Letter from Governor Sam Brownback in response to a letter from Tom Bell of the Kansas Hospital Association:
I appreciate the dialogue about the best way to address a very real problem, our struggling rural hospitals. Last I week I put forward a solution to eliminate the 4 percent Medicaid reduction by using the provider tax to draw down additional federal dollars which could then be redistributed back to the providers.
In response, the Kansas Hospital Association has put forward an alternative. Their option is to expand Obamacare and greatly increase the size and scope of KanCare, a program they say isn’t working well. Why would we expand a program they claim still has room for improvement? And why would we expand eligibility to able-bodied single adults when disabled Kansans are still waiting for services? At the end of the day, every big government program is about one thing, taking money from the many and giving it to the few. Is that really in the best interests of all Kansans?
I believe the citizens of our state would be better served by taking the following actions: 1. Eliminate the 4 percent Medicaid reduction by drawing down additional federal funding (something that has been done several times before without objection); 2. Continue working to eliminate the waiting lists for disabled Kansans; 3. Keep working hard to improve KanCare as the managed care organization contracts go back out to bid this fall; 4. Allow Dr. Colyer’s Rural Health Working Group to complete their work and develop proposals; and 5. Prepare to come to work in January for the 2017 legislative session with proposals that serve the best interests of all Kansans.
I very much look forward to that discussion.
Sam Brownback
Governor