If elections have consequences, the top-of-the-ticket win for Democrats in Kansas likely carries no more obvious upshot than the probable expansion of Medicaid in the state.
After years of unyielding opposition from former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his successor Gov. Jeff Colyer Democratic Gov.-elect Laura Kelly looks positioned to broaden public health insurance coverage to tens of thousands more Kansans.
Kelly campaigned on expansion and listed it among her priorities in an election night victory speech.
Its long past time to expand Medicaid so that more Kansans have access to affordable health care, Kelly said to cheers from supporters.
Kelly, a veteran state senator from Topeka, defeated Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. A conservative Republican, he opposed expansion with at least as much vigor as Brownback and Colyer.
Kellys decisive five-point win has made longtime advocates of expansion optimistic that they can get it signed into law during the 2019 legislative session, which begins Jan. 14.
Were hopeful, said Tom Bell, president and CEO of the Kansas Hospital Association. But were also not taking anything for granted.
Bell and other supporters fear that the defeat of some moderate Republicans by conservatives may have softened support for expansion in the Kansas House. However, with Kelly in the governors office, they would no longer need a veto-proof majority.
The Legislature approved expansion in 2017, but Brownback vetoed the bill.
Advocates cant take it for granted that expansion is automatically going to happen, Bell said, but bottom line, were much more encouraged than we have been the last few years.
Some Republican legislative leaders who have spearheaded opposition to expansion appear ready to move on.
Rep. Dan Hawkins, the Wichita Republican who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, recently told the Wichita Eagle that expansion is a foregone conclusion.
Republican lawmakers shouldnt waste energy opposing expansion, said Jim Joice, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party.
Im not sure if that (opposition) would be the best political strategy, if thats the hill you want to die on this year, Joice said.
The priority for Republicans should be holding Kelly to her pledge to balance the budget, fund schools, re-start the highway program and expand Medicaid without a tax increase, Joice said.
