I have had the privilege of serving as the CEO of Via Christi since 2022 and in various other roles within our ministry going back 25 years. I’m inspired every day by how hard our care teams work to answer God’s call to bring health, hope, and healing to every patient who enters our hospitals and clinics. Above all, we want Kansans to be healthy and stay out of emergency rooms and hospitals.
Keeping Kansas healthy requires a robust and sustainable KanCare, the program through which the State of Kansas administers Medicaid. About 360,000 Kansans, more than half of whom are children, rely on this critical program to stay covered and access care. KanCare allows them to have more frequent doctor visits, preventive care services, and treatment for chronic illnesses. It is a lifeline for those who otherwise wouldn’t have health insurance, especially those who live in rural communities where affordable insurance plans aren't as readily available.
Medicaid’s future is currently up in the air. As part of negotiations around the “One Big Beautiful Bill” currently being considered by Congress, substantial and sudden cuts to Medicaid are on the table. The House of Representatives has already passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill, and the Senate now has the pen. Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall are in a position to lessen the blow that Kansas’ rural hospitals will be dealt by the changes to Medicaid.
In the House’s version of the bill, there are provisions which would affect certain financing mechanisms that are critical to how Kansas funds its Medicaid program and supports providers that care for vulnerable populations, especially those in rural and underserved communities. This includes two of the primary ways through which Kansas generates and directs funding for KanCare – provider taxes and state-directed payments.
Both of these funding tools are essential to how KanCare functions. The restrictions being considered by Congress could handcuff the Kansas Legislature in how they choose to fund the program in the future. Just this year, the Kansas Legislature agreed that significant, steady funding was needed. Our state leaders, not Washington, are in the best position to make decisions that will keep KanCare sustainable, especially for rural hospitals and communities.
Unfortunately, the White House has recently called on Congress to take those restrictions even further by capping state-directed payments to Medicare rates. While these efforts are aimed at addressing waste, fraud, and abuse, they simply go too far. There are serious, unintended consequences that would arise from abruptly imposing these types of changes onto Medicaid.
First, an estimated 13,000 Kansans would lose their health insurance. In addition to the hardship this will cause these families, this would place an immense financial burden on both state taxpayers and providers to make up lost ground. Via Christi already experienced a $13.1 million shortfall in Medicaid reimbursement in 2024, a gap that would only widen from the proposed cuts. Other Kansas hospitals, especially those in rural areas, would face similar challenges.
We can address Medicaid’s shortcomings without imposing sweeping and sudden cuts that will undermine the entire program and ultimately lead to less access and worse health outcomes for every Kansan. I urge our Senators to help take us down a different, more sustainable path.
