Opponents of expanding Medicaid in Kansas are challenging supporters’ claims about how much it would cost.
Susan Moiser runs the state agency that oversees KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program. She’s challenging claims made by the Kansas Hospital Association and others that expansion would generate more than enough in revenue and cost savings to pay for itself.
Moiser says the estimates are based on flawed assumptions about the economic benefits of expansion and the extent to which federal funding could supplant state dollars.
A spokesperson for the hospital association promised a detailed rebuttal before Thursday, when a Senate committee is expected to vote on an expansion bill.
Jim McLean is managing director of KMUW's Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and KCUR covering health, education and politics in Kansas. Follow him on Twitter @jmcleanks.
