21 September 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – For the sixth time since taking office, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is making another push to expand Medicaid across the state to include people who make about $20,000 or less a year. She says it will help save rural hospitals in danger of closing.
Leaders at one rural hospital say the increased funding could help keep their doors open, but opponents to the expansion say this won’t make a difference.
“We lost our audiologist here in town and have since had to suspend our (audiology) services indefinitely,” said Brian Barta, William Newton Hospital CEO.
Barta says hospital resources are being drained, covering the cost of care for uninsured patients.
Giving those uninsured people Medicaid coverage would free up funding.
“It allows all the resources we’re currently consuming for uncompensated care to be utilized in a way to be more competitive wages for staff,” Barta said.
In August, a report found more than half of rural hospitals in Kansas are at risk of closure.
Kansas Senate Republican majority leader Larry Alley says he’s spoken to staff at a dozen rural hospitals, discussing ways to fix the problems.
“Medicaid expansion is not the solution to save our rural hospitals, but a change in reimbursement rates will,” Alley said.
Barta agrees that part of saving rural hospitals has to do with reimbursement rates.
He says insurance companies need to pay rural hospitals higher rates to cover higher equipment costs after the pandemic.
“Just because our costs go up by 300% doesn’t mean that we’re able to raise prices and get reimbursed by 300%,” Barta said. “We’re just eating those costs.”
He says expanding Medicaid won’t solve financial issues rural hospitals face, but it’s a start.
Governor Kelly says federal and state dollars are already available to cover Medicaid expansion, so Kansans won’t see an increase in taxes to cover the cost.
Alley says he’d rather have those funds returned to Kansans instead of being spent on healthcare.
A decision isn’t expected until the next legislative session, which starts in January 2023.