Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is taking a different approach from Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R). Instead of moving to sue the Obama administration over threats to withhold federal funds over Medicaid expansion, Brownback’s administration is saying “many things could happen” before its deadline over losing the funds.
According to the state’s NPR affiliate, the Brownback administration received notice from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week, which was similar to one the Scott administration received over Medicaid expansion. The letter to Florida spurred Scott to announce plans to sue the Obama administration for threatening to hold federal funds, a move that earned the Florida governor a nod from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
TPM emailed Brownback’s administration to see if the Kansas governor planned to follow Scott’s example. Kansas Department of Health and Environment Communications Director Sara Belfry responded on Friday with the following statement:
This calendar year Kansas will receive $45.2 million dollars from the federal government to partially reimburse hospitals for services delivered to people who do not have insurance. Kansas also adds state funding, so this year the uncompensated care pool is $80.8 million in total funds. We would not lose this federal funding until 2018, once our 1115 Medicaid waiver is up for renewal. It could potentially decrease the amount we reimburse hospitals for caring for people who are not insured. However, Kansas has several years before the decrease in federal funding would take place, so it does not have an immediate impact and many things could potentially happen in that time.
As Belfry’s statement notes, Kansas’s deadline for when federal funding dries up isn’t until 2018, a wider window than Florida’s June deadline. And things could change by then. For one, it’s possible that there could be a new, anti-Obamacare Republican president in 2018 who decides to do away with as much of Obamacare as possible.
The staunchly conservative Brownback and the Kansas legislature, because of ongoing budget deficit problems in his state, have been forced to at least consider Medicaid expansion as well, although the possibility is far from a sure thing.
Healthcare and Kansas’s budget have been ongoing issues for Brownback. Earlier in the week, TPM noted that Brownback’s proposed $136 million in taxes on health maintenance organizations had hit turbulence from Aetna, Inc., one of the most prominent HMOs that would be affected. Aetna warned lawmakers that the tax could create an unfair burden for them and urged Kansas lawmakers to at least pause before moving Brownback’s proposal along.
Correction: This post originally said CMMS sent Kansas a letter. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services actually reached out to Kansas concerning Medicaid expansion.
