Medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcies in the United States. When our budgets are already strained by rising costs and stagnating wages, a medical crisis can tip the scales and cause financial ruin. Rural hospitals are closing across the state, leaving rural Kansans without access to medical care. Leaders in the legislature continue their attacks on women’s reproductive rights, despite the people of Kansas giving them a resounding NO in the August 2022 ballot measure. Meanwhile Kansas is one of only 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the ACA leaving federal dollars on the table.

The for-profit medical industry takes advantage of regular people, squeezing as much money out of them when they are at their most vulnerable. Medical institutions and practices should make caring for patients their priority over profits. The private health insurance business model has an interest in denying coverage to increase profits. They rely on many of their policy holders not having the time or energy to fight denials. Patients should be able to focus on healing and recovering, not fighting with bureaucrats over health insurance payouts.  

We need major reforms that will enable sick and injured people to worry only about their health, not their pocketbook. These reforms include:

• Expanding Medicaid under the ACA.

• Price controls and billing transparency for medications, treatments, and services.

• Establishing a KanCare for All Committee to study why state level single payer legislation has failed in Massachusetts, Colorado and Vermont, and work with California and New York on their current efforts to win Medicare for All-type legislation at the state level

• Programs to keep rural hospitals open and incentives for medical professionals to practice in rural areas.