January 10, 2017
The Honorable Pat Roberts The Honorable Lynn Jenkins United States Senate United States Houses of Representatives 109 Hart Building 1526 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Jerry Moran The Honorable Kevin Yoder United States Senate United States Houses of Representatives 521 Dirksen Senate Office Building 2433 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Mike Pompeo The Honorable Roger Marshall United States Houses of Representatives United States Houses of Representatives 2452 Rayburn House Office Building 312 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Roberts, Senator Moran, Rep. Marshall, Rep. Jenkins, Rep. Yoder, and Rep. Pompeo:
We are writing because 2017 will be a decisive year for the future of health care and health coverage in Kansas and across the nation. As you work with your colleagues in Congress to reform the health care system, the members of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas urge you to avoid repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without putting in place a credible replacement. Any changes made to current health care laws should focus on protecting and expanding quality coverage to thousands of hard working Kansans who are uninsured, as well as improving quality and value.
The Alliance for a Healthy Kansas is a broad-based statewide coalition of organizations that have come together to improve the health of Kansans. Our first policy goal is to improve access to care by expanding KanCare, the Kansas Medicaid program. Alliance members include business leaders, doctors and hospitals, social service and safety net organizations, faith communities, chambers of commerce, advocates for health care consumers, and others.
Kansans have benefited from the ACA – nearly 100,000 have gained coverage through the ACA’s marketplace, thousands of children remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26, and no Kansan can be denied health coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
We hope you will work to protect Kansans from the uncertainty that would be created by repealing the ACA without a replacement. Such an approach will upend the insurance market, leave tens of thousands of Kansans uninsured, and damage hospitals and communities. While the ACA may be in need of reform, we must not retreat from the coverage and consumer protections it provides. We cannot return to a time when Kansans were faced with inadequate coverage and discriminatory treatment.
In state and local elections, Kansans overwhelmingly elected candidates who support protecting and expanding health coverage. Any changes made to health care laws at the federal level should also focus on protecting and expanding quality coverage to thousands of hard working Kansans.
Funding for options such as Medicaid expansion, a critical program for patients and providers, particularly in rural communities, must remain available not only to states that have already pursued this program, but to states like Kansas where the debate continues.
As the discussion on the future of the ACA evolves, we look forward to working together to protect the interests of Kansans. Should you have any questions or if we can be helpful, please do not hesitate to contact David Jordan, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, at (785) 861-7894. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Alliance for a Healthy Kansas Kansas Chapter, National Association of Social A Step Above, LLC Workers Case Management Services, Inc. Kansas Farmers Union Community Action, Inc. Kansas Health Foundation Disability Rights Center of Kansas Kansas Home Care Association ECKAN Kansas Hospital Association Flint Hills Community Health Centers KS.AFL-CIO GPS Impact League of Women Voters of Kansas Health Reform Resource Project Medical Service Bureau, Inc. Kansas Academy of Family Physicians Mid-Kansas Community Action Program, Inc Kansas Action for Children Minds Matter LLC Kansas Advocates for Better Care NAMI Kansas, Inc. Kansas Appleseed National MS Society Kansas Association for the Medically Open Options, Inc. Underserved Prof-2-Prof Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging Rose Palms Support Services LLC and Disabilities Susan G Komen Kansas Kansas Association of Community Action Team Saint Mark UMC Prison Ministry Group Programs Thrive Allen County Kansas Center for Economic Growth Topeka Center for Peace and Justice Kansas Chapter, American Academy of United Methodist Health Ministry Fund Pediatrics Wichita Medical Research Women for Kansas