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Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kansas advocate warns federal cuts to Medicaid will accelerate maternal deaths
From left, Hadiya Toney and Sapphire Garcia appear at Liberation Place, a mutual aid hub that distributes sexual and reproductive health supplies and baby items in Wichita. Toney is community care coordinator at Liberation Place and Garcia is executive director and founder of the Kansas Birth Justice Society. (Submitted) TOPEKA — More Kansans will die during pregnancy and childbirth as a result of proposed federal cuts to Medicaid, says the leader of a state organization focused on maternal health equity. A new analysis of cuts contained in the GOP's 'big beautiful bill' under consideration by Congress shows that 13,000 Kansans would lose enrollment in Medicaid, and the state would lose $3.77 billion in federal funding. Sapphire Garcia, executive director and founder of the Kansas Birth Justice Society, said the gutting of Medicaid funding would decimate perinatal care systems and accelerate maternal mortality. The burden, she said, would fall hardest on those who already face steep inequities — Black, Indigenous, rural and low-income Kansans. Advocates 'on the front lines of this crisis' already are exhausted, she said. 'We are tired of fighting a system that continues to ignore our pleas while our communities are left grieving unbearable losses,' Garcia said. 'We hold space for families who have buried their babies, their partners, their birthing people — and then we're asked to carry on as if that grief is not the result of policy choices. But it is.' Garcia's comments followed a panel discussion Thursday organized by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. The discussion centered on a recent report on access to maternal health care in Kansas and an analysis by Manatt Health of proposed federal cuts to Medicaid. The report on maternity care access, which was produced by the Kansas Center for Rural Health with funding from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, found that most Kansans don't have local access to inpatient maternity care. Most Kansas counties don't even have an OB-GYN, and only eight counties have more than five OB-GYNs, the report found. One of the panelists, Beth Oller, family medicine physician at Rooks County Health Center, said it is difficult to get physicians to move to rural areas, where they might have to cover the ER and provide hospice care and other services to support an undeserved community. And most family doctors who graduate residency don't have an interest in providing obstetric care, she said. For a while, she said, she was one of two OB-GYNs at her health center, and the other wasn't trained for operative deliveries. She spent two years never being off of work because she needed to be available for caesarean sections. Then, the other doctor moved out of state and she couldn't recruit another physician. As a mother of four, she said, she was 'missing so many things.' 'I was heartbroken when I realized that our maternity unit was going to close,' Oller said. 'However, I couldn't do it anymore alone. I knew it wasn't feasible to keep going that way.' She said the closest place to Stockton, where she lives, to deliver a baby now is in Hays, about 45 minutes away. Another doctor travels two hours from Salina to provide some prenatal care, she said. Panelists during Thursday's discussion said access to maternal care is connected to Medicaid, which finances more than 40% of births in the state. The state's failure to expand Medicaid to serve more low-income families or allocate adequate reimbursement rates for Medicaid services are factors in maternal health deserts and the financial struggles of rural hospitals, they said. GOP leaders in the Legislature for more than a decade have blocked Medicaid expansion, which would have served about 150,000 adults and children and unlocked nearly a billion dollars in annual federal funding. Kansas is one of 10 holdout states that have not expanded the program. 'We need to remember that economics are policy, and policy is a matter of life and death,' Garcia said during the panel discussion. 'The fact that we have not expanded Medicaid has killed birthing people in our state is going to continue to kill birthing people in our state and lead to these poor health outcomes. We need to acknowledge that this is a structural failure of our maternal and health care systems.' A study published in 2020 by the medical journal Women's Health Issues found that Medicaid expansion resulted in seven fewer maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Garcia told Kansas Reflector after the panel discussion that Medicaid expansion is a necessary step toward racial and reproductive justice. But now, she said, the most urgent concern is to protect Medicaid itself. 'If the federal program is slashed, expansion in Kansas becomes meaningless — there will be nothing left to expand,' she said. 'Saving Medicaid must be our top priority, and we also cannot lose sight of the need to expand coverage here in Kansas, where families are still denied basic care due to arbitrary income thresholds and political inaction.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Barriers to maternity care in rural Kansas leave many moms-to-be miles from services
