A Kansas House committee has drafted a plan for expanding the state's Medicaid program for poor and disabled Kansans, in line with the Affordable Care Act.
The Vision 2020 Committee introduced the bill in the House on Monday.
The bill would impose a special tax on hospitals and other health care providers to raise any state matching funds required to tap extra federal dollars.
It also would allow the state to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work.
Committee Chairman and Lawrence Republican Tom Sloan said the proposal is designed to start a discussion about expanding Medicaid to provide health coverage to as many as 169,000 people.
But many Republicans in the Legislature are still wary of getting the state involved with the 2010 federal health care law.
