This week in Public Health and Welfare committee on the Senate side and Health and Human Resources committee on the House side, we heard multiple organizations gave an avalanche of more reasons of why Medicaid Expansion is a bad idea. Here is some of what was said:
Nationally acclaimed attorney Paul Linton gave his concerns regarding the need for the Value Them Both Amendment to pass before moving forward with the expansion of Medicaid. His testimony made it clear that there is absolutely a direct and gravely concerning link between the Value Them Both amendment and the expansion of Medicaid. In his testimony, Mr. Linton said, "Given the overwhelming weight of state constitutional authority, it is a virtual certainty the Kansas restrictions on public funding of abortion would be struck down, if challenged on the basis of the opinion in Hodes." Mr. Linton also pointed out that the five cases the Kansas Supreme Court cited favorably in their Hodes opinion supported their conclusion that there was a right to an abortion in the state constitution. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the court would most certainly find that "publicly funded abortion is required by its decision."
Jeanne Gawdun of Kansans for Life noted that there are 16 state Medicaid programs that currently pay for abortions, nine of which are a result of court mandates. In Connecticut, in fact, 75% of abortions in 2018 were funded by their Medicaid program. Ms Gawdun stated, "We are right to be concerned," regarding the ramifications of the Supreme Court and the danger to current regulations on abortion, including taxpayer funding ban being in jeopardy.
Furthermore, Brittany Jones of the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas and Chuck Weber of the Kansas Catholic Conference both made reference to the five cited cases from the Hodes opinion and the need to first pass the Value Them Both Amendment before any expansion plan is passed. Ms. Jones stated in her testimony, "By relying on these cases in its decision, the Court has set the groundwork for a case that will deny the state the ability to restrict any sort of funding for abortion and could even lead to mandating that hospitals that receive state funding to provide abortions. We will no longer be able to rely on statutory protections in these areas because the court will overturn them."
A report by the AP wrote, "Some abortion opponents who oppose Medicaid expansion argue it would encourage women to leave private health insurance plans for state coverage. The non-partisan Kansas Health Institute projected last year that more than 32,000 adults would do just that."
Over 5,000 Kansans with disabilities are on a waiting list and folks on Medicaid, including low income children and seniors, struggle to find a doctor. Medicaid has been a broken system, and adding able bodied adults to the program will not help it operate more efficiently.
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Many have argued the plan is "bi-partisan" but that doesn't make it a good idea. Expanding a broken system no matter who supports it, is still expanding a broken system and tax dollars shouldn't be used to fund abortions. You would think this is all common sense, but apparently common sense isn't very common anymore.