A graphic from a report on maternity care deserts shows the number of facilities offering inpatient obstetrics care across the state of Kansas. (United Methodist Health Ministry Fund/KU School of Nursing) TOPEKA — Maternity care is becoming out of reach for many in rural Kansas counties, where birth rates are higher than in urban areas, hospitals face closure and obstetrics services are few and far between. The new report from the University of Kansas School of Nursing and Hutchinson-based United Methodist Health Ministry Fund examined Kansas' maternity care deserts, or counties without nearby access to prenatal and obstetrics care. The findings 'paint a stark picture of the current landscape of access to maternal health,' said David Jordan, president and CEO of the health fund, which commissioned and funded the report. The report was based on statewide data from 2022-2024. 'The data also emphasize the critical importance of addressing this challenge before it gets worse, as well as recognizing that the location of services is one piece of the puzzle,' he said. More than 40% of Kansas counties don't have any maternal care services, and most Kansans live 30 miles or more from a high-risk delivery facility, the report found. Plus, most rural counties in the state do not have an obstetrician/gynecologist. In western Kansas, Grant and Wallace counties, which sit on or near the Kansas-Colorado border, have the highest birth rates in the state. Wallace County, home to roughly 1,700 people, has no hospitals, birthing centers or facilities offering prenatal services. The closest facility offering inpatient maternity care is at least 50 miles away. In Grant County, maternity care isn't available at existing facilities, the report found, and the closest maternity care facility is at least 24 miles away. Labor and delivery services and high-risk care are most difficult to access, the report found. About 30% of Kansas ZIP codes are 100 miles or more from high-risk pregnancy services. Medicaid, the joint federal and state public health insurance program, pays for about 40% of all births in Kansas. After delivery, mothers are eligible for continued coverage for a year if they make an annual income less than or equal to 171% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to $47,453 or less for a family of four. The report also revealed the unrecognized costs associated with providing maternity care, which requires the constant presence and attention of teams of nurses and clinicians. Reimbursement rates through public insurance programs can be lacking. Addressing maternal care deserts requires sound data, said Karen Weis, the lead author of the report and dean of KU School of Nursing-Salina. 'Kansas legislators, health care systems, foundations, professional organizations and educational institutions are all working hard to address the concerns of access to care and the health care workforce,' she said. The report highlight four priorities to improve the state's maternal health care. Providers could use telehealth more frequently as a way to expand maternal health options. Rural areas could create regional models of care so providers can more easily collaborate. The Legislature could increase reimbursement rates for maternity care services to ease affordability concerns and retain care providers. 'Eighty-six percent of Kansas hospitals experienced a loss of services in 2023, 63% are at risk of closing and 32% are at risk of immediate closure,' the report said. The report encouraged further engagement and research to maximize scarce resources. Jordan said Kansas needs new, innovative solutions 'to complete the puzzle in order to provide women, children and families across the state with better access to the services they need to thrive.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kansas Medicaid advocates share dire forecast of potential congressional funding cuts
REACH Healthcare Foundation and United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, health-related philanthropies serving Kansans, said potential cuts in federal spending on Medicaid could slash health coverage of low-income Kansans and threaten financially struggling hospitals. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Analysis of potential congressional cuts to Medicaid indicated Kansas' loss of nearly $350 million in the first year and more than $3 billion over 10 years could shrink coverage for vulnerable populations, escalate family medical debt and raise the risk of hospital closures. Reductions in federal financing of Medicaid could lead to downsizing by 5% to 15% the number of Medicaid enrollees in Kansas and trigger a decline of 22% in Medicaid funding to hospitals in the state. Kansas has two-dozen rural hospitals at risk of immediate closure. Shrinking federal funding to Medicaid could add to the burden of uncompensated patient care and threaten hospitals operating on narrow margins. The findings were in a report released Tuesday by REACH Healthcare Foundation and United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, both health-related philanthropies serving Kansans. The report incorporated analysis from Manatt Health, which provides strategic, policy and legal advisory services in the health care industry. Impetus for the projections was upcoming debate in Congress on a goal of cutting $880 billion in federal spending on Medicaid in the next decade. 