Kansas lawmakers voted Tuesday to vastly expand their state’s Medicaid program, moving quickly to take advantage of Obamacare just days after congressional Republicans’ repeal effort collapsed in Washington.
The 25-14 vote in the state Senate — both of Kansas’s legislative chambers are GOP-controlled — capped a Topeka push that started before President Trump took office, though the demise of the GOP bill emboldened expansion supporters in the states, who say it appears Obamacare is here for the time-being.
“I think they had an opportunity this last week, and they didn’t take it,” state Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a Republican who supported expansion, said of GOP lawmakers in Congress.
Kansas is just one of the states across the country that had struggled to expand their Medicare programs under Obamacare, but are taking a renewed look now.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said this week that there are “no more excuses” for state Republicans to block an expansion after House Speaker Paul D. Ryan called off a vote on Capitol Hill last Friday, saying the GOP was too divided.
Mr. McAuliffe said failure to expand earlier cost Virginia more than $10 billion and left 400,000 residents without health coverage.
“President Trump’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed and even Speaker Ryan has said that Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future,” Mr. McAuliffe said. “The time has come for us to bring our taxpayer dollars back to serve the individuals who need them the most.”
Maine, meanwhile, is on track to decide this fall whether to expand, after petitioners gathered enough signatures to put the measure before voters.
Under Obamacare, states can extend Medicaid benefits to those making up to 138 percent of the poverty level. The federal government will pick up 95 percent of the costs of the expansion population this year, a share that will slide down to 90 percent by 2020 and beyond.
Kansas and 18 other states have balked until now, saying it was foolish to sign onto a program that might not last.
The final version of the House GOP’s repeal bill would have forbidden new states from tapping federal funds that make expansion worth it — a deal-sweetener for conservatives in states that resisted the money — and it would have frozen the expansion in all states in 2020.
Mr. Ryan on Tuesday said his troops will work to revive the effort, though he couldn’t offer a timeline for success.
The White House said Mr. Trump is eager to move on to tax reform and other agenda items for now.
Republicans who oppose expanding Medicaid said the economics of Obamacare remain troubling, and they fear their states will be left on the hook for billions of dollars.
“This is an untimely bill,” said Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, a Republican. “We have a new president.”
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who hasn’t said whether he will veto the measure, fired a warning shot before the vote, saying “to expand Obamacare when the program is in a death spiral is not responsible policy.”
But the bill divided Republicans in the state Senate, and its backers said they hope he signs it, or lets it become law even without his signature.
They said roughly 150,000 Kansas could get on the Medicaid rolls if the expansion happens.
“If he vetoes it, an override might be tough to get,” Rep. Steven Crum, a Democrat, said. “I hope Gov. Brownback opts for one of the two ways to allow this to become law to help so many Kansans.”
In Virginia, though, Republicans said the repeal failure in Washington hasn’t changed anything.
“Virginia can barely afford our current program, much less an expansion,” Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell and four other Republicans said. “Every dollar spent on Medicaid is one less that can be spent on education, transportation, or public safety.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.