As social workers, we chose our career path because we believe in preserving the dignity and worth of the person and pursing social justice on behalf of vulnerable groups of people.  We are on the front lines and see on a daily basis the way that our state’s inability to expand Medicaid has negatively affected the health of patients in Kansas.  

We witness patients that cannot afford to manage health conditions, such as hypertension which can lead to both kidney failure and the need for more costly medical care including dialysis.  We witness patients whose care for life-threatening diagnoses, like cancer, is delayed due to not having insurance coverage at the time of their diagnosis.  We believe that healthcare is a human right and that no one should go without healthcare or have care delayed due to an inability to pay. 

Medicaid expansion in Kansas would extend healthcare coverage to 130,000 low-income Kansans, including children and families.  It would keep rural hospitals from closing, and thereby maintaining access to care for Kansans, within their communities. As social workers, advocacy is also one of our core principles, and we feel it is our duty to implore the Kansas legislature to pass Medicaid expansion, now.