WASHINGTON — In the midst of a global pandemic, Kansas Republicans once again refused to expand Medicaid, ending their session without extending affordable health care to 130,000 of their constituents. Ensuring access to health care is key to combating the coronavirus crisis, which has already infected nearly 9,000 people in the state.
“Not even a global public health emergency can convince extremist Republicans to put their partisan agenda aside and finally give their constituents access to affordable health care,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “The GOP is playing politics with people’s lives. Medicaid expansion is a critical tool to combat this crisis and increases funding for rural hospitals. We’re going to make sure that Kansas Republicans are held responsible at the ballot box this November for this disastrous vote.”
Democrats need to flip just two seats in the Kansas Senate to break the GOP’s supermajority and protect Governor Laura Kelly’s veto power. In December 2018, three legislators left the Republican caucus in reaction to the party’s increasingly extremist agenda.
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