Kansas is one of only 10 states in the U.S. who hasn't expanded its Medicaid program yet. Join hosts from the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas to discuss the latest topics in Health in Kansas, the 34th state, including KanCare expansion, the rise of medical debt, preserving rural health care, and other ways we can get access to affordable health care to our friends, family and neighbors in the Sunflower State.
This bonus episode features the full audio from the press conference held by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly in Winfield, KS, on September 20, 2023. In this press conference, Governor Kelly announces her intention to make KanCare expansion her top priority for the 2024 legislative session and announces a statewide tour to bring attention to it.This episode also features the following speakers:Brian Barta, CEO, William Newton Hospital in WinfieldAlex Gottlob, Owner, Gottlob Lawn & LandscapeChandra Di Piazza, Wichita resident
Work requirements are a common bargaining chip for some policymakers when legislating programs like Medicaid, SNAP and TANF. But do they really work to increase employment rates for enrollees in these programs?In this episode we talk to Laura Harker, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about the history of work requirements and what other states have experienced when trying to implement them.Bottom line: work requirements don't work like many think they will. Instead of increasing employment, they end up taking critical health care away from those who need it the most.Resources from this episode:Expanding Work Requirements Would Make It Harder for People to Meet Basic Needs (CBPP research article, March 2023)Taking Medicaid Away for Not Meeting a Work-Reporting Requirement Would Keep People From Health Care (CBPP research article, April 2023)Can You Keep Your Medicaid in Arkansas? digital boardgame
Medicaid renewals have been on pause since 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. But now renewals have resumed, and thousands of Kansans will need to provide documentation to show eligibility for KanCare. But many KanCare recipients haven't had to go through the renewal process, and many others have moved or otherwise had a change of situation since the last time they have renewed. We talk with Kate Gramlich, Cover Kansas Project Specialist at the Community Care Network of Kansas, to discuss what Medicaid renewals mean for Kansans, especially those who fall in the health insurance coverage gap.
"...hardworking Kansans and families are going without the care they need. Some are getting very ill, and some are even dying because of this. They don't have access to care." -- Carol Bush, Kansas nurseNurses, more than many others, see the effects of a lack of health insurance has on people who live in the coverage gap. They work everyday for their communities and the people who live in them, and often go above and beyond to provide whatever health care help they can.We talk to four Kansas nurses about their experiences with patients in the coverage gap and why they advocate for KanCare expansion.
