TOPEKA — Kansas lawmakers, health care advocates and lobbyists packed two committee rooms Wednesday, wearing buttons and slogan-emblazoned shirts to showcase public approval of Medicaid expansion.
But this show of support may fall on deaf ears as several key lawmakers remain against expansion, leaving the proposal’s fate uncertain.
Representatives of Thrive Allen County and Thrive Kansas attended the hearings in support of expansion.
Jenny Tatman, assistant director for Thrive Kansas, attended the morning hearing with the Ways and Means committee. She said she feels optimistic because “we’re closer now than we’ve ever been.
“There’s vast support from Kansas communities, from doctors and from health care workers but some of the opposition was from members of the legislature, and they have to make that decision. If it doesn’t pass, we’ll try again. We have to move the needle somehow.”
Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican, is chairwoman of a House committee that heard the latest Medicaid expansion bill, encapsulated as House Bill 2556, Wednesday afternoon. Landwehr said she remains opposed to expansion but could not predict what the committee would decide. With five Democrats and 12 Republicans on the committee, a vote along party lines would kill the bill.
Committee action is expected soon.
“It could be tomorrow,” Landwehr said.
More than 900 written testimonies were made in support of Medicaid expansion, according to the governor’s office.
“Kansans across the state have overwhelmingly echoed the same message — they want Medicaid expansion,” said Gov. Laura Kelly. “While the legislature has held hearings, it cannot stop there. The Cutting Healthcare Costs for All Kansans Act must swiftly be debated on the floor and put up to a vote.”
The meeting, one of two on Medicaid expansion held Wednesday, marks the first time in four years since legislative leaders have allowed hearings on expanding state health care coverage.
Kansas is one of 10 states left that have not expanded, and Republican leadership in the Legislature — where the party holds a supermajority in both chambers — has blocked expansion despite widespread public and legislative support.
Kelly has spent months rallying across the state for expansion, leveraging 2024’s election year status to jolt Kansas lawmakers into action before they face their constituents in the fall. With Kelly’s backing, Democrats introduced Medicaid expansion bills into House and Senate committees in January.
They waited until now for action.
Landwehr said the time was right to have committee discussion on the bill. A joint Senate committee informational hearing on expansion was heard earlier, on Wednesday morning.
