Submitted
Dozens of Kansans gathered on Wednesday, April 23, at the Salina Public Library for a Community Conversation on Medicaid hosted by the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas. The event gave residents the opportunity to voice their concerns over proposed federal Medicaid cuts that could impact hundreds of thousands of Kansans who get care through the state’s Medicaid program, KanCare. The message was clear: Kansas lawmakers should protect and expand access to Medicaid in Kansas.
The one-hour forum drew a wide audience, including Medicaid recipients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and advocates, who shared powerful stories about the critical role Medicaid plays in their lives. Members of Kansas’s 1st Congressional district were invited to attend in-person or through the live stream on Facebook. Attendees urged Senator Jerry Moran, Senator Roger Marshall, and Representative Tracey Mann to oppose proposed Medicaid cuts and expand access to the program for more Kansans.
Cori Sherman North told the story of how access to Medicaid successfully intervened in her family’s life. Her son fell into a severe depression upon entering high school, and began receiving Medicaid through the Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) Medicaid waiver. This waiver provides intensive support to children experiencing some mental health conditions to allow them to receive support while continuing to live at home and in their communities.
“I wasn’t going to tell our little Medicaid story, because I did think it was kind of little, but then I realized it’s a real success. It’s a successful Medicaid intervention that helped out,” Sherman North said. “[The SED waiver] took care of all his medical bills, all the wild medications he was on, then finally that spring we were able to be referred down to [Wichita], so he was helped.”
Access to Medicaid also helped Sherman North’s son when he broke his knee playing basketball and had to be taken by ambulance to Wichita.
“We wouldn’t have been able to manage financially through all that because we also had other things going on in our family,” she said. “So without Medicaid, I don’t think we would have made it.”
For John Blanchard, protecting and expanding access to Medicaid is critical for communities like Salina.
“We don’t have an extremely wealthy community. We have a lot of people that are operating in the margins all the time. They’re living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “They need good quality health care and they can’t afford it. And they keep trying to get ahead and they can’t get there.”
He spoke directly to Kansas lawmakers and urged them to think about the legacy they want to leave behind when they are no longer in office.
“We can do difficult things, and we need you guys to have the courage to do these things,” he said. “Your terms are going to expire quicker than you can imagine, and I hope you don’t, at the end of those terms, sit back and go ‘Boy, I wish I would have fought for people, because that could really have meant something..’ Do something good for the people that really need it.”
Though only a member of Rep. Tracey Mann’s staff attended the meeting in person, the event was livestreamed on the Alliance’s Facebook page, and a recording is being sent to their offices to ensure Kansas voices are heard before details of the cuts are decided in Washington, DC.
“In Kansas, we don’t have a lot of optional services that are covered under Medicaid,” said April Holman, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas. “So if we have fewer Medicaid dollars coming into the state, our legislature would need to make decisions about how they would fund the difference. And we could end up in a situation where they have to cut the optional waiver services, which help people who have disabilities stay in their homes and help seniors who need care who are not yet ready to go into nursing homes.”
Other comments at the event included concerns about how low-income children and children with disabilities would receive care; concerns about the ability to receive timely care if rural hospitals lose Medicaid as a funding stream; and providers worried that kids with mental health and substance abuse issues will die waiting for access to behavioral health care.
For Rev. Dr. Mandy Todd, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Lindsborg, supporting Medicaid is more than just a conviction of her faith. It’s based on personal experience.
“While I was working and serving the state of Colorado, the global pandemic hit and I lost my full-time job with full-time benefits. I was forced to ‘gig’ my way to survival and worked three jobs…It was a lot, especially for a parent of two young children,” she said. “The reason my children are healthy and happy today is because we had access to expanded Medicaid in the state of Colorado. Had I stayed in Kansas through the pandemic, my family would not have had health care.”
The Salina meeting was one of a series of events this week throughout the state raising the importance of Medicaid in each Congressional district. Similar events took place in Topeka (April 21), Wichita (April 22), and Kansas City (April 24). Details about those meetings can be found at ExpandKanCare.com/events/.
Members of Congress return to Washington, DC, on April 28 to resume budget negotiations. The U.S. House and Senate have proposed up to $880 billion to be cut from Medicaid to pay for tax cuts. When Congress resumes, lawmakers are expected to begin deciding the details of proposed budget cuts.
Kansans are encouraged to contact their representatives and urge them to reject budget cuts and protect Medicaid coverage.