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For Immediate Release:
December 22, 2023
Contact:
Grace Hoge
[email protected]
ICYMI: Governor Kelly’s Concessions on
Medicaid Expansion Proposal an Unexpected Gift
KEY QUOTE: “I think this is the best way to view Governor Kelly’s Medicaid proposal: not as a gambit, but as a gift, a surprising attempt by an outgoing governor to make certain all the elite objections to this overwhelmingly popular policy are heard and met.”
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Politics is rarely characterized by wonder, and it would be wrong to put legislative bills or government actions on the same level as Christmas gifts, whether earthly or divine. Yet, I fear this legitimate caution might lead us to wrongly ignore just how surprising Governor Kelly’s latest proposal for Medicaid expansion really is.
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Everyone knows that Medicaid expansion, something that has been enacted by every state around Kansas and has the support of 70% of all Kansans, has always been Kelly’s largest legislative aim, and also the one which [legislative] leadership has been most determined to deny her, regularly refusing to allow votes on the topic, even as a majority of Republicans state-wide agree with the need to expand the policy.
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In this latest proposal, Kelly calls the Republican opposition’s bluff, by gifting them concessions on practically all their specific policy objections.
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Why not instead recognize this proposal for what it is: a genuinely remarkable offering, putting some truly surprising options on the negotiating table?
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