Kansas’ rejection of Medicaid expansion has now cost the state more than $1 billion in lost federal revenue.
The Kansas Hospital Association keeps a running total of how much federal money the state is losing because it hasn’t expanded KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
That total spun past $1 billion over the weekend.
Hospitals say they urgently need the additional federal dollars to offset reductions in other federal reimbursements.
Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have expanded their Medicaid programs. Kansas and Missouri are among the 19 states that haven’t.
Expanding KanCare would provide coverage to about 150,000 low-income Kansans, many of whom are now uninsured.
Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders are opposed to expansion. They don’t want to extend coverage to non-disabled adults and say they don’t believe that the federal government can afford to permanently cover 90 percent of the costs.