Barnett discusses expanding Medicaid

July 20--Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Barnett and running mate Rosie Hansen discussed their stance on Kansas' Medicaid expansion Thursday, wanting voters to understand the system's intricacies.

Barnett has supported expanding Medicaid throughout his campaign, saying it was a mainly humanitarian issue that placed a priority on supporting struggling demographics, including poor, older and disabled residents, as well as smaller communities. It's also an issue that Barnett felt was undervalued under Govs Jeff Colyer and former Gov. Sam Brownback's administrations.

"I think our state, historically, has wanted to take care of those in need, educate our children, build our roads and pass on something better to the next generation. That's what we see as the values of Kansans. We are not holding to those values under the current administration, nor the past," Barnett said.

A Kansas bill calling for Medicaid expansion passed both the Kansas House of Representatives and Senate in 2017, but was ultimately vetoed by former Gov. Sam Brownback, citing uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act's future at the time and a desire for Medicaid reform to better serve disabled clients and be fully funded by the federal government. An expansion could connect currently ineligible Kansans with needed coverage; a 2017 primer from the Kansas Health Institution shows that expansion would make 150,000 state residents eligible for Medicaid, 50,000 of whom are currently uninsured.

Logistical issues with KanCare, Kansas' privatization of Medicaid, have led to problems for patients, particularly older ones, as nursing homes began refusing to accept Medicaid as coverage, Barnett said.

"A lot of people outlive their resources, to no fault of their own. People work hard, save a lot of money, but many times when they end up in a long-term care facility, it takes six, seven, eight thousand dollars a month to live there. And that quickly eats up a person's resources. So, when that happens, Medicaid or KanCare is the system that steps in and takes care of them," Barnett said.

Avoiding an expansion of Medicaid could lead to closing nursing homes or hospitals forced to cover unpaid costs from uninsured patients, Hansen and Barnett said. Barnett said many community hospitals will tax at local levels to remain open.

The issue would have a larger impact in western Kansas and rural communities, Barnett said, where losing a hospital -- or even certain departments, such as obstetrics -- can be catastrophic for the economic development of a smaller or more isolated town. Closed hospitals also could lead to emergency health concerns if care was located farther and farther away, he said.

If elected, Barnett said he would cut ties with Maximus, the Virginia-based company that processes KanCare applications due its multiple cases of backlogs and delays. The company has mismanaged or lost applications for years, leading to the state demanding better results at the beginning of the year, according to reporting from The Wichita Eagle. Barnett said he wanted to bring the processing system back to Kansas, ideally on a local and regional level, which he said could cost less and be more efficient.

Expansion of Medicaid caused clashes with candidates across the aisle earlier this week, when candidates Jack Bergeson and Josh Svaty criticized fellow Democrat Laura Kelly for allegedly not committing to Medicaid expansion. According to a Wichita Eagle story, Bergeson and Svaty accused the state senator of taking money from companies that profited from the privatization of Medicaid and voting for a bill that limited the governor's power to expand the program. Regardless, Kelly asserted that she favored expansion.

Barnett's fellow Republican candidates have mixed views on the policy. At a Republican candidates' forum in Garden City last week, Kobach and Colyer's campaigns argued stances against Medicaid expansion, and candidate Ken Selzer said the state had to fix persisting problems with KanCare before expanding.

"There is an alternative to the Brownback/Colyer type of administration, and Kobach. We are the Republican alternative to what Brownback and Colyer brought us in the last seven years and what Kobach will also bring us," Barnett said.

Contact Amber Friend at [email protected].

___

(c)2018 The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.)

Visit The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.) at www.gctelegram.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.