Manatt Health partner Cindy Mann will present at the Kansas Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion. Created by the governor’s executive order, the Council will hold at least three meetings, beginning on September 30, focused on understanding the differing approaches to Medicaid expansion in other states in order to “adopt best practices and avoid the risky, financially devastating experiments that damaged Medicaid expansion efforts elsewhere.” The Task Force will be facilitated by the National Governors Association (NGA).   

In the executive order, the governor lists key reasons for establishing the Council, including:

• Life expectancy in Kansas has fallen below the national average.
• Based on the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, 12% of non-elderly Kansas adults went without health insurance in 2017.
• Medicaid expansion is associated with decreases in mortality for all causes; reduced reliance on emergency room care; and improvements in infant mortality, cancer screenings and vaccinations.
• Kansas will forgo more than $2 billion in business activity and $1.2 billion in gross state product by not expanding Medicaid.

According to the executive order, “Kansas is uniquely positioned to benefit from the lessons learned by the 36 other states that have already implemented expansion, submitted a Section 1115 waiver to CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] or are in the process of doing so.” The executive order also states that “…upholding values of transparency, inclusion and accountability between legislators, healthcare stakeholders, industry executives and our broader Kansas community will aid in the development of a successful, efficient plan to expand Medicaid in Kansas in 2020.”

The executive order calls for the Council to submit a report detailing its work and recommendations in December 2019.

Read the full executive order here.