children. They are a vulnerable population, too, and to suggest otherwise because they are “able-bodied” is incorrect.Medicaid is not a perfect system, and even with KanCare reforms, it still needs improvement. The Bridge to a Healthy Kansas provides another opportunity to improve our public health insurance options. Thankfully, state Medicaid support is an area where historically the federal government has not cut unilaterally. In Medicaid’s 50-year existence, no state’s matching rate has fallen below 50 percent.  Moreover, the legislation provides for eliminating the program if the federal support is reduced.

This new program is budget neutral and does not require use of State General Funds. In fact, according to independent, third-party analysis which Kansas health grantmakers  funded, it is more likely to produce a net financial gain for Kansas. The state cost for the program would be only $32 million, which is more than paid for by additional revenues and savings of up to $178 million in 2017. In 2018, the state costs would be $40 million, while revenues and savings would jump to $218 million.

Many statistics about other states and their expansion experiences get thrown around. One benefit of expanding late is that we can see the real effects of expansion, which have been positive.  Ohio and Kentucky had more people enroll than originally anticipated, which actually benefited them According to the state of Ohio, its 2015 Medicaid budget spent $1.9 billion less than anticipated. In Kentucky, having more enrollees meant more savings for the state. In their fiscal year 2014, they saved $2.4 million on medically needy enrollees alone. Indiana, which recently shared results of its Healthy Indiana Plan with Kansans at a meeting I attended, reported the plan is financially viable and has successfully raised reimbursement rates in its Medicaid expansion to the same level as Medicare reimbursements.

Rep. Hoffman expressed concern for his local hospitals, and we share those concerns.   United Methodist Health Ministry Fund is working with seven rural hospitals right now on developing more sustainable health care systems and encouraging development of new models of health care delivery.   The deficit in revenue support for rural health care systems is, however, a fundamental problem.   The good news, according to KDHE estimates, is that The Bridge to a Healthy Kansas would benefit Sumner Regional Medical Center by providing more than $583,000 additional revenue per year. That hospital and others can recapture some of the revenue lost by Medicare cuts through this new Kansas specific legislation.

Kansas health care is important, and we all want to see rural health care providers succeed by providing the right care, in the right setting, at the right time. Further delays in action to develop a financial solution for health care coverage for 150,000 Kansans and secure needed revenue for those providers are unnecessary and endanger the livelihoods of citizens and providers.  Surely, we can arrive at a uniquely Kansas solution that supports rural providers, enhances the Kansas economy, and provides a path to personal responsibility and better health for Kansans in need.

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Kim Moore is President of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in Hutchinson. She can be contacted at 620-662-8586 or e-mail her at kmoore@healthfund.org. He can also be contacted at Kim Moore, 100 E. First, P.O. Box 1384, Hutchinson, Kans.  67504-1384

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