People keep talking about how expanding KanCare will help 150,000 people… Wrong it will help 2,911,641 (2017 Kansas population)!
Yes, it will finally give the hard working individuals in the coverage gap health insurance, which they need, but for the rest of us it will give solvent health care and hospitals in rural areas, and in places like Wichita, Kansas City, and Johnson County we can look forward to the expansion giving us our money back, by lower taxes, lower premiums and out of pocket expenses.
Our money will no longer have to cover care for those who lack health insurance at the mental health and community clinics. Our money will no longer pay for security benefits because some people with mental illnesses lose their job because they can’t afford their medication that helps them keep a job. It will also lower our premiums and out of pocket expenses because hospitals won’t have to cover unpaid care.
Did you know Johnson County Mental Health gave away over $10,000,000 in uncompensated care last year? Who do you think subsidized that care? That’s right us, the Johnson County taxpayers.
Expanding KanCare will also create jobs in communities where health care needs rise due to individuals finally having health insurance and the ability to see health professionals. Clinics and hospitals will need more staff, more linen and supplies from their vendors, vendors will need more staff to complete and deliver orders, and they will need more gas for their delivery vehicles. You see where this is going right? And all of this will generate taxes, employment taxes, sales taxes… where does that money go? The Kansas state coffers. That money could be used for education for our children, and if you don’t have children or grandchildren, it will go to repair the roads and bridges you drive over every single day.
Finally, let us not forget the over $2,400,000,000 of our tax money that we have already paid to the federal government that has gone to other states to pay for their Medicaid expansion programs. They have a healthy population and community thanks to our personal tax dollars. Should we continue to pay to support their programs or should what we pay come back to support our fellow Kansans?
So again, KanCare expansion just won’t assist the 150,000 that are in the coverage gap, it will help every single one of us that lives in Kansas. Who knows with tax revenue coming in maybe the state legislature will begin looking at lowering our grocery tax… that affects you, right?
For more information about KanCare Expansion, visit Alliance for a Health Kansas.