Kansas State Senator Loses Family Member: "We Must Expand Medicaid"

Kansas Republicans have stood fervently in opposition to ACA and Medicaid Expansion. In a floor speech during the tax debate, Mary Pilcher-Cook (R-Johnson County) referred to Medicaid expansion as "evil," and during a conference committee handed out leaflets noting the "evils of Obamacare" as a reason to look at charging insurance providers a fee in the state of Kansas.

Faced with more than70,000 Kansas residents who receive ACA subsidized insurance, Kansas Republicans doubled down, with 70 representatives signing a letter saying they want to make sure that ACA ceases, no matter what the high court ruling.

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On Monday, 70 GOP members of the Kansas Legislature sent a letter to Republican congressional leaders, urging them to repeal much of the remainder of the health care law, also known as "Obamacare," if the Supreme Court strikes down the subsidies.

"Our state of Kansas declined to establish and fund a state-run exchange," the lawmakers wrote. "We are unwilling to subject taxpayers to the millions in added costs and expanded bureaucracy associated with creating one."

The letter was written by Rep. Dan Hawkins of Wichita and Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, the respective chairs of the Kansas House and Senate health committees.

One Kansas Senator, however, has felt the direct impact of the failure to expand Medicaid in the state, and she wants to make sure people know that the failure to expand has a real-world cost.