'The data is clear and deeply concerning,' said David Jordan, president and CEO of United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. 'We will all pay the price – higher costs, increases in local taxes and less access to care – to offset these cuts. It's critical that lawmakers, health care providers, advocates and the people of Kansas recognize the consequences before it's too late.' United Methodist Health Ministry Fund is a statewide foundation that has worked since 1986 to improve the health of Kansans. Medicaid is a joint federal and state program offering health coverage to lower-income Kansas children, seniors, people with disabilities and pregnant women. Medicaid enrolls 366,000 Kansans, including 31% of the state's children. Medicaid supports four of seven nursing home residents in Kansas as well as one in four working-age adults in the state who have a disability, the report said. There is interest among congressional Republicans in adopting a national work requirement for recipients of Medicaid. The Kansas Medicaid program, known as KanCare, doesn't extend coverage to working-age adults regardless of income unless the recipient was a parent, caregiver or a person with a disability. 'Medicaid is the largest source of federal funds in Kansas and any cuts to the program will have severe economic and health impacts felt in every corner of the state,' said Brenda Sharpe, president and CEO of REACH Healthcare Foundation. REACH is a charitable organization striving to improve access to quality, affordable care for uninsured and medically underserved residents of Johnson, Wyandotte and Allen counties in Kansas and Jackson, Cass and Lafayette counties in Missouri. Manatt Health relied on computer modeling to produce one-year and 10-year projections for Medicaid based on the idea of reducing federal expenditures by $880 billion within a decade. The work by Manatt Health was released before Congress completed work on spending adjustments, but the assessment aligned with policy parameters, options and effective dates outlined by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dozens of health organizations urge Kansas governor to veto Medicaid eligibility changes
The Kansas Statehouse in February 2025 in Topeka. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Nearly 50 health organizations signed a letter urging the Kansas governor to veto a budget provision that would end continuous eligibility in the state's Medicaid program, which allows public health insurance enrollees to consistently access health care. If allowed to become law, the budget provision would require the state to evaluate parents and caregivers who receive coverage under KanCare, as Medicaid is known in Kansas, to be evaluated every month instead of every year. Currently, eligible enrollees are covered under KanCare for an entire year once approved, regardless of any change in circumstances during that time. The Hutchinson-based United Methodist Health Ministry Fund drafted the letter, which was delivered Tuesday to Gov. Laura Kelly with signatures from 48 organizations. David Jordan, president and CEO of the health fund, said allowing the provision to pass could mean adding between $3-4 million in costs to the state and lost health insurance coverage for low-income families. An estimated 38,000 Kansans would be impacted by the change, the letter said. 'This change will affect the most vulnerable Kansans who live well below the poverty line,' the letter said. 'The constant dis-enrollment and re-enrollment of beneficiaries is burdensome for everyone and could prevent families from receiving the necessary care they need.' Kansas has used continuous eligibility since 2010. In order to qualify for KanCare, households must remain below income thresholds. A family of four, for instance, cannot exceed an annual income of roughly $11,800. 'These families already have enough challenges on their plates without the added burden of continuously reapplying for health insurance,' the letter said. Research has shown that continuous eligibility reduces financial barriers for low-income families, improves health outcomes and gives states the ability to exercise accountability measures. Other signers of the letter included advocacy health care providers, patient groups, foundations like United Methodist Health Ministry Fund and advocacy groups like Kansas Action for Children. Adrienne Olejnik, vice president of Kansas Action for Children, said the organization is concerned. 'Not only is this a waste of money on administrative costs, but it would also cause health care disruptions and delays based on small changes in income,' she said. Olejnik said the Senate Ways and Means Committee added the provision to a budget bill at the last minute. She said she hopes a veto from the governor will allow lawmakers to fully consider the weight of the change. Kelly, whose office declined to comment for this story, has until Thursday to veto line items in the budget. The Legislature's two-day veto session also is scheduled to begin Thursday.
