Bipartisan Kansas Medicaid deal 'locked down' as abortion amendment standoff continues

Feb. 25--TOPEKA -- When Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Senate Republican Leader Jim Denning unveiled a Medicaid expansion compromise in early January, supporters of providing health coverage to upwards of 130,000 additional Kansans were ecstatic. Expansion was once again within reach.

Less than two months later, conservative opponents appear to have the upper hand. They have taken steps that could derail the bipartisan Medicaid deal, now entangled in a bitter fight over a stalled anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution.

As the Legislature heads into a critical week full of votes on possibly dozens of bills, there's no sign Medicaid expansion will be among them. Early hopes among supporters that they could pass the proposal in the first few weeks of session are quickly fading.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, has vowed to continue a blockade of expansion until the House advances an amendment asserting that the Kansas Constitution doesn't guarantee the right to an abortion. The continuing standoff means two expansion proposals -- including the Kelly-Denning compromise -- will remain stuck in a Senate committee.

Denning appeared to concede on Monday that the House will have to advance the anti-abortion amendment in order to move expansion out of committee and to the full Senate.

"It is really locked down until we get that amendment passed," Denning said.

His comments came after Sen. Gene Suellentrop, chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, told fellow senators in a letter Monday that the committee won't advance expansion until the House approves the amendment.

While not referring to him by name, Suellentrop made clear he didn't think highly of how Denning had handled the deal struck with Kelly. "I reject the premise that one legislator has the right to negotiate with the Governor on behalf of the entire Senate and any improvements to the plan by the Senate Health Committee are somehow out of line," the Wichita Republican wrote.

The committee last week added work requirements for Medicaid recipients and other provisions favored by conservatives that Denning had urged them to leave out. The panel then voted against advancing the legislation to the Senate floor for debate.

"My position is that we will not pass a Medicaid Expansion bill out of this committee until the House passes the Value Them Both Amendment," Suellentrop wrote, referring to the abortion amendment. "I share this position with the Senate President and majority of the Republican Caucus."

Suellentrop wrote that "WE WILL kick a Medicaid Expansion Bill out of this Committee" when the amendment passes the House.

The amendment is the chief goal of anti-abortion activists -- and many lawmakers -- this year. They are pursuing the measure in response to last spring's state Supreme Court decision that found women have the right to end a pregnancy under the state constitution.

Some amendment supporters have speculated that without the measure, Kansas courts will strike down prohibitions against using state tax dollars to fund abortions. Federal law currently bans the use of federal dollars to pay for abortions.

In a statement Monday, Wagle thanked Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, "for your strong leadership and support for my unwavering message."

"Kansans believe in the sanctity of life. We will not be coerced," Wagle said.

On Feb. 7, the amendment fell four votes short of the 84 needed in the House to place it on a statewide ballot. No Democrats supported the measure. The handful of Republicans who voted no raised concerns that the proposal would go before voters during the August primary rather than the November general election, when turnout would be higher.

In the two weeks since the failed vote, the dynamics in the House don't appear to have changed. Rep. Tom Cox, a Shawnee Republican who supports both the amendment and expansion, said he thinks "both sides are trying to wait out to see if anyone will give."

House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said he hadn't heard of any movement on the amendment. He emphasized that the two issues of abortion and Medicaid are unrelated.

"I'm hopeful we can figure out how to get it done," Sawyer said.

Kansas is one of 14 states that haven't expanded eligibility for Medicaid, the state-administered program that is largely funded by the federal government. Under the Affordable Care Act, states that expand eligibility to 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($36,156 for a family of four) only have to pay 10 percent of the cost. The federal government picks up the rest.

Kansas lawmakers have fought for years over expansion. The Legislature even passed the measure in 2017, but Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed it.

Expansion supporters had hoped the election of Kelly -- a vocal proponent -- would ease the way to passage. But Republican leaders hold considerable power over bills and have so far been able to thwart the legislation.

Kelly on Monday said Kansans need affordable health care "now" and said expansion cannot be delayed any longer.

"The compromise Senator Denning and I introduced was sponsored by a majority of Kansas senators. Partisanship and political games must not get in the way of progress," Kelly said in a statement. "I encourage my legislative colleagues -- most of whom believe expansion is the right thing to do -- to demand a vote on the Senate floor. We must get this done -- and get it done right."

Expansion supporters could force a proposal to the Senate floor with a vote of 24 senators -- three more than the 21 required to pass a bill. The Kelly-Denning compromise has 22 co-sponsors in the Senate.

Denning said he believes supporters have 23 votes to force the bill to the floor, but not the 24 required. He said attempting to pull the proposal out of committee would be "the last-ditch effort."

Denning predicted the House will eventually come up with a compromise in order to pass the amendment -- and thereby clear the way for the Senate to take up expansion. But he provided no timeline for when he expects that to happen.

Sen. Ed Berger, a Hutchinson Republican, said the expansion debate is far from dead this session.

"The little bit of time I've been up here, it seems like it's never over until it's over," Berger said.

Nicole Asbury contributed reporting